Movie Reviews: Hellraiser III- Hell on Earth
Night club owner J.P. Munroe purchases an odd stone pillar for his private collection. Several weeks later, reporter Joey Summerskill, witnesses a youth being torn apart by chains. The trail leads Joey back to Munroe's club, where she befriends a friend of the victim. Munroe later learns that Pinhead is trapped inside the statue and is eventually convinced to bring victims to be sacrificed in exchange for power. Meanwhile, Joey is being haunted by the ghost of Captain Elliot Spencer, Pinhead's human self, who needs her to defeat Pinhead before he plunges the world into hell.
It certainly took me long enough, but I finally got around to watching the last movie in my Hellraiser box set. The set only included the first three movies. I know that part four was the last one to get a theatrical release and also the last one to involve Clive Barker, who created Pinhead in the first place. I don't know if any of the other movies are worth watching, so please let me know if I should carry on watching the Hellraiser movies or quite while I'm ahead.
To tell you the truth, the main draw of this was Terry Farrell as the reporter Joey. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine will recognise her as Jadzia Dax. Her performance was... okay. Her performance wasn't quite as bad as some of the people in the movie, but it just okay.
The best part of the movie was definitely Doug Bradley as Pinhead. His performance is a highpoint of an otherwise mediocre movie. This version of Pinhead is a little more hammy than previous versions, but that is absolutely fine with me. I love hammy villains and Pinhead is a delight.
Captain Spencer's only real purpose was the serve as an exposition dump, but it must have been a relief for Doug Bradley to act without a load of make-up.
It is a pity that the other Cenobites look so goofy. There is one with a camera lense for an eye and another that shoots out CDs from its face. Pinhead does have the excuse of them being handmade though. I guess he had to make do with whatever materials he had.
Three pointy hats.
Next time: Dead Ringers
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