Before Jason and the Leprechaun got a chance to go in to space, Pinhead did it first with the fourth entry in the Hellraiser series. Hellraiser: Bloodline probably had the most troubled production out of any Hellraiser film at this point. The film was originally directed by Kevin Yagher who had a whole grand vision for the film. But, the studio demanded edits that went against Yagher's vision causing Yagher to quit. So, the studio had Joe Chappelle finish the film with the film giving credit to the Alan Smithee pseudonym. The film stars Bruce Ramsay, Valentina Vargas, and Doug Bradley. This film would notably be the last film to have any direct involvement from creator Clive Barker. The film was a critical failure and did not make a bunch of money at the box office. But that did not stop the Hellraiser series from continuing. Because the series would eventually go straight to video starting with the next film, Hellraiser: Inferno.
Engineer Merchant is on board a space station solving the Lament Configuration and manages to release Pinhead. But, Merchant is caught by some space police and is questioned. From here, he tells the story of his cursed bloodline.....
Hellraiser: Bloodline (before studio interference) could have easily been the best Hellraiser sequel and possibly the most ambitious in the whole series. But, this film got the same treatment as Alien 3. Studios have absolutely no business in changing what a film should be like to fit their vision. That is the director's job and from what many have heard, he was doing fine. I am most certain that the original script for this film is out there on the internet so perhaps give that a read if you want. Whereas Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth was a mess of a film that lacked the tone of a standard Hellraiser film, Hellraiser: Bloodline has some remnants of what makes a Hellraiser film interesting. The film is dark in tone but way more effective in the first two films because the dark tone was creepy. Themes of eroticism are hardly present but that is still more than what Hellraiser III gave us. A lot of this film's problems are almost entirely due to studio interference and it is fairly obvious where the studio interfered. From motive changes to the whole structure of the story. The film starts in the future, goes to the far past, back to space, to present day, back to space etc. It is a mess. I like the idea of this film taking place over three timelines. That is interesting. But make it flow in a linear nature because while films like Pulp Fiction can have a non linear story done to perfection, Hellraiser: Bloodline cannot do it worth a damn. It ends up being all exposition and nobody likes having a majority of the film being exposition. This all ends up being more frustrating because the film raises too many questions for me. How exactly did Merchant build the Lament Configuration if he was just a simple toymaker? Who is Angelique? Then answer to all of this is studio interference. Aside from all of the things pertaining to studio interference, we still have special effects and acting. The special effects are fine for the most part. There is some CG used and while I have seen better, there is much worse that can be done. Honestly as long as something like a spaceship isn't moving, the CG is fine. The practical effects look fairly good and there is a decent amount of gore. The acting could be better but one has to consider what the actors/actresses were given and had to deal with. Doug Bradley is still great as Pinhead and even has a few good lines that I still remember.
Hellraiser: Bloodline is a film that had so much promise but studios had to mess it all up and they did that to perfection.
Engineer Merchant is on board a space station solving the Lament Configuration and manages to release Pinhead. But, Merchant is caught by some space police and is questioned. From here, he tells the story of his cursed bloodline.....
Hellraiser: Bloodline (before studio interference) could have easily been the best Hellraiser sequel and possibly the most ambitious in the whole series. But, this film got the same treatment as Alien 3. Studios have absolutely no business in changing what a film should be like to fit their vision. That is the director's job and from what many have heard, he was doing fine. I am most certain that the original script for this film is out there on the internet so perhaps give that a read if you want. Whereas Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth was a mess of a film that lacked the tone of a standard Hellraiser film, Hellraiser: Bloodline has some remnants of what makes a Hellraiser film interesting. The film is dark in tone but way more effective in the first two films because the dark tone was creepy. Themes of eroticism are hardly present but that is still more than what Hellraiser III gave us. A lot of this film's problems are almost entirely due to studio interference and it is fairly obvious where the studio interfered. From motive changes to the whole structure of the story. The film starts in the future, goes to the far past, back to space, to present day, back to space etc. It is a mess. I like the idea of this film taking place over three timelines. That is interesting. But make it flow in a linear nature because while films like Pulp Fiction can have a non linear story done to perfection, Hellraiser: Bloodline cannot do it worth a damn. It ends up being all exposition and nobody likes having a majority of the film being exposition. This all ends up being more frustrating because the film raises too many questions for me. How exactly did Merchant build the Lament Configuration if he was just a simple toymaker? Who is Angelique? Then answer to all of this is studio interference. Aside from all of the things pertaining to studio interference, we still have special effects and acting. The special effects are fine for the most part. There is some CG used and while I have seen better, there is much worse that can be done. Honestly as long as something like a spaceship isn't moving, the CG is fine. The practical effects look fairly good and there is a decent amount of gore. The acting could be better but one has to consider what the actors/actresses were given and had to deal with. Doug Bradley is still great as Pinhead and even has a few good lines that I still remember.
Hellraiser: Bloodline is a film that had so much promise but studios had to mess it all up and they did that to perfection.