“Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth” (1992) breathes more than the first two films. Rather than the claustrophobia of a single house (“Hellraiser”) or an unrelatable Hellscape (“Hellbound: Hellraiser II”), the third entry takes place in the real world.
Well, OK, the cinematic version of the real world. Novice TV reporter Joey (an uneven Terry Farrell) is somehow making payments on a posh condo with a panoramic view of the big city.
The boyfriend from Hell
Still, writer Peter Atkins — back from the second film — hits on a lot of themes. He doesn’t explore any of them as deeply as I wished, and there are too many crammed into one film. But at least there are issues to mull over, making this the most accessible of the original trilogy. (That said, don’t recommend it to anyone who is not somewhat open to the gore-horror subgenre.)
“Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth” (1992)
Director: Anthony Hickox
Writers: Peter Atkins (story, screenplay), Tony Randel (story)
Stars: Terry Farrell, Doug Bradley, Kevin Bernhardt
Notably, director Anthony Hickox’s “Hellraiser III” effectively portrays the situation wherein a woman (Paul Marshall’s sympathetic goth chick Terri) is under the thrall of a man (slime-dripping club owner J.P., played by Kevin Bernhardt). This could be extrapolated to any weak person under the influence of a more powerful person, which meshes well with the saga’s pleasure-from-pain trappings.
But the specific situation of a woman who won’t leave her abusive boyfriend comes to mind. Bernhardt and Marshall portray this common situation broadly but believably.
Although the instant nature of their friendship is weird, it’s nice to see Joey allow Terri – the initial source for her investigations of J.P.’s club – to crash at her pad. (Again, this being a movie, the condo has an extra room that Joey otherwise has no use for.)
Too many ideas, not enough of each
Eighties/early Nineties club culture is generally used as a parallel to hellish behavior, and a great film might’ve resulted if Atkins had stuck with this.
But he also touches on the horror of the Vietnam War, with Capt. Spencer (Doug Bradley, who also plays Hell master Pinhead) noting that the war destroyed an entire generation. Some literally died; the survivors died on the inside.
And Christian iconography is bastardized in the final act. It’s highlighted by Joey’s rejoinder to a priest’s (Clayton Hill) contention that demons are metaphors. “Then what the f*** is that?” she asks, as Pinhead enters the church.
The heavy metal soundtrack fits with the scary dance-club theme; the orchestral score by Randy Miller fits with the religious stuff. If any one of these themes was the focal point, “Hellraiser III” would be better.
Continually impressive effects
Meanwhile, on the special-effects front, this Clive Barker-launched franchise continues to reliably fill Fangoria’s pages. Pinhead starts the events trapped in a statue, but if victims get close enough, he can latch onto them with his chains.
In an awesome moment, young clubber Sandy (Aimee Lee) gets too close to the statue, and she gets flayed – nearly a decade before “Buffy’s” Willow learned the trick.
In a deliciously 1992 bit, a DJ gets skewered by CDs amid Pinhead’s massacre at the club. Pinhead’s allies from previous films are excised, but his “homemade” henchman are even wilder, including a guy who sounds like a robot when he moves and spits death-dealing CDs from his mouth.
Boxed in by mythology
Now what is the reasoning behind Pinhead’s activities here, you may ask? I may ask that, too, even though I just watched the film.
I don’t doubt that everything lines up if one pays close attention, but on my initial viewing I’m like: “Well, there’s a statue. And there’s a box. And Pinhead wants to bring more people to Hell. But he also doesn’t want to go back there. Or something.”
“Hellraiser III” puts me in a position where I almost want to do research to get a handle on the mythology, but I don’t quite care enough.
Very broadly speaking, it’s like a “A Nightmare on Elm Street,” with dreams playing a large role in Joey’s journey. But unlike crude jokester Freddy, Pinhead is rather formal. He’s always making intellectual arguments about the glories of physical torture.
In a twist (which isn’t really, because it was mentioned in part two), Pinhead used to be a normal Army dude, but now he is split into good and evil entities. It’s somehow shallower than it sounds. Like Joey and the protagonists before her (including Ashley Laurence’s Kirsty, who cameos here), I can’t take Pinhead too seriously.
“Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth” spins its wheels in the mud when it focuses on Pinhead’s speeches and the magic box. When it’s about a young career woman helping out another in dire straits, the movie starts to get somewhere.