Director: Anthony Hickox
Writer: Clive Barker, Peter Atkins
Year: 1992

The original Hellraiser left quite an impression on me. Not only was it creepy, but it had a powerful visual aesthetic that stands up today. Years ago I watched the sequel and didn’t care for it quite as much. Of course, there are still a zillion more Hellraiser movies out there. I finally decided to watch Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth during the Shudder Discord watch-along. It was… interesting.

I love Clive Barker’s concept of “bondage hell” quite a bit. As such, it was initially exciting to see a BDSM club as a main locale of the story. What kind of craziness would be conjured up in The Boiler Room? Well, there was quite a huge murder scene, but other than that, I couldn’t help but be a little let down. I just don’t enjoy the concept of a “good” pre-Pinhead guy existing and being able to contend with his hellish self.

Of course, that’s often the fall of a great horror movie franchise. Revealing a backstory for a character can go well or fall flat. I think the more that Pinhead is humanized, the less interesting he becomes as an antagonist. Fortunately the cenobites are still pretty cool in this movie – even if they become a lot more Terminator-esque. The guy with CDs jammed in his head is a personal favorite of mine.

It was certainly worth watching Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth once. I don’t think I’ll be watching it again anytime soon, though. With that said, I still have plans to eventually watch all the sequels.