Tonight's Midnight Movie: "Hellraiser 4: Bloodline"

Year: 1996

Actors: Bruce Ramsay, Valentina Vargas, Doug Bradley, Charlotte Chatton

Director: Alan Smithee, Kevin Yagher

Formats: DVD

Price: £1.99

Mini Review

“Hellraiser: Bloodline” follows the bloodline of the Merchant family. Since the creation of the original box right through to the future the family has dealings with the box and the Cenobites. Each generation makes attempts to destroy what their ancestors created and set loose but will they succeed? The movie gives us a window on several historical time periods, each with their own chapter on how the box came to be and how the Cenobites can be destroyed.

Verdict

“Hellraiser: Bloodline” takes a real risk in being set in several time periods, a clear contrast from previous outings. Generally the movie gets poor reviews (having Alan Smithee as a director is not too encouraging). However, I’m not going to be too harsh on it. The plot involves the creation of the first box which is always good to see and also we receive a new Cenobite in Angelique. Personally I like the plot thread that the box haunts the bloodline of the Merchant family, for a fourth movie plot it’s not a bad concept at all. Thinking of another of my favourite mediums (video games) “Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem” uses the same idea and was applauded for essentially the same concept.

Time after time the Merchants are visited by the Cenobites throughout history and in to the future. This leads to an obviously plot floor in that if they so wanted I’m certain that the Cenobites could wipe out a bloodline if they really tried. Escaping the Cenobites for generations just seems to go against previous form. However, horror movies are generally full of these discussion points and I won’t hold it against what is generally an interesting movie.

As ever Doug Bradley’s return of Pinhead is excellent, he was simply made for the part. I’m not so sure about Angelique though, the idea of a female lead Cenobite is good but she seem to lack the on screen presence of Pinhead. A fourth Hellraiser movie was always going to be a real stretch in terms of keeping an audience. I’m pleased to say that the movie did re-invent the plot. Looking at Parts one to four, each movie is unique and not yet too repetitive on plot line. My personal opinion is that no more movies past part four should have been made, the franchise effectively died with this one.

My verdict on “Hellraiser: Bloodline” is that it is the last Hellraiser movie worth watching, especially if you are a fan of the first three movies. Past this point there can only be repetition, lesser directors and lower budgets. Inferno and Hellseeker are just dire attempts at generating money from the corpse of a franchise, I may not ever make time to write a specific blog about these. The can be summed up as “simply terrible”.

Pros: Interesting plot concept. Great acting from Doug Bradley.

Cons: The end of an era. Not ground-breaking enough.

The Haunted Cinema Rating: 6 cursed bloodlines out of 10.

Should our review not be enough for you try these links.
IMDB: Hellraiser: Bloodline
Wikipedia: Hellraiser: Bloodline
Amazon: Hellraiser 4 - Bloodline [DVD]

Happy hauntings, Jiblet.

Your views: Watched this? Own this? Recommend this? Have a question about this? Please feel free to comment.

Tonight's Midnight Movie: "Hellraiser 3: Hell On Earth"

Year: 1992

Actors: Terry Farrell, Doug Bradley, Kevin Bernhardt

Director: Anthony Hickox

Formats: DVD

Price: £2.99

Mini Review

“Hellraiser 3: Hell on Earth” continues the franchise of Pinhead and the Cenobites. Pinhead emerges trapped in a block of concrete along with the box. Pinhead must convince young Playboy JP Monroe to help him escape the block by luring victims to their death (the blood regenerating Pinhead). Pinhead then seeks to destroy the box forever so that he can create a lasting Hell on Earth.

Verdict

Now here’s where the Hellraiser series takes its first wobble. Parts one and two are exemplary in terms of quality. Part three was always going to be a struggle to continue the form. The loss of Clive Barker’s direct involvement and a change from most of the original cast really show here. Since part three wasn’t penned as part of the original story it does seem a little disjointed from the first movies. Another issue is that we’ve seen the Cenobites and Hell close up already, part three was always going to suffer from the familiarity of the setup. The same can be applied to most horror movies, once you’ve seen Freddy Kruger kill in six movies the 7th really doesn’t leave much open for surprise.

