An investigative reporter must send the newly unbound Pinhead and his legions back to Hell.
This entry in the series sees the franchise fall by the wayside a little, it was bound to happen sooner or later it always does. Luckily it isn’t un-watchable and is actually entertaining but it does what most franchises do, it breaks it’s own rules.
With “Hellraiser III: Hell On Earth” we see the cenobites trapped in a sort of totem pole waiting to be unleashed. This time around though the rules are different, where as before the Cenobites could only be summoned or banished by the box and they couldn’t harm the truly innocent etc. These rules are out the window and we see Pinhead turn in-to more of a comedic Freddy Kreuger style killer which disappointed me but it was good to see him have more lines as his dialogue is always great.
I also enjoyed seeing Doug Bradley out of make-up, explaining more of his back story and asking for help in destroying what he had become but the ultimate scene for me was in the Pinhead make-up. If you’ve seen the film then you probably already know what I’m going to say, yes it’s the church scene. It’s not only the best scene in the film, it’s one of the best scenes of the franchise.
Directing duties were once again passed on, this time to Anthony Hickox who made the “Waxwork” films. He did a very good job of sticking to the dark atmospheric type of film we were now used to. Writer Peter Atkins was originally meant to direct the film but when Miramax bought the series, they felt he didn’t have enough experience.
Also the effects in this film are fantastic, the make-up and effects crew deserve a huge kudos for their work. The only downfall on the effects side of things is the very bad CGI, true it was 1992 so it was still in it’s early stages but it just didn’t stand up-to the amazing practical effects featured in the film.
“Hellraiser III: Hell On Earth” isn’t a bad film, In fact it’s quite good, it would stand well on its own. But compared to the first two “Hellraiser” films, it’s a bit of a failure. It definitely is worth a watch but don’t expect the tensity and grittiness of the first two.
Miscellaneous facts about the film:
After Joey sees the false news broadcast about the events at the Boiler Room club, she calls Doc and tells him to turn to channel 12. While Doc is switching channels, we see the previously mentioned cameo by director Anthony Hickox, as well as a quick scene from Hickox’s “Waxwork II: Lost in Time”
The scene in the construction yard takes place on the campus of Wake Forest University, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The building under construction would later become the Worrell Professional Center.
In an homage to the the first Hellraiser movie, J.P says “Come to daddy” to Terri, which is Frank’s famous line from the first movie.
The initial 1-sheet artwork featured a side shot of Pinhead’s screaming face. The MPAA said the artwork was too intense and asked that Pinhead be removed from the poster campaign. Miramax instead decided to use a composite photo of Pinhead from the original Hellraiser 1-sheet and successfully argued that it was suitable as it had already been used in the past. The MPAA relented and allowed this new poster art to be used.
The band appearing at the Boiler Room is Armored Saint performing the song “Hanging Judge”.
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