Movie Defense Force: Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth

Jimothy Sterling

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Apr 18, 2011
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Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth

Unbearable, isn't it? The suffering of strangers, the agony of friends. There is a secret song at the center of the world, Escapist, and its sound is like razors through flesh.

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Zhukov

The Laughing Arsehole
Dec 29, 2009
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I can't help but notice that a lot of these movie defenses of yours essentially consist of, "Well, at least you can laugh at how bad it is."
 

tardcore

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I used to loathe this movie as for me it was the point at which the entire Hellraiser franchise completely shit the bed. I have to admit though that your little trip down Nostalgia Boulevard is making me wonder if maybe my anger was more than a bit misplaced. Watching the film in a less serious manner could prove quite entertaining. I'll have to track a copy down and see how it plays out a second time round.
 

Reeve

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Zhukov said:
I can't help but notice that a lot of these movie defenses of yours essentially consist of, "Well, at least you can laugh at how bad it is."
That's what happens when you try to pretend that something awful has any redeeming qualities. It reminds me Moviebob's plea for people to stop ironically enjoying things and this bit from Bill Hicks:

 

Ralen-Sharr

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Feb 12, 2010
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Pinhead had a good side? Been a long time since I saw a hellraiser film, because I don't remember that.
 

ZZoMBiE13

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Oct 10, 2007
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This is an interesting series and I'm glad that it's here on The Escapist. However, I cannot, for the life of me, understand but about a third of the theme song. Perhaps it's time to look into that hearing aid after all.

Getting older sucks. :(
 

revjay

Everybody's dead, Dave.
Nov 19, 2007
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Ralen-Sharr said:
Pinhead had a good side? Been a long time since I saw a hellraiser film, because I don't remember that.
The lieutenant that was turned into pinhead was considered his "good" side. As good as someone interested in Marchands cube can be at least.

BTW, the cd guy was named in the credits, cd the dj. I watched way too much hellraiser when these were in theatres.
 

plugav

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Mar 2, 2011
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Oh, this was such a wonderfully awful series. I watched all of it.

Zhukov said:
I can't help but notice that a lot of these movie defenses of yours essentially consist of, "Well, at least you can laugh at how bad it is."
In my experience as a horror fan, a bad movie that's a good laugh is actually a rare thing. Most of them are just stupid and boring.
 

II2

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Mar 13, 2010
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I notice you didn't defend the inclusion of cigarette fingers "I'mma burn you" lady cenobite. Considering how dumb I feel even mentioning it, perhaps that's best left unremaked upon. Oops.

Suggestion for future episode: The FLY II

It got a lot of flack for not as good as Cronenberg's landmark The FLY 1985 remake, since that movie was amazing and above normal horror grade, but the sequel didn't deserve the hate it got. It was directed by the special effects supervisor / engineer from the cronenberg film, Chris Walas, and traded the cerebral plot and contemplative tone for an all out practical effect gorefest that was actually quite enjoyable if you divorce it from the expectations the high water mark it's predecessor set.
 

shintakie10

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Ralen-Sharr said:
Pinhead had a good side? Been a long time since I saw a hellraiser film, because I don't remember that.
Oh yeah. You should see some of the later Hellraisers. In one of them all the cenobites actually get "redeemed" when some crazy doctor guy purposely gets sucked into hell and gets turned into some wierd...tentacle...thing and they end up savin some...lady?

I don't remember it exactly.
 

Dfskelleton

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Apr 6, 2010
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Doug Bradley was the only reason I sat through ALL 8 of those movies. As said, 1 & 2 are almost factually awesome, but everything after that took a turn for the stupid. Sure, there were higher points (I thought Bloodlines was alright), but it also had some really, REALLY low points (Any mention of "Hellworld" inspires a vomiting reflex on my part).
And yet, Doug Bradley's role as Pinhead did not waver or degenerate once. Even as Pinhead's character began to degrade, Bradley kept up with it perfectly, and redeemed each movie more than a little.
I think this is kind of commonplace for some horror franchises. The "Saw" movies have pretty much become gore porn, but Tobin Bell's performance remained steadfast in it's awesomeness.
Likewise, as a big Nightmare on Elm Street fan, I can safely say that the series would've been truly lost without Robert Englund's stellar portrayal of Freddy Krueger. I don't care how stupid the films got, Englund made them incredibly entertaining. In fact, I'll retain that Krueger has to be one of the most fun to watch villains in cinematic history. He's not a particularly deep villain, but it fulfills the desire to know "Just what would happen if you gave a psychotic killer control over a universe that's limited only by his imagination?" It's the type of idea that fuels my deluded notion that Freddy's descent into silliness is more of a character development, more of him slowly coming to realize that he can literally do anything he wants in the dream world with no consequences, as opposed to crappy writers.
 

Fdzzaigl

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What mostly pissed me off about nr. 3 was the way most actors (except Doug Bradley) were just not acting at all. They were all delivering their lines as if it was their first time acting in some highschool theatre happening (and I've even seen better acting there).
 

animeh1star1a

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JenSeven said:
Next time: Space Jam?
Might be a bit too hard to defend that one.
But... i liked that movie.....

plugav said:
Oh, this was such a wonderfully awful series. I watched all of it.

Zhukov said:
I can't help but notice that a lot of these movie defenses of yours essentially consist of, "Well, at least you can laugh at how bad it is."
In my experience as a horror fan, a bad movie that's a good laugh is actually a rare thing. Most of them are just stupid and boring.
And i absolutely agree. Basically its the difference between "attack of the killer tomatoes" and the Dragon Ball Z Live action movie.... one is so bad its good, the other is so bad that watchers would do anything to wipe the experience from their memories.
 

lead sharp

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Nov 15, 2009
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Nah, I loved Hellraiser 3. It's different and everyone's scared of different. The later ones are even enjoyable and bring back a more Hellraiser TV series feel with Pinhead taking the back seat again.

Sometimes it IS actually ok to just...enjoy a movie.
 

RJ Dalton

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Aug 13, 2009
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I never cared for Hellraiser myself. I loved it's ideas, but it's presentation didn't do anything all that interesting with them.
 

Oskuro

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shintakie10 said:
Oh yeah. You should see some of the later Hellraisers. In one of them all the cenobites actually get "redeemed" when some crazy doctor guy purposely gets sucked into hell and gets turned into some wierd...tentacle...thing and they end up savin some...lady?

I don't remember it exactly.
That would be Hellraiser II, and what you define as "redeemed" is actually "killed", but hey, details.

The later movies follow a similar pattern to the Leprechaun movies, that is, there's a Hellraiser IN SPAAAAACE. They stopped short of having him back in tha hood.


Back on track, when I was younger I actually considered Hellraiser III the best of the first three movies, because it was the one I had the most fun with. Eventually I came to appreciate the first two movies on their own terms, and my favourite now is probably the second (mostly due to it's portrayal of hell).

I guess what Jim is saying is that a movie that is fun to watch, even if it fails to be what it set out to be, is still a worthwhile moviegoing experience.
 

Darks63

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Considering the stupid hellraiser movies that came out after the 4th movie (Pinhead in space) I'm surprised this one gets so much heat. I mean hell after the 5th on Doug Bradley does not reprise his role as pinhead and your know thats a bad sign.