I was browsing my local video store and saw this film staring back at me. After a moments contemplation I figured 'fuck it' and bought it, if for no other reason than to complete my collection. I went home, popped it in and I'm here to share the results.
The premise here is an easy one. two boys head for Mexico in an attempt to leave their mundane lives behind them. Once there, they discover the Lament Configuration and unleash pinhead and his cenobites. The two boys are taken and a year later on the anniversary of their disappearance, one shows up at a memorial dinner. Not to fond of having souls escape him, Pinhead and the gang descend upon the homestead to reclaim what is rightfully his.
Now, on to the shocking news: this movie isn't terrible! It's certainly nowhere near as good as the original two installments but let's be honest, neither were the other sequels. The story here does hearken back to the tone of the original installments. There are also some nice twists and turns thrown in as well as a sort of homage to the original. There was also a reduced amount of Pinhead as in the originals.
The effects here were also pretty well done. It was obvious that they were on a limited budget but the effects are certainly on par with if not better than the last three installments. The gore was very well done as were Pinheads signature hooked chains. Further impressing me was the fact that the director was allotted only two weeks to shoot and edit the film. That being said, it is pretty damn impressive what they were able to pull off.
Now, onto the man himself: Stephen Collins steps into the massive shoes left by Doug Bradley. While he does indeed look like a totally different Pinhead, it's not terrible. He's a decent enough actor and he actually seems more energetic and dare I say, hungry, than Bradley in the last several films. Bradley seemed almost bored in the last few movies, seemingly there to collect a check. Now, I'm not saying Collins is better than Bradley as that isn't the case. I'm simply stating that they could've done a hell of a lot worse.
There is also the inclusion of a "pseudo Pinhead" which is actually decent. He does look a little too similar to Pinhead, yet it's a pretty cool inclusion and does play into the mystery aspect quite nicely. The acting is spotty across the board. The two young men who are the leads bounce back and forth from compelling to outright irritating. The character Niko is consistently obnoxious and unlikable as well as untalented. His costar however, does pick up his slack. Also, as stated, Collins holds his own considering the shoes he has to fill. They slightly tweaked Pinheads look but it kind of works here as it is a different actor and it's only right they try not to outright copy Bradley.
The only major complaints would be the uneven acting, the awful male lead Niko and the fact that they didn't enhance Collins voice to give him that otherworldly tone that they gave Bradley. Overall however, the movie wasn't bad. There are plenty of worse ways to spend an hour and a half. So, for all you Hellraiser or Clive Barker fans, give this one a chance. It isn't amazing but it will at least satisfy your Pinhead appetite. In addition, it certainly is better than Hellworld and Hellseeker. Do yourselves a favor and check this one out. In an era of remakes, at least they had the balls to go forward with a franchise instead of remaking it for the tween audiences.
