What is your favourite 'Hellraiser' movie?
 

I'm curious what 'Hellraiser' movie is your favourite one, personally the 2nd one was my favourite, what about yours? (:

- GH0ST

Same as you,just for Kenneth Cranham really.

Hey Ghost do you like the Scream or Hellraiser series better?

I think part 2 was my favorite as well.

I like them both equally, there are things I like better in Scream than Hellraiser and vice versa.

Well we will have to agree to disagree. I like Scream 1, but on balance, I think Hellraiser definitely outweighs Scream series in scare factor.

Oh I didn't think you meant scare factor, definitely Hellraiser in that case.

Hellraiser I is probably the better film, innovative, entertaining horror, solid performances from most of the cast, great story. Hellraiser II is ultimatley way more fun and the one I watch most. Kenneth Cranham put in an amazing performance and really carries the film, but the editing really can't be forgiven. It really is shocking, the plot is all over the place, pacing is ruined by the whole 'Uncle Frank' section, which is beyond bad and way the fuck out of place. Too many ideas, too much confusion. Tony Randel almost delivered, but not quite. Still quality though....

I really enjoyed reading your mini-review Straker. :P

The original for me.

Any reasons why? :)

Well in all fairness I haven't seen the last three (Hellworld, Deader and Revelations), but I find the first movie to be the most enjoyable and interesting of the first six, and it had a very good story to it.

Fair enough. (: I haven't seen Revelations, that's the new one isn't it?

Yes. It's gotten a dismal reception from what I've seen :/

I just can't imagine Pinhead being played by someone other than Doug Bradley.

The new pinhead is rubbish-absolutely no fear factor or menacing presense at all. I'm in the camp that thought Deader was the best after Parts 1 to 4
it felt like a reward to fans who had stuck with the series to that point.

My fave of the whole series is Hellbound: Hellraiser 2 I like how you see more of hell and the leviathan. I love the wacky doctor, mentalist hospital settings and the ending freaks me out.

Many people feel movies with 9 sequels are terrible, but I love how the Hellraiser's explore more of the story, like you said 'I like how you see more of hell..' etc and you see just how Pinhead came to be.

I have 1-4 but so far only seen 1 and 2,id say 1 was the better

I personally liked the 2nd one more. I love the scene in which Kristy reminded the Cenobites that they were once human, amazing acting in that scene by Doug Bradley, you can see how touched his character is.

That's a great scene :)

I'm surprised I'm not dead because I know a lot of people that love that movie.

In time...

There's another movie that I'm not particularly keen on that I'm not even gonna bring up because it's a classic.

I can see why you didn't particularly like Hellraiser. I wasn't keen on it either the first time I watched it, but I gave it another shot and loved it.

I was very mixed on Hellraiser -- loved the box to other dimension concept and interactions. But the human characters & their interactions left a lot to be desired, especially the mom and the undead ex-lover.

Yeah they focused too much on that but I actually think the box and the cenobites work better when they're not the main focus or else you end up with Hellraiser 3

That was by far the worst of the first 4 movies. They turned Hellraiser into a fucking slasher series!

Yeah and tried to make Pinhead into a witty Freddy Krueger type which didn't work at all.

I agree, 9 times out of 10 the Cenobites shouldn't be the main focus; so the human main characters have to offer something to draw you in & to care about them. With Hellraiser I didn't find much of anything with the main characters to latch onto -- I didn't care about them. Eventually I cared about & identified with the daughter, but only through her interaction with the box & Cenobites.

As has been said many times, & I wholehearted agree, the key for a horror film is for the audience to care about & empathize with the characters so they experience the horror with them. Otherwise you might as well page through a Fangora magazine.
I want more from the characters, to make it a story, not a exploitumentary.

I agree with you, there's more there (masochism) then meets the eye, but with the ex-lover, I didn't find it particularly engaging.

I agree sex is a staple in Horror, but only in the sense it's a staple in life and all films - "sex" as in "mate interest" is a staple in all fiction film. I would say Horror film simply focuses more on the visceral side of everything, including sex. If a film offers nothing but the boobs-gore, boobs-gore button pushing formula, I don't think that makes it more classic Horror, & certainly not a better film. (Not talking about Hellraiser.)

Netflix has uploaded a ton of Hellraiser' films. I've only seen Hellraiser. Can anyone recommend the best ones, story/character-wise?

That's what Clive Barker wanted originally. I think I read he actually wanted Julia to be the main villain.

Have seen three of them and liked the first one best. Original weird story, plus think Andrew Robinson is a great actor, especially in DIRTY HARRY (1971) and CHARLEY VARRICK (1973).

Hellraiser Rankings:

Great:
Orig.
Hellbound

Good:
Inferno

Average:
Hellworld
Deader
Bloodline
Hell on Earth

Turkeys:
Hellseeker
Revelations

I think the original film is by far the best. I've seen that film an ungodly amount of times, and yet I can still happily watch it. Can't say the same for any of the sequels. But, I will admit, 'Hellbound' has it's charm.

I am a huge fan of Hellraiser. I loved the first one, but I really enjoyed the second one more. The Dr. Channard cenobite was scary as hell! I His laugh really freaked me out! Doug Bradley's performance was awesome. I also loved how we got to see more of hell and leviathan. I actually met Doug Bradley and told him that I really enjoyed Hellraiser 2 more because of my above statement. His exact words were " I can't believe that you just said that."He looked at me like I was insane. He is a pretty cranky man. I shouldn't have expected anything else from they guy. He plays a cenobite for a living. lol

The 3rd one. I found it to be fun and extremely entertaining!

I have to say, first and foremost, that I haven't seen all of the movies in the series and those I have seen past the third installment....I can't actually remember so I think it's safe to say I can rule those films out. The first will always be the superior in my own world of preferences because it has a sick, gothic, sadomasochistic simplicity to it that, despite the fact that this could have taken on a totally different feel given those elements, somehow managed to be horrifying. The score is eerie, there are JUST enough of the cenobites in it for me, and it is brutal yet has this otherworldly appeal to it that makes it one of my favorites!

I personally like to think of Hellraiser and Hellbound one movie, considering I always watch the two together anyway. But Hellbound is considered a Horror masterpiece in my book.

I thought of Hellbound as just a bunch of random scenes strung together. I didn't really enjoy it much.

Hellbound had a bunch of problems with editing and there are a few scenes that really don't work at all. Tony Randel talks about some of the issues and problems he had making Hellbound in the directors commentary if I remember right.

That said, if you can get passed that, its really a great movie and lots of fun. Kenneth Cranham as Channard is awesome and there are plenty of cool concepts thrown in there and lots of nice ideas with some great sfx to back it all up. The climax is pretty badass too. It doesn't capture the same sadomasochistic tone or grim atmosphere as the first movie, but its still a good flick.