" Alan Smithee " is a pen name used by directors when they're unhappy with a project . There's many reasons for its usage but at the end of he day it's used because of a sensation of failure on the directors part . The real name of the director for BLOODLINE is Kevin Yagher best known as being behind the make up effects artist on the NIGHTMARE OF ELM ST movies . Considering the director used the name " Alan Smithee " and BLOODLINE was the last HELLRAISER film to be released in the cinemas the omens weren't good but I was pleasantly surprised . It's certainly not Oscar winning material but neither is it a totally redundant horror movie
The story starts with a police unit turning up at a space station in the 22nd Century and right away I was expecting an ALIENS clone with Cenobites . If this is what you're expecting you won't be entirely disappointed but for the most part screenwriter Peter Atkins does try and flesh out the mythology of the Cenobites by setting the story mainly in the 18th Century France and 20th century New York . The French sequences are somewhat confusing since it suggests the puzzle boxes used since the first film were actually created by a toymaker and not by the Cenobites themselves . Atkins is less successful in explaining how the box ties in with the creation of the Cenobite race but does at least point out how the building seen at the end of HELLRAISER 3 has the same architecture as the boxes
Interestingly the original director of was to be Guillermo Del Toro but he turned it down . This film would have suited his style with its grotesque imagery but Yagher does well and puts the budget on screen . I was amazed that the budget only cost $4 million . The space scenes are convincing and the movie is shot very effectively . The only real problem I had was with Bruce Ramsey as Dr Paul Merchantin the 22nd Century who gives a very poor wooden performance
All in all HELLRAISER:BLOODLINE is an entertaining horror romp . Comparing it to the original HELLRAISER from 1987 is similar to comparing James Whale's FRANKENSTEIN to some of the later films in the Universal franchise . But for a film directed by the prolific " Alan Smithee " there's a lot worse out there
The story starts with a police unit turning up at a space station in the 22nd Century and right away I was expecting an ALIENS clone with Cenobites . If this is what you're expecting you won't be entirely disappointed but for the most part screenwriter Peter Atkins does try and flesh out the mythology of the Cenobites by setting the story mainly in the 18th Century France and 20th century New York . The French sequences are somewhat confusing since it suggests the puzzle boxes used since the first film were actually created by a toymaker and not by the Cenobites themselves . Atkins is less successful in explaining how the box ties in with the creation of the Cenobite race but does at least point out how the building seen at the end of HELLRAISER 3 has the same architecture as the boxes
Interestingly the original director of was to be Guillermo Del Toro but he turned it down . This film would have suited his style with its grotesque imagery but Yagher does well and puts the budget on screen . I was amazed that the budget only cost $4 million . The space scenes are convincing and the movie is shot very effectively . The only real problem I had was with Bruce Ramsey as Dr Paul Merchantin the 22nd Century who gives a very poor wooden performance
All in all HELLRAISER:BLOODLINE is an entertaining horror romp . Comparing it to the original HELLRAISER from 1987 is similar to comparing James Whale's FRANKENSTEIN to some of the later films in the Universal franchise . But for a film directed by the prolific " Alan Smithee " there's a lot worse out there