So where to go with the plot? Well I think that the series did take a good decision here on focussing on the Pinhead character. The movie is much more revealing than the first two regarding his origins and a little bit more of the history of the box. This movie turns much more mainstream than he first two with an obvious emphasis on kill count and shock rather than the storyline.

The characters are at least memorable, Pinhead steals the show with his manic killing spree. We are also introduced to JP Monroe, he’s one of those guys that really needs a visit from a Cenobite. He’s rude, misogynistic, dumb and you just really want to see him get butchered in nasty ways.

Oddly enough though “Hellraiser: Hell on Earth” is a movie that I still enjoy. Seeing Pinhead rampage a nightclub with his chains is good viewing. There’s also some nice flashback scenes of the journey to becoming a Cenobite. Whilst I can’t support that this is a great classic I would defend that for a movie that is essentially the “cash in” movie it keeps true to the main ideas and is at least entertaining. It’s certainly better than Halloween Part 3 or Nightmare on Elm Street Part 3 and perhaps even Friday 13th Part 3. Keeping a good idea going is difficult and “Hellraiser: Hell on Earth” was a real test, I think it’s as good as I could have expected.

Pros: Pinhead is set loose. Story is progressed.

Cons: The new Cenobites are a little bit lacking in terror. Movie leaves the series open for more sequels.

The Haunted Cinema Rating: 6 new Cenobites out of 10.

Should our review not be enough for you try these links.
IMDB: Hellraiser 3: Hell On Earth
Wikipedia: Hellraiser 3: Hell On Earth
Amazon: Hellraiser III - Hell on Earth [DVD] [1993]

Happy hauntings, Jiblet.

Your views: Watched this? Own this? Recommend this? Have a question about this? Please feel free to comment.

Tonight's Midnight Movie: "The Masque of the Red Death"

Year: 1964

Actors: Vincent Price, Hazel Court, Jane Asher, David Weston

Director: Roger Corman

Formats: VHS, DVD

Price: £3.99

Mini Review

“Masque of the Red Death” is one of the Poe/Vincent/Corman classics. Poe’s original work is a short story based in a plague hit time. Victims of the Red Death sweat blood and have horrific deaths. The slightly insane and ruthless Prince Prosperso (Vincent Price) attempts to ride out the Red Death behind the confines of his abbey walls caring little for those around him. Instead he holds a masquerade ball for the nobles and wealthy. Since this is an Edgar Allan Poe story you can expect death and decay as an unexpected visitor joins the party.

Verdict

I first saw “Masque of the Red Death” when I was about seven years old. I remember distinctly coming back from my grandparents’ house having stopped off at the Fish ‘n Chip shop on the way back. I remember looking up and seeing the intro of the Red Death. The creepy cloaked character handing out a rose. The whole thing was spellbinding in a creepy way. This was probably the first time I’d seen or heard Vincent Price or heard of Edgar Allan Poe. The experience was one of intrigue.

I have to say to a seven year old the “Masque of the Red Death” is not a great movie. It’s not particularly action packed or child friendly. I do remember the experience though. The slightly blurry camera lens, the washed out colours and Vincent hamming it up to epic proportions. Revisiting a few years later I’d already moved on to “The Pit and the Pendulum”, “Dr Phibes” and all the other gems that Vincent brought us. The revisit was well worth it. Having now read the works of Poe and seen a lot more of Vincent’s work I really enjoy “Masque of the Red Death”. Much of Poe’s work is allegorical and it’s nice to see that the messages from the original text do seem to be carried in to the movie.

This type of horror is not scary in the sense of shocks and jumps, it’s more of a psychological sickening. The idea of madness caused by the yellow room (my room was yellow as a child), the idea of disease and the on-going gloomy decaying outlook of the world. From start to finish the movie put you in a slightly depressed ill feeling tone. Since the movie can do this I’m impressed. I can happily walk in to a modern horror and forget the imagery and plot almost the second I leave the theatre. “Masque of the Red Death” however leaves a lasting impression and nauseating feeling. Now that’s something special. The movie does now look incredibly dated and the younger generations are likely to give this one a miss for that reason. For those of an adventurous mind I’d recommend this one for a dreary afternoon, I still slightly prefer “The Pit and the Pendulum” but this is still a true gothic horror classic.

