Kirsty is brought to an institution after the horrible events of Hellraiser (1987), where the occult-obsessive head doctor resurrects Julia and unleashes the Cenobites and their demonic unde... Read allKirsty is brought to an institution after the horrible events of Hellraiser (1987), where the occult-obsessive head doctor resurrects Julia and unleashes the Cenobites and their demonic underworld.Kirsty is brought to an institution after the horrible events of Hellraiser (1987), where the occult-obsessive head doctor resurrects Julia and unleashes the Cenobites and their demonic underworld.
- Awards
- 1 win & 6 nominations
Angus MacInnes
- Ronson
- (as Angus McInnes)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaClive Barker had developed elaborate back-stories for the Cenobites in the first film, though their origins were never explored. In this film, he wanted to make sure that, at the very least, the audience understood that the Cenobites were once human, and that their own vices lead to their becoming demons. This element was meant to underline the story of Frank (Oliver Smith) and Julia (Clare Higgins) and their corruption by lust, with the latter intended to become the ultimate villain of the series, but Pinhead proved much more popular with audiences, and thus became the center point in further sequels.
- Goofs(at around 1h 2 mins) When Kirsty is in the maze, she runs into a brick wall which is obviously fabric.
- Alternate versionsThe UK cinema release was identical to the U.S R-rated version which removed around 2 minutes of graphic violence including various scenes of blood spurts, more explicit footage of the creations of Pinhead and the Channard cenobite, and nearly a minute from the resurrection of Julia. The 1990 UK video version then lost a further 7 secs of BBFC cuts with edits made to shots of the bloody Julia embracing the madman on the mattress and a brief shot of a bound topless woman, though confusingly the 1999 video release was cut further with an extra minute of sound edits replacing some of the previous cuts. The full unrated version was passed uncut by the BBFC in 2004.
- ConnectionsEdited from Hellraiser (1987)
Featured review
What's your pleasure?
The best thing about 'Hellbound: Hellraiser II (1988)' is its music; Christopher Young's fantastic theme is still a stand-out in the genre. The second best things about it are the numerous flashback sequences (the picture begins with an abridged version of the prior title's finale and its key points are also recalled by the protagonist later in the film), which serve not only to refresh the audience's memory but also (quite accidentally, I'll add) to remind them how much better the first flick is than this one. The feature isn't bad but, as you can probably tell, it isn't a patch on its predecessor. That's primarily because, despite its arguably more ambitious plot and accompanying aesthetics, it's simply more straightforward and, thus, isn't as interesting. Where the first flick played on the duality between the different types of evil that its two antagonists (Frank and the Cenobites) represented, this one reduces all of its villainous players to almost cardboard cut-out versions of themselves and portrays them as these much more generic 'demons' than previously seen. This removal of nuance is one of the major reasons that the villains just aren't all that frightening. The one area in which they are developed actually reduces their enigmatic nature, in turn further reducing their scariness. At this point, the filmmakers still hadn't realised the potential that Pinhead (now credited as such) had to lead the franchise as its pinnacle of pain, so he and his Cenobite cronies have arguably even less screen time than they did in their previous outing. They're also, as I've mentioned, decidedly less disquieting. Their scenes, though atmospheric, lack any sense of menace and the fact that a large portion of the piece takes place in their domain without them present makes them seem far less important than they ought to. Other issues with the movie include a messy, even slightly repetitive plot and a couple of weak characters. Having said all that, it's not as though the experience is exactly bad or anything. Its positives include some decidedly disturbing, undeniably inventive visuals and a generally ambitious, otherworldly aesthetic that must have took some skill to pull off. It's visually interesting, that's for sure, and it has a few sequences which are quite entertaining in their own right. The picture is also well-paced and generally enjoyable, even if it isn't all that compelling. It isn't scary or thought-provoking, but it's a decent attempt at dark fantasy/horror that's as ambitious as it is uneven. 6/10.
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Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Hellbound - Hellraiser 2
- Filming locations
- Pine Ridge House, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England, UK(Dr. Channard's house exteriors)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- £3,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $12,090,735
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $3,185,511
- Dec 26, 1988
- Gross worldwide
- $12,090,735
- Runtime1 hour 37 minutes
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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