Hellraiser Movies Ranked

Hellraiser is a bit rough in some ways, but what really makes it work and stand out is that it's not a movie about demons and monsters - it's about two people who are the most evil, selfish bastards you can imagine facing the consequences of their endless pursuit of hedonistic pleasure. Of course, the Cenobites are a major highlight in this, with Clive Barker's signature aesthetic and horror sensibilities making them unforgettable. Kirsty is also one of the fiercest final girls in horror and shouldn't be discounted either. All-in-all, an imperfect film, but one which does so much right that you can't help but love it.

David Bruckner's quickly establishing himself amongst the elite Hollywood horror directors and Hellraiser is another feather in his cap. Hellraiser as a franchise has had an extremely rough time over the years and this reboot is arguably the best of the lot. The film is well-directed and the makeup effects and Cenobite design is incredible, as is Jamie Clayton's performance which gets close to rivalling Doug Bradley at his best. My only real complaints are in regards to the writing in the early sections, where the characters' motivations are unclear and it makes everyone seem kind of dumb when they keep messing around with the puzzle box. It all comes together in the end though and it leaves me hopeful that David Bruckner and Jamie Clayton will return to the franchise again soon.

Bloodline manages the incredible feat of being incredibly ambitious (each act takes place across a different time period, following the creator of the Lament Configuration and their ancestors), while remaining coherent in the face of studio interference and budget cuts. The resulting film is far more interesting than it has any right to be, although the last act is about as generic sci-fi horror as you could possibly expect.

That Hellraiser: Inferno is as good as it is is largely down to Scott Derrickson's direction and the really creepy and effective Cenobite designs, which prop up an okay script. I like that the Cenobites are back to basics, no longer cackling slasher villains, but tormentors with rules who only appear to those who push the limits of depravity too far. A bit of a slow burn, but definitely an underrated entry.

My God, what a come-down from the original film. The first half is basically a worse retread of the first film. It's not until the second half that Hellbound finds something to stand on, expanding on the concept of the labyrinth and the dimension of the Cenobites. This is all very interesting, but Hellbound really fails to capitalize on this, giving us a few "personal hells" and then calling it a day. Worst of all, when the Cenobites do return, the movie basically craps all over their characters in one fell swoop, which instantly knocked this movie down even more in my estimation. There is some ambition here, I'll give it that, but it really fails to execute with any competence.

Hellraiser: Judgment is not *good*, but it is easily the most interesting film in this franchise since Inferno, thanks entirely to its focus on the machinations of heaven and hell (especially from writer/director Gary J. Tunnecliffe's scene-stealing turn as The Auditor). Otherwise, the film is brought down by an incredibly dull police procedural A-plot and an awful ending, but there's at least enough promise here that Judgment leaves a better taste in the mouth than most of its immediate predecessors.

First of all: this is one of the stupidest movie titles of all time. Secondly: this movie is a lot better than it should be. The performances are kind of fun and entertaining and the premise has potential. However, the film is let down due to its meandering pace, which just feels like it's wasting as much time as possible. You can also tell that it was not written to be a Hellraiser movie, because it's palpable that the Hellraiser elements were bolted on, badly. Still, this is very much a watchable film, even if the execution is poor.

Look, given the premise of "Hellraiser is a videogame, but then it becomes real!", Hellworld could certainly have been worse... but, then again, it probably would have been more entertaining than what we got here. Instead of kids getting drawn into a haunted video game, they go to a house to party and then spooky stuff starts happening. Imagine the most generic 2000s teen supernatural slasher movie (a la Ghost Ship), with some inspiration from Scream and Saw, and you'll have a good idea of how Hellworld actually plays out. Even a lead role from Lance Henriksen doesn't elevate the proceedings any, nor does a young Henry Cavill as the douchey, horny teenager. Hell, the movie never really establishes what the in-universe Hellworld even is, which makes things unnecessarily confusing. Oh, and to top it all off, the script makes no sense, and that's BEFORE taking into account the twist, which makes the entire thing blatantly nonsense.

Hellraiser opens with the capital film crime of bringing back Kirsty and then immediately fridging her, relegating the entire return to an over-glorified cameo. The rest of the film stars her dull, perpetually-confused husband as he bumbles through an incoherent plot. The entire film is operating on dream logic, and it pretty much tells us this up-front. Nearly every scene ends with it being revealed that (maybe) everything that just happened was actually a dream! At a certain point, that just forces the audience to stop caring about what we're seeing, because the film's just going to dick around with us, and it makes the ending twist pretty predictable (especially if you've ever seen another Hellraiser movie). Man, what happened to the days when Hellraiser movies were about evil, depraved people going too far to sate their selfishness and getting their comeuppance for it?

You can feel the Weinsteins fingers all over this movie, forcing bigger body counts for Pinhead and the Cenobites to become more like traditional slashers. The result is a film which just does not work. The characters suck, the attempts to expand the mythology suck, the script sucks... everything just sucks here. Even three movies in, you can feel this franchise struggling to justify its existence.

So, to the surprise of nobody, Hellraiser: Revelations is BAD. This is clearly down to it being an ashcan production, because the script is worthless, and the budget is practically non-existent. It's a nasty, pointless affair filled with characters that leave no impression. This maybe could have been an okay first draft for a movie, but as-is, Revelations leaves you feeling a profound sense of dissatisfaction.