Pros: Vincent Price, Edgar Allan Poe, Roger Corman.

Cons: Limited appeal to a younger audience. Really depressing.

The Haunted Cinema Rating: 7 bleeding faces out of 10.

Should our review not be enough for you try these links.

IMDB: Masque of the Red Death

Wikipedia: Masque of the Red Death

Amazon: Masque Of The Red Death [DVD]

Happy hauntings, Jiblet.

Your views: Watched this? Own this? Recommend this? Have a question about this? Please feel free to comment.

Tonight's Midnight Movie: "The Pit and the Pendulum"

Year: 1961

Actors: Vincent Price, John Kerr, Barbara Steele

Director: Roger Corman

Formats: VHS, DVD

Price: £3.89

Mini Review

“The Pit and the Pendulum” is yet another Vincent Price/Roger Corman movie based on a short story by Edgar Allan Poe. Set in the period of the Spanish inquisition the plot regards and Englishman (Francis Bernard) that is investigating the death of his sister (Elizabeth). Since this is a Poe story this all takes place in gothic castle. Throughout the movie there are ghostly goings on, mystery and attempts to block his questioning. In particular Nicholas (Vincent Price) seems to be covering up the true nature of Elizabeth’s death by claiming that it was a rare blood disorder. There are ghostly sightings, harpsichords, mysteries and a climactic ending.

Verdict

“The Pit and the Pendulum” is yet another chance for Vincent Price to shine. He’s both creepy and mysterious. My verdict on the movie is that considering that this was originally a short story there was a lot of work done to adapt it in to an interesting enough full-length feature. As a result I think that the pacing of the movie suffers slightly in the middle. After all, the movie implies a pendulum and most people will already know the short story. Sadly, since I’m from the UK Edgar Allan Poe is not currently on our core reading list as part of our school literature education. I believe that for most American students though he must be quite engrained in the literature culture and be waiting for the pendulum scene.

The movie overall is a paradise for 1960’s horror movie goers. There’s suspense, good direction and a strong story line to follow. There are some excellent flash back scenes with Barbara Steele. For its time I can only speculate that this was quite a thought provoking movie. There are strong themes of murder, torture and the slight madness in Price’s character. As with many of the Corman movies I was left feeling slightly depressed and nauseated. It’s a tale well told and a very solid movie for anone looking to get in to 1960’s horror.

Pros: Great imagery (especially the iron maiden), solid story, Vincent Price.

Cons: Now looks slightly dated and slow paced at times.

The Haunted Cinema Rating: 7 iron maidens out of 10.

Should our review not be enough for you try these links.

IMDB: The Pit and the Pendulum
Wikipedia: The Pit and the Pendulum
Amazon: Pit & The Pendulum [DVD]


Happy hauntings, Jiblet.

Tonight's Midnight Movie: "Hellraiser 2: Hellbound"

Year: 1988

Actors: Kenneth Cranham, Clare Higgins, Ashley Laurence, Doug Bradley

Director: Tony Randel

Formats: DVD

Price: £4.20

Mini Review

Following on directly from the first Hellraiser movie, Hellbound takes us further in to the box and the Hell that lies beyond. Kirsty receives a blood soaked message that her father is in Hell, she decides to make a rescue attempt along with a mute girl. We are introduced to Dr Charnard, a psychiatric doctor obsessed with the study of the boxes. It isn’t long before he finds the secret of the bloody mattress that can bring Claudia back to life and so begin his own descent in to Hell. I don’t want to give any plot spoilers here, needless to say we see the return of the Cenobites (including Pinhead), the blood and gore also return.

