“Hellraiser: Revelations” (2011) is the worst “Hellraiser” movie, but among the most interesting to discuss. Because Dimension has a contract with the “Hellraiser” IP where it must make a movie every so often in order to retain the rights, it hired Gary J. Tunnicliffe (the franchise’s veteran special-effects maestro) to quickly write this ninth movie, and Victor Garcia to direct.
Cheap and fast
Given that the 75-minute film was shot in three weeks on a budget of $300,000, Tunnicliffe’s and Garcia’s professionalism are apparent. The practical effects are for the most part good. Stephan Smith Collins gets made fun of for being the new Pinhead after Doug Bradley’s eight iconic turns, but he’s the least of the film’s problems.
In one instance, there apparently wasn’t time to do effects work. One young man (Jay Gillespie’s Nico) is sucked into Hell and trades skin with his best friend (Nick Eversman’s Steven). Nico comes out looking exactly like Steven, and totally free of scars. On multiple levels, that’s not how skin replacement works.
“Hellraiser: Revelations” (2011)
Director: Víctor Garcia
Writer: Gary J. Tunnicliffe
Stars: Nick Eversman, Jay Gillespie, Tracey Fairaway
The story is the same as in the 1987 original — one skinless person is in the dominion of Pinhead, and can perhaps return to normal human life if given enough sacrifices. So, actually, “Revelations” gets closer to the saga’s roots than movies 5-8, which use the Puzzle Box lore as garnishes. This narrative is grafted onto a home-invasion horror story.
The writing and acting are generally mediocre. I especially like Tracey Fairaway as Emma, the girlfriend of one of the missing lads and brother of the other. She’s cute and sexy. Hey, I’ll take what I can get in a D-grade horror film. The standout sequence finds the supposed Steven seducing sister Emma, as “Hellraiser” borrows from the second “Amityville” film’s “can’t look away” incest horror.
It starts mediocre and gets worse
“Revelations” starts off as mediocre handheld found-footage horror about the two boys going to Tijuana for some debauchery. They instead find a Puzzle Box, and it’s amusingly underwhelming to see Pinhead pop into a home video. The film then becomes below average as home-invasion horror. The tension and mystery aren’t there because – as always – we know Pinhead did it, and he’ll pop in when the Puzzle Box is opened.
Then it’s par for the course in the traditional Hell-dimension finale, with the requisite scenes of people’s skin being pierced and yanked by hooked chains. Adding a slight spice is the fact that these are two full families, for a total of five victims in addition to the two boys.
So there are lots of scenes of Emma and everyone else whimpering and crying as the converted Nico-in-Steven’s-skin threatens everyone with a shotgun in the living room. With only a few locations, and a generic suburban house being the primary one, this is like a horror stage play.
The movie’s low budget is so obvious that I ultimately don’t blame any cast or crew member for the issues. However, we don’t grade major-studio releases on a curve, and “Revelations” earns its widespread status as the worst “Hellraiser” film.