Acensbart
Excellent but underrated film
Kaelan Mccaffrey
Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.
Fleur
Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.
paulclaassen
It was nice to see Lance Henriksen here, as I have the world of respect for him. He is well cast as The Host. Unfortunately most of the younger stars are not very convincing in their roles, with the exception maybe being Christopher Jacot. They just don't act the way people would under the circumstances. As for Katheryn Winnick, my goodness, what's with that screeching voice? Sorry to say this, my darling, but you'll never be a scream queen!The dialogue is incredibly insensitive and very plain, actually. A lot is not understood until the twist ending. The film is not scary. It wasn't exciting. It wasn't anything really...not until things turn clearer towards the end. It was an ok entry in the series, but what happened to the iconic Hellraiser chains?? Pinhead also only makes guest appearances.
Stephen Abell
So once again, we have a good premise for a story that isn't fully developed, which in turn weakens the film. Hellworld is a computer RPG and puzzle game starring Pinhead and the Cenobites. Years later, a party is being held for a select group of gamers. To get an invite you just have to solve a puzzle. A group of five friends solve their way into the party. Once there, they meet the host, a mysterious man who has decked out the mansion with a whole host of gruesome oddities. It's not long before the blood starts to spill...It was a treat to see Lance Henriksen in a Hellraiser film... except that it's not a Hellraiser film. Out of the new series, this is the furthest off the mark... however, it is more enjoyable than the rest. Even though the twist in the tale spoils the film, in respect to it being a Hellraiser movie, it actually makes it a decent psychological thriller. Not the best as it's all been seen before, but still very watchable.The other point at odds is the acting. This isn't as strong a cast the previous flicks only Henriksen and Bradley stand out. The rest of the cast is quite average. I'll also wager this film wasn't mentioned when Cavell went up for the Superman role, But for once, the direction helps to keep the audience's attention. Bota is quite good at creating a lively party atmosphere. He even keeps the pace tripping along to the beat. This is a great surprise as his previous takes on the Hellraiser mythos have been quite meandering, even verging on boring.The major drawback to this film is the gaping holes in the story, which I cannot go into detail about because it would spoil the film for those of you thinking of watching. There are way too many inconsistencies to be explained in the film and this damages the story and lessens the enjoyment.What this film needed was a much better thought out story taking into account the Cenobites as main characters and not just add-ons. It could be done and it wouldn't have taken too much to accomplish.If you are thinking about watching the film then I would say to give it a go but remember it's not a real Hellraiser story... in fact, it's not actually a horror film. If you like psychological thrillers, with a dark supernatural twist, then you should delight in this movie.
qmtv
OK, I bought the 6 Hellraiser movies for $5, III to VIII. Here's my verdict: III – a joke of a movie, action Terminator style, with endless Pinhead boring endless dialogue – 3 stars. IV – interesting origins and some sci-fi, but amateur filmmaking – 3 stars. V – completely different. Psychological Terror Moral Lessons. Candidate to cut out at least 30 minutes of garbage and it could be a decent film – 4 stars. VI – Garbage. Another psychological terror. Miss use of characters and actors. The story sucked. – 1 star.I skipped VII by mistake and saw VIII. VIII is now a group of young friends getting killed in a club. Acting is mediocre to garbage. The dialogue sucked. Please stop adding comedy to horror films. Massive amounts of scenes could have been cut out of this film. These scenes added nothing, didn't work. And just bored the hell out of me. It's like if it was filmed they put it in the movie. You can't put all the scenes you shot in the film. Sometimes it may work while you're shooting the scenes, but when you put the whole freaking picture together you may notice it does not work, and it slows the whole thing down. Cutting the running time to about 70 minutes would have been great.Best part of the picture is the horror element. Anytime they got into nonsense conversations, small talk, with the characters the film fails. When the horror comes in, it's good. There's a scene where the black guy (now King Ezequio, from The Walking Dead) picks up a phone and says repeatedly "Can you hear me now"? I'd like to say yes, I can hear you. This is not funny, it's stupid. But maybe film makers can hear me now. We don't need comedy in horror movies. We want more horror, terror, or psychological drama. Not comedy. You want to lighten things up? Then shows us a sunset, or puppies. Not stupid comedy.My favorite so far is Hellraiser II. III and IV not much to recommend. V if edited out 30 minutes could be a decent film. VI is garbage, only a few scenes to recommend at most. VIII also if edited out 30 minutes could be decent.Rating C/D, or 3 or 4
tomgillespie2002
Due to the release of Hellraiser: Deader - the previous instalment in the increasingly dismal Clive Barker franchise - being delayed for two years before finally crawling straight to DVD, 2005 saw not one, but two follow-ups to the classic original and its stream of sequels. Hellrasier: Hellworld is director Rick Bota's third and, thankfully, final entry, and he bows out with his most atrocious Hellraiser film yet, having succeeded in turning the world of Cenobites, sadism and the quest for the ultimate pleasure into a running joke of slasher clichés, with an obligatory, blink-and- you'll-miss-it cameo by Pinhead (Doug Bradley) to loosely tie into Barker's mythology and allowing production company Dimension to retain the rights to the series in the process.Two years after they buried a close friend who became obsessed with playing online game Hellworld (based on Hellraiser) and committed suicide, five friends - Chelsea (Katheryn Winnick), Jake (Christopher Jacot), Derrick (Khary Payton), Mike (Henry Cavill) and Allison (Anna Tolputt) - receive an invitation to attend a private Hellworld party held at an old mansion. The group are warmly welcomed by the host (played by Lance Henriksen) and are taken on a tour of the mansion's lower levels, which include a former asylum and convent. After initially taking the extremeness of the party with a pinch of salt, the group start to experience strange events, such as becoming invisible to everybody around them, and the appearance of Pinhead and his Cenobites.Boasting a more recognisable cast than Rick Bota's previous entries, Hellworld still manages to fall flat on just about every level. With the action moving into the digital era with the shoddy-looking website the characters seem so enamoured with, the action is rooted firmly in the mid-90's, and is shot with the same bland, TV movie aesthetic that dogged many forgotten, bottom-shelf horror features during the decade. You would think that the presence of Henriksen, who is something of a cult legend in the B-movie circuit, would liven things up, but he looks half-asleep during his handful of scenes. Only Winnick, now enjoying success with TV drama Vikings, appears to be an actual actor, with future Man of Steel Henry Cavill mugging his way to the most annoying performance of the lot. There is nothing at all to recommend about Hellworld, with Bradley subsequently bailing the role that made him a horror icon.