Verdict

What I like about Hellbound is that it is written as a traditional sequel. Part 1 left several hooks and unanswered questions for part 2 to address (and it does). So many modern franchises have to shoehorn in reasons for a sequel, Hellraiser genuinely needed one. The story focuses much more on what is behind the box when it is solved. We get to see an actual depiction of Hell which is suitably disturbing. One of the stand out points here is the character of Dr Chanard, he’s creepy, he’s cooky, he’s altogether messed up in the head. As creepy as he is there’s something about Clive Barker’s story telling that helps us understand and even empathise with his character at least in the early stages of the movie. He’s obsessed with solving the riddle of the boxes and is taking a serious approach to his research. I think the reason we can identify with him is that he has a chance to answer questions through his research. Who hasn’t at some point been curious enough to make their own research projects?

Needless to say the backdrop of a psychiatric hospital is always going to lead to a bit of madness. The scenes are incredibly blood-laden but they are necessary on account of the story line.

The return of Pinhead (previously credited only as “Lead Cenobite” in part 1) is back and as sinister as ever. To be fair he doesn’t have too much to do in terms of the plot line but Doug Bradley delivers every line to perfection, this is how to make a character. His character is neither really bad nor really good “Angels to some, demons to others” as he describes the Cenobites. For him, the torture of those that open the box is a full time job. When I see him on screen I always get the impression he’s been busy elsewhere up until the moment we see him, in some ways he seems quite indifferent and very matter of fact. This is in great contrast to other horrors of the time such as Friday 13th, Halloween and Nightmare on Elm Street where the protagonists are pretty much out for a high kill count as motivation. The other differential being that Hellraiser parts 1 and 2 actually have a plot rather than just a sustained massacre.

The plot works well as we see the return of many of the original cast and have a good stand-off situation between good and evil. There’s development of the main characters and also enough to leave questions surrounding the origins of the box. The movie is also quite arty in its own way. Clive Barker has a way of making ugly things look beautiful. Had the series stopped here at part 2 I think that the series would be a lot higher regarded than it now is due to the lesser sequels that followed.

On balance I really can’t decide if Hellbound is better than the original. It’s story is less contained than the first and certainly more bloody. Since part 1 and part 2 seem to come as a package I will recommend them both. Certainly if you like part 1 you will enjoy part 2 just as much.

Pros: A good overall watch with plenty of story and blood.

Cons: Left the series open to further sequels.

The Haunted Cinema Rating: 8 psychiatric patients out of 10.

Should our review not be enough for you try these links.

IMDB: Hellraiser 2: Hellbound

Wikipedia: Hellraiser 2: Hellbound

Amazon: Hellbound - Hellraiser II [DVD] [1989]

Happy hauntings, Jiblet.

Tonight's Midnight Movie: "Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust"

Year: 2000

Actors: Hideyuki Tanaka, Ichiro Nagai

Director: Yoshiaki Kawajiri

Formats: DVD

Price: £5.49

Mini Review

“Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust” is an anime horror adventure set in a not too distant apocalyptic world where vampires are being hunted to extinction. The plot concerns a young girl called Charlotte that has been captured/eloped with one of the last remaining vampires. The hero of the movie “D” is a Dunpeal, half human, half vampire. He is hired to defeat the vampire and return Charlotte to her family for financial reward. Seeking the same reward are the Marcus brothers, a small group of humans with a speciality for vampire/monster hunting missions.

Verdict

First off I have issues in classifying this movie as a horror movie. It’s more of a gothic/dark themed cartoon rather than anything intended to scare the audience. I’d describe this movie as more of an action/adventure that just happens to have a vampire as a protagonist. It lacks the soul of a real horror movie. Having said that it doesn’t take anything away from the enjoyment. The obvious distinguishing feature of “Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust” is that is an anime. This drastically limits what can be done in terms of horror. There’s no make-up and limited possibilities of realism that add to the haunted house movies. The medium also relies heavily on the audience to get in to the story line.

As a movie “Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust” does work for the most part. It tells a story (or at least part of a larger one). The hero is frustratingly aloof for my liking though, he has a slow way of speaking and we are no further in understanding his character at the end of the movie than we were at the start. Perhaps this is intentional as we are seeing a very short time span of an immortals life. I find him quite forgettable though as a lead character.

The animation does work very well. Whilst some scenes look quite cheaply made (although they weren’t) others look great. It’s clear that the emphasis of the animators time was focussed on the showdowns near the end of the movie. Having seen only around 10 anime movies I’d still only put “Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust” in the middle in terms of animation quality.

