Hellraiser: Inferno (2000)

Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

The film was still a fun one that will make you laugh and have you leaving the theater feeling like you just stole something valuable and got away with it.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

This is a good idea but a badly structured story... and it's this which lets the film down, greatly.Detective Joseph Thorne (Sheffer) is not a good man. On the first case, we see him investigate a dead man he bullied in high school, he steals the deadman's drugs and later the cash from his wallet, which he uses to procure a prostitute for the night. The following morning he leaves her in the motel room... alive. Later that day, he receives a distressing call from her. When he and his partner, Tony Nenonen (Turturro), turn up at the motel they find she's been slaughtered. Thorne takes it upon himself to frame his partner for the crime... should he decide not to help him find the killer. A man they later believe to be called "The Engineer".It's not until the end of the film, when all the twists have unravelled, that you fully understand and realise just how good this story is. However, you have to suffer some really bad scene construction to get there. For the most part, this is basically a thriller with gore, which isn't even up to the standard of the original series. Another thing that isn't on par with the originals is the imagination or atmosphere. There's a couple of dream sequences which are badly directed and acted, There's no tension, which should have been oozing out of the screen at these points, and there's definitely no fear. Even, when the Cenobites appear (for a Hellraiser film you don't get many Cenobites for your dollar), we are not in awe of them... we are not in fear of them... These should, at least, have a presence about them, as they did in the first four films, for these are Daemons to some and Angels to others. Beings to be worshipped and feared. It's a good thing that Bradley brings his own persona with him as Pinhead is the only eerily creepy daemon on screen. If it weren't for Pinhead this would be a massive flop. However, this is down to the straightforward, nothing new, basic direction. I do believe that the better horror films are the ones where the director tries to create something new. It's like Derrickson, didn't want to scare anybody.Sheffer is okay as the bad cop but his acting skills show their flaws every now and again, especially in the dream sequences (as mentioned before). It's Turturro and Remar that add strength to the cast, along with Bradley. It's actually nice to see Remar in a more subtle role as the Psychiatrist-come-Reverend. Though I couldn't help believing, he would have been a much better choice for the lead, It may even have been good to see Turturro stretch his acting wings in the role, as he's been a solid actor in everything I've seen him in.What this film needed was to clean up the story, add a better structural skeleton to the story and film, more Cenobites, more atmosphere, more Cenobites, more tension, more Cenobites, more fear, oh, and did I mention more Cenobites.I would recommend re-watching the original four movies rather than sitting down with this... though if you really want to... it's worth one watch... just!

After seeing the first movie I bacame a fan of the series. However, the 3rd, 4th and mainly the 5th film were a disapointment... so my expectations on Hellraiser Inferno weren't very hight. Thankfully I was wrong. This movie is completely different and innovating to this serie. More like a psychological thriller and not only the "killing demons", this movie make you suspect and try to guess the story, make you go from suspected to paranoid and, mos importantly, make you stay glued to the plot. A change like this was, in my opinion, all that was needed. Enjoy the film!!

The previous instalment of Clive Barker's Hellraiser franchise (although by this point I doubt he wants his name anywhere near the credits), Bloodline, whisked the Cenobites, the puzzle box and all of its desperate-for-a-pay-cheque actors into space. Since this is a sure-fire sign that a horror franchise is doomed and out of any fresh ideas, it was no surprise that number 5, Inferno, found itself heading straight to VHS. With Dimension Films hoping to keep the rights to a series they hope could someday be 're-booted' and back in the cinemas, they began picking up unrelated horror scripts and shoe-horning Pinhead and his minions into the story, slapping the 'Hellraiser' title on the cover to at least attract the hardcore fanbase.Joseph Thorne (Craig Sheffer) is a good detective with a bad attitude. Although he is highly intelligent with a gift for solving puzzles and, er, amateur magic tricks, he snorts cocaine, beats on innocents who won't answer his questions, and sleeps with prostitutes who apparently kiss on the lips. Along with his partner Tony (Nicholas Turturro), he discovers the Lament Configuration box at the murder scene of an old school friend who has been torn apart by hooked chains. The murder puts him on the path to 'The Engineer', a mysterious man who leaves the severed finger of a child at each of the murder scenes. Yet once Thorne solves the puzzle, he starts to hallucinate, having visions of strange, deformed creatures who torment him.As a direct-to-video effort and an entry into the atrocious, never- ending set of Hellraiser sequels, Inferno isn't all that bad. As an actual film, it's a cliché-ridden bore that neglects to give a substantial role to the franchise's (no pun intended) pin-up boy, Pinhead (Doug Bradley). Nobody picks up a DVD box with a picture of a demon with nails hammered into its head wanting to see a slow- paced detective story that plays out like Bad Lieutenant (1992) directed by Uwe Boll. The make-up budget can't be blamed either, as we are given a few scenes with lesser, ineffective Cenobites including, I think, two that know kung-fu and wear cowboy hats in the film's most random scene. Directed by an up-and-coming Scott Derrickson, let's hope he's now experienced enough to deliver a coherent Doctor Strange due later this year.

This seemed like a cheap "Silent Hill" movie than a actual "Hellraiser" sequel. It's probably the most psychedelic entry compared to the previous 4, but it lacked the "Hellraiser" elements. It's like this was suppose to be a grisly investigation movie with hallucinations with Pinhead thrown in sometimes. Maybe a alternate storyline than a companion piece with Pinhead in it. The story is about a unfaithful husband who is a cop trying to find a missing kid and murders that is taking place by some sort of faceless man. This might be a alright psychological psychedelic thriller, but doesn't really seem like a "Hellraiser" movie is all. Some say this one and "Hellseeker" makes a good connection with the 4th installment, but I don't know about that. This is more of a psychological horror thriller than a horror slasher, even if the psychological aspect aren't that in depth. I am not sure if this plot takes place, before "Hellraiser: Bloodline" but if it does, there is less fear here in my opinion. Overall this would have probably worked if it focused more on being a "Silent Hill" movie.5.6/10