1. Hellraiser (1987)
This is one of the absolute scariest 80s horror movie I have ever seen. This is based on the novella called The Hellbound Heart. Originally the character Pinhead didn't have a name and suppose to be a female character. OMG this has some sickening special effects. The movie starts off with Frank Cotton opening the box.
Early on in the movie after blood hit the floor upstairs. Frank escaped Hell back to our world. The cenobites aren't the main antagonist of this movie. No that honor belongs to Frank for some of the stuff he's done. This movie is no question not meant for those with a light stomach. When you see people being ripped apart trust me that image stays in your mind for years.
Doug Bradly started as the lead cenobite being one of the longest actors to reprise a horror movie villain. I can't exactly call these movies a slasher since it doesn't follow a lot of the tread as well as rules. I would say watch this in the dark close to or on Halloween it is worth doing. For an original horror movie people still keep talking about it today.
2. Hellbound: Hellraiser 2 (1988)
The second Hellraiser movie is one of the best in the franchise for many reasons. Kristy from the previous movie as well as Julia return in one horrifying tale. This time Julia is attempting to get revenge on the cenobites. She returns to our world the same way Frank did in the previous movie. You do learn more about everything.
I like when Channard Cenobite takes on the cenobites & kills them all. Especially Pinhead that ultimately plays a major role in the following movie. You get to see a lot more Hell with most demonic creatures returning from the previous movie. Kristy discovers the cenobites used to be humans a long time ago.
Honestly after watching Re-Animator I realized those movies are similar in a few ways. Both involve a crazy doctor attempting to live beyond death willing to do whatever it takes. I would say one of the better 2's in horror movie history. Doug Bradley gives an amazing performance as Pinhead as always. There are some twists you won't see coming the first few times watching.
3. Hellraiser 3: Hell on Earth (1992)
Hellraiser 3 is very true to it's name since Pinhead goes on an rampage. You see in Hellraiser 2 due to how he got killed off on the pillar. His soul split in two halves with Pinhead remaining on the pillar. When he escapes from the pillar is where Hell breaks loose. There's a famous scene where Pinhead kills everyone in this place in horrible ways.
A couple new cenobites are added although they do come off being sorta lazy. I did like the camera cenobite he does stand out. Doug Bradley plays both halves of his characters very well. If you weren't scare of Pinhead before this movie will. In this movie he isn't working for Hell like in most Hellraiser movies.
Instead he decides to literately make our world the new Hell. Why does that remind me of a particular Adam Sandler movie lol. Granted it doesn't tell a great story but it does have some great special effects. There is a high body count if you are into that kind of thing. This was where the franchise started to go down.
4. Hellraiser: Bloodline (1996)
In a few previous blogs I criticized this movie. I feel like giving it a real review since it's just weird. Parts of it are covering not only the origin of the box. Also the bloodline connected to the person that created it. Parts of it takes place in a distant future on a spaceship. A group of people get brought in to question a descendant of the guy who created the box.
He was clever in using a robot to open the box. Obviously whoever opens it they come to take that person to Hell with them. This is where different variations of the Chatterer cenobite started. He was one of the original cenobites after all. The overall pace of this movie isn't great. Some new cenobites with the twins standing out the most.
Some gruesome death scenes that makes it easier to come back to watch more. Trust me the story isn't that great. You can tell they didn't know to do a prequel or a sequel so we ended up with both of them. This was the last Hellraiser movie to hit theaters since later movies became direct to video titles.
5. Hellraiser: Judgment (2018)
The newest entry in Hellraiser franchise. I got to be honest I knew it was going to be better than the last couple movies. I didn't actually think it would be one of my favorites. Hellraiser: Judgment is a surprisingly great entry. Pinhead is much better than Revelations Pinheads. This has a great story with some great twists too.
Some great special effects that you don't expect to see in a direct to video movie. Honestly I do like some of the new cenobites added. One of them is played by the director of this movie. You can tell this wasn't rushed out. This was the fifth Hellraiser movie originally planned as a Hellraiser movie. As stated in another blog Hellraiser: Inferno to Hellworld were going to be different movies.
This is one of the best horror movies of 2018 in my opinion. I do recommend this to those loving the good Hellraiser movies. They did a truly amazing job going back to it's roots. I am blown away how much I enjoyed watching it.
Let's be honest I should do two rankings since the bad Hellraiser movies are essentially legendary in being so terrible. At the same time the good Hellraiser movies really do stand out against other demon horror movies.
Bad Hellraiser Top 6
6. Hellraiser: Bloodline
5. Hellraiser: Inferno
4. Hellraiser: Hellseeker
3. Hellraiser: Deader
2. Hellraiser: Hellworld
1. Hellraiser: Revelations
Good Hellraiser Top 4
4. Hellraiser 3: Hell on Earth
3. Hellraiser: Judgment
2. Hellbound: Hellraiser 2
1. Hellraiser
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