If one can overlook two MASSIVE implausiblities, this is the best of the Hellraiser sequels. We are reintroduced to Ashley Laurence as Kirsty, before seemingly killing her in a car crash during the first scene. The focus is then shifted to her husband, and his fragile mental state following the accident, exacerbated by the odd behaviour of some of those around him, and the fact that he becomes the suspect in her death, and the deaths of several others.
After tricking us into thinking Ashley Laurence's appearance is confined to a cameo appearance in the first scene, she is reintroduced again in the final third, when we learn it was really her husband who died in the car crash, and the entire film is taking place in his mind, as he lie dying. Pinhead plotted to get Kirsty after all these years, she made a deal with him to kill her husband and the women he was cheating on her with, in exchange for her own life. Kirsty herself killed her husband in the crash, after killing his mistresses, and the entire film is taking place in his mind in the final moments of his life, just like in Jacob's Ladder, again.
Indeed, the biggest problem with this one is that it's almost identical to the previous film ( Hellraiser Inferno ) which itself was very similar to Jacob's Ladder. If this film had been made before the previous one, it would have fared better, and been more surprising. But as it is now, it really seems like they used almost the same script.
Turning the heroine from parts one and two into the villain here is a daring move, not an easy feat to achieve successfully, but I feel they pulled it off well here. There should have been a final scene with Pinhead, perhaps proud of himself for tricking Kirsty into killing several people, thus ensuring her a place in his hell upon her ultimate death, and thus making it only a matter of time before she is his.
Terrible colour tinting gives most scenes a deep blue tinge.
After tricking us into thinking Ashley Laurence's appearance is confined to a cameo appearance in the first scene, she is reintroduced again in the final third, when we learn it was really her husband who died in the car crash, and the entire film is taking place in his mind, as he lie dying. Pinhead plotted to get Kirsty after all these years, she made a deal with him to kill her husband and the women he was cheating on her with, in exchange for her own life. Kirsty herself killed her husband in the crash, after killing his mistresses, and the entire film is taking place in his mind in the final moments of his life, just like in Jacob's Ladder, again.
Indeed, the biggest problem with this one is that it's almost identical to the previous film ( Hellraiser Inferno ) which itself was very similar to Jacob's Ladder. If this film had been made before the previous one, it would have fared better, and been more surprising. But as it is now, it really seems like they used almost the same script.
Turning the heroine from parts one and two into the villain here is a daring move, not an easy feat to achieve successfully, but I feel they pulled it off well here. There should have been a final scene with Pinhead, perhaps proud of himself for tricking Kirsty into killing several people, thus ensuring her a place in his hell upon her ultimate death, and thus making it only a matter of time before she is his.
Terrible colour tinting gives most scenes a deep blue tinge.