Cheap Hellraiser - Bloodline (DVD) (Bruce Ramsay, Valentina Vargas, Doug Bradley) (Kevin Yagher, Joe Chappelle, Alan Smithee) Price

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Customer Reviews of Hellraiser - Bloodline

Blood is Thicker than Water. Gory, Beautiful, flawed.
First-time director Kevin Yagher pulled his name from this fourth Hellraiser installment and cursed it to the ignominy of being directed by "Alan Smithee" when studio chiefs brought in Joe Chappelle to fill in what they thought were gaps in the movie, and I think he acted prematurely. "Bloodline" is an entertaining little wallow in the ghoulish legendry of the hellish Cenobites, their tormented minions, and the earthly conjurers who hope to bring the Demons into the material world for gain and glory, and end up giving the term "body modification" an entirely new meaning.

"Bloodline" feels like a film created by committee, which it is: it is uneven, and it's evident that Yagher's vision was unfulfilled and his contempt justified. The film begins on a space station, with Science Officer Dr. Paul Merchant (played by French Canadian actor Bruce Ramsay, who does a stellar turn with all of the Le Merchant/Merchant roles) interrupted by a security team while trying to summon the demonic Cenobites using a high-tech version of the infamous Lament Configuration. Interrogated by one of the marines (played by the lovely but underused Christine Harnos), Merchant reveals that he is the last in a bloodline of inventors and scientists, and that his ancestor Phillip Le Merchant was a fabled 18th century French toymaker who first created the hellish Lament Configuration.

Here's my advice: while I bought "Bloodline" for its gaudy, gory imagery and style, I would rent it and watch the first 40 minutes, if only for the fact that Yagher commits to celluloid some of the most graphic, stylish, erotic and disturbing images ever filmed. The story of the toymaker's design and delivery of the wicked box to a French nobleman, hedonist and sadist (played to the wild-eyed feverish hilt by Mickey Cottrell) is both hellacious and eerily beautiful, shot in natural light, the candles and firelight glittering on a palette of flesh, bone and blood. It is beautiful stuff, and I can see why Yagher resigned in disgust when his vision was commandeered by Chapelle.

Oh, and Chilean actress Valentina Vargas is glorious as the demoness Angelique, with or without skin: she can rend my flesh any day of the week.

Other than that, "Bloodline" is forgettable: we move from Le Merchant to his 20th century architect descendant and a skyscraper crammed with Cenobites, and thence to the haunted space station. While some reviewers have complained that the sanguine sequence in which two hapless twin security guards are transformed is both gratuitous and brings the movie to a halt, I enjoyed it: it's a wickedly bloody, gory piece in prime Hellraiser style. Finally, Douglas Bradley is in fine form as Pinhead---but then again, when isn't he?

For the hardcore Hellraiser fan, buy this DVD---if you don't have it in your collection already. For the casual gorehound, a rental might suffice, if only to savor the supple, gorgeous, haunting 18th century prologue.

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"I...AM...PAIN"
The Hellraiser franchise holds a special place in my heart. I will never forget the first time I saw the opening chapter in the series of films inspired by Clive Barker's nightmarish visions. Watching the original "Hellraiser" now is a mixed bag-some of those special effects look a bit hokey, but others still come across as chillingly effective. Who can forget the glistening visage of Uncle Frank? The lascivious Julia? Or the first appearance of the ominous and verbose Pinhead? The second installment improved on the first, as the film whisked the viewer away to the abode of Pinhead and the Cenobites. A gruesome, perverse picture, "Hellbound: Hellraiser 2" raised the expectations about future entries to a fever pitch. Up next came "Hellraiser 3," a personal favorite of mine even though legions of fans have subsequently disowned it. The series moved into the latter stages of its career from this point forward, taking bold steps in an attempt to expand far beyond what viewers had come to expect. The series continues today with at least two further sequels in the works. Will they find an audience or will the new arrivals fall flat on their faces? Fans will probably grumble even as they queue up to watch.

"Hellraiser: Bloodline" took the risky step of moving the storyline into space, a cringe inducing idea at first until you actually watch the movie. Who can forget the nightmare that was "Leprechaun 4"? Fortunately, only certain segments take place on a spaceship. The majority of the film heads back to the past to explain the origins of the Lament Configuration, that dreaded box which hundreds of seekers have opened only to find the Cenobites waiting for them. Dr. Paul Merchant (Bruce Ramsey) locked himself away on the spaceship because he wants to destroy this infernal device once and for all. A group of marines arrives on the ship to take the "mad" doctor into custody. During his detainment he tells a dark story about his family's history, about how his ancestor Phillipe Merchant designed the box in the eighteenth century for a decadent French nobleman who wished to plumb the dark depths. The box does its job, horribly so, conjuring up a demon named Angelique (Valentina Vargas) who promptly carves up people left and right. Unfortunately for Merchant, the box somehow curses his bloodline. Every one of his descendants will suffer because of the Lament Configuration.

The movie moves to the modern day-our modern day, not the year 2127 on the spaceship-to focus on John Merchant (again, Bruce Ramsey; he plays all three Merchants), an architect fascinated with the drawings passed down through the family from Phillipe Merchant. Again, Angelique turns up. But this time so does good old Pinhead, and he's bringing along some reinforcements. A huge battle ensues over the Lament Configuration, with the underworld's minions seemingly banished for good. We, having seen the events on that spaceship, laugh at such optimistic thinking. The finale to "Hellraiser: Bloodline" moves us back to the ship for a final showdown between Merchant, the marines, and the Cenobites. More gooey gore shows up to turn the stomach before the film slides quietly into the credits. Even if you end up hating this movie, you have to admit that the gore quotient reaches nauseating new heights.

"Hellraiser: Bloodline" is an uneven film anyway you slice it. Director Kevin Yagher withdrew from the production after his studio heavily interfered in the project. Thus, the film carries the dreaded "Alan Smithee" label, a moniker all too familiar to moviegoers in the know. The result of this turmoil behind the scenes set the movie adrift, so someone decided to just slap the whole thing together and dump the final result in the video stores. That's a real shame as "Bloodlines" has at its center an interesting premise for fans of the series: how the box came about and how it was first used to conjure up evil. The movie boasts a few new Cenobites in the form of a clacking toothed dog and a fused pair of security guards (Watch and see how this comes about. Gross.). Pinhead even turns up to toss off a few new witticisms. I especially enjoyed the line that goes something like "Do I look like someone who cares what God thinks?" You can always rely on Pinhead to say something memorable. Unfortunately, he doesn't show up in this movie nearly as much as we would like, a problem that only gets worse in parts five and six. Still, some Pinhead is better than no Pinhead at all, don't you think?

Give up on the idea of the series ever returning to the original themes so eloquently portrayed in the first and second films. Those days are gone forever as sequel mania long ago destroyed any hope of maintaining Barker's original inspiration. I generally watch new Hellraiser films for the glimpses of Pinhead and the jaw dropping gore effects. I found the "Bloodline" DVD a bit disappointing in the extras department. There aren't any, actually, beyond a trailer for "Children of the Corn 666" (yet another horror series deteriorating into utter banality) and a promo for the "Scream" box set. An Alan Smithee commentary track would have been nice-we could have finally heard from this mysterious man after all these years! Seriously, give "Bloodline" a chance. It's not great cinema, but it sure beats a lot of the dreck floating around out there.

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better than the third one
it is alot better than the third one and isnt quite as good as the first one.
This one still has some sillyness in it though.