Hellraiser: Inferno Review

Disclaimer: Contains spoilers!

Plot Summary: A detective attempts to uncover a criminal underground involving the puzzle box.

Review: After part 4 pretty much fucked everything up, the studio did what any rational studio would do: hijack an existing script, make it about Hellraiser, and send it straight to video. Yippee! Believe it or not, in spite of the limitations, this entry turned out to be a huge improvement over 3 and 4. Of course, there is a caveat to understand about this movie. This feels nothing like the previous installments due to this script alteration. Yet, in a way, this captures an aspect of the mythos better than we've seen before; that aspect being the depiction of what happens when someone is taken by the puzzle box.

First and foremost, the film's genre leans closer to a psychological crime-thriller rather than straight horror. Obviously, this genre change will immediately piss off fans but roll with it. With the previous films the attempt was to up the scale and scope--here, the idea is to bring things back to the street level. "Inferno" shows us what ordinary people, like Frank, would experience when seeking and finding the puzzle box. At the same time, the main character is a sleazy detective trying to figure out what is happening with this mysterious puzzle box. Rest assured, you still have Pinhead showing up, but his role is severely limited which I think adds back to his mystique; did anyone really want him to continue down that goofy route from part 3?

As for where the film truly succeeds is in showing us what being in hell would be like. True, part 2 took us to the labyrinth, however, we saw it through the eyes of characters that didn't belong there. With "Inferno" they set up a twist where we discover the main detective was taken by the cenobites when he solved the puzzle box and that most of the film's events are his personalized version of hell. Again, we saw some of this through Frank in part 2, but this goes deeper into the supernatural nature of being trapped in the labyrinth. It is lame that they present Pinhead and hell as if they're teaching you a lesson about doing evil deeds--that is far from the message of the original. I don't know though, I can reconcile in my mind that Pinhead would cater his personality to the detective's suffering. Eh, there's a reason why the score is what it is.

I'm not saying everything comes together perfectly--the low budget is certainly noticeable--but we are given an original concept that helps flesh out the mythology of the puzzle box. I thought this notion of criminal elements trying to have the puzzle box worked well; it was like an urban legend almost. The twist at the end isn't fully realized, but it was a nice touch to see the detective slowly work toward having his skin ripped off which is the major fetish of the cenobites. If anything, when Pinhead says things like "we have eternity to know your flesh," this is what that would entail. The last thing worth mentioning is that this installment basically stands alone so, if you wanted to check this out, you don't need prepping. If you have your expectations in check--that this is part 5 in a franchise that has been demoted to video rather than a theatrical release--than you should be pleasantly surprised.

Notable Moment: When those ninja cowboys(?) pop up out of nowhere. Uhh...what the fuck was that all about?

Final Rating: 6/10