This is a movie that I like quite a bit but would find difficult to recommend for several reasons. Firstly, if you expect scares or any traditional horror features they just aren’t here to be found. Secondly I think that the anime medium may put some viewers off the idea. Having said that “Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust” is certainly an interesting movie and a world removed from Frankenstein, The Wolfman and Dracula. If you are looking for some gothic monster action that is a little bit different, this could be the movie for you. I’ve posted the trailer below for your amusement.

Pros: An nice anime alternative to mainstream horror.

Cons: Lack of scares, slightly weak lead character.

The Haunted Cinema Rating: 7 talking hands out of 10.

Should our review not be enough for you try these links.

IMDB: Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust

Wikipedia: Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust

Amazon: Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust [DVD]

Happy hauntings, Jiblet.

Freddy Vs Jason Vs Michael

Tonight I thought that we would debate the long running "Which is the best slasher franchise?" It's a Horror Battle Royal between "A Nightmare on Elm Street", "Friday 13th" and the "Halloween" franchises.

Now the answer is obviously "Nightmare on Elm Street" but that's just my opinion. Instead I thought that I would take a more empirical (if what a little simplified) look at the highs and lows of the genre. It may be appropriate at this point to let on that my day job is as a finance data analyst, previously it had been a retail analyst so I will use a few simple industry standard techniques to see which franchise and movie is the king of the slashers. For this little mock up. Any results and conclusions are based on the data for fun. Please know that there's great movies in all 3 franchises and I could have used alternative analysis methods to look at the success of the movies (however, the raw data is very much real).

I will be analysing by three main dimensions:

Budget ($)

Gross Profit ($)

Ranking (/10)*

*I will be using IMDB as a data source as it's reasonably impartial.

The aim here is a very simplistic way to establish the below:

What’s the highest Ranking?

Well, as you can see below I’ve plotted the ratings for each movie on the charts below. In terms of rating the original in each series is considered the best. Each franchise seems to deteriorate in quality over time. “Halloween 3: Season of the Witch” and “Halloween: Resurrection” received just 3.9 rankings on IMDB. Although the original Halloween movie tops the rankings chart at 7.9. Overall though there’s very little to choose from in terms of IMDB rating. The average rating chart shows a spread of just 0.58 between the franchises.

 What’s the most profitable?

Interesting here how the 3 franchises made their profits. Friday 13th went low budget but high on quantity. Nightmare on Elm Street was generally declining in profit until reinvented as “Freddy Vs Jason” and the remake. Halloween generally increases profitability after movie 6 “The Curse of Michael Myers”. Looking at the franchised as a whole the data suggests that Friday 13th is the overall most profitable, then Nightmare on Elm Street, followed by Halloween.

 

 What’s the most expensive to make?

The budgets of each franchise are a story in themselves. Nightmare on Elm Street took a simple strategy of building on past success, incrementally increasing the spending. This seems to have worked well and the cash cow keeps giving. Friday 13th took the thrift option of the lowest budgets of the 3 franchises. Only for “Freddy Vs Jason” and the 2009 remake do we see the budgets rise to compete with the other modern movies. These last 2 movies also returned some of the highest gross profits of any of the franchises showing that the budget increase was a good step to take financially. Halloween made an interesting decision after movie 6 “The Curse of Michael Myers” the budgets leapt from $5m to $17, for “Halloween H20: 20 Years Later”. Overall the budgets were the highest for the Elm Street franchise (mostly due to the £35m remake).

 

So, which series is best?

In terms of High Budgets and Overall Ratings “Nightmare on Elm Street” is our winner.

I will give a special award to the original Halloween that converted a budget of $320,000 in to a $46.7m profit for a single movie. In turn leading to a franchise of 10 movies plus another in the filming stage right now.

I will also tip my hat to the “Friday 13th” franchise. 12 movies so far and all made at a cheap budget but capable of getting cinema goers through the doors.

Hopefully you enjoyed this little look in to “Freddy VS Jason Vs Michael”.

Happy hauntings, Jiblet.