While they vastly vary in quality, here's how to watch the Hellraiser movies in release order: Hellraiser (1987) Hellbound: Hellraiser II (1988) Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth (1992)
It was the very last of the Hellraiser films with any level of inventiveness and class. As such, it's worth watching. But raspberries to the dolts who bolted together the elegant remnants of this film into a lumbering ignoramus.
While the original 'Hellraiser' will always be the best of the series, its first sequel 'Hellbound: Hellraiser II' is one of its better sequels. Would go as far to say from personal opinion it's the best. Not as good as the original and understandably polarising, but it doesn't disgrace it.
Unlikable characters, cast, bland and irritating performances (Odessa A'zion's performance was infuriating and exhausting), slow pacing, poorly written dialogues and story; overall another disappointing Hellraiser installment. The trailer was great but the film was outrageous.
Hellraiser was initially banned in Ontario by the Ontario Film and Video Review Board. By a 3-2 majority vote, the film was deemed "not approved in its entirety as it contravenes community standards". It was banned because of its "brutal, graphic violence with blood-letting throughout, horror, degradation and torture".
In Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth (1992), it is revealed that the death of Spencer in the previous film means the death of Pinhead's restraint and moral code. A new incarnation of Pinhead manifests who engage in a random killing spree, transforming some victims into new Cenobites.
Freddy is a member of the Cenobite council and the rival of Laughing Jack. He is also the most feared and dreaded enforcer of Zalgo, even more so than Pinhead. Freddy is played by Robert Englund.
After killing J.P. and releasing Pinhead, Terri was turned into the Cenobite known as Dreamer. It was one of the worst Cenobite designs, particularly because Dreamer had no real powers in comparison to her brethren. She was also far more human in appearance than the rest, which didn't add much to her own malevolence.
Each of the four primary Cenobites from The Hellbound Heart were featured in the film, with appearances based upon their descriptions in the book. The first Cenobite became Butterball, the second Pinhead, the third Chatterer, and the fourth The Female.
After this, each release in the Hellraiser franchise is technically a stand-alone film (and a direct-to-video movie), so you can watch them in any order. They still take place within the Hellraiser universe, but they don't necessarily follow the story linearly.
Parents need to know that Hellraiser is extremely gory. Killing and mutilating befalls both humans and animals (rats), with bloody death by knife, hammer, and hooks.
The original book that it's based on, The Hellbound Heart, was suggestive of a female Pinhead, and the comic books also explored the idea. There's also plenty of fan art, wonderful works that all theorized the possibility of Pinhead as a woman. So it only felt appropriate to us.
Hellraiser has since become a queer horror classic for numerous reasons, according to Riley Wade of Horror Obsessive. The work's gay author/director has been hailed as a master of the counter-cultural “splatterpunk” literary genre.
For Bruckner, the decision has its roots in Barker's work, as The Hellbound Heart “was suggestive of a female Pinhead, and the comic books also explored the idea.” Bruckner also points to fan art of female and non-binary versions of The Priest as sources of inspiration. “We were never afraid of it,” he declared.
All Cenobites would appear to have great knowledge of both pain and pleasure, making them masters of both physical and psychological torture—this coupled with their supernatural abilities serve to make Cenobites arguably amongst the most frightening and dangerous of all demons in fiction.
As the Cenobite high priest, Pinhead has been shown to be strictly loyal to the creed and lifestyle of the Order of the Gash. While in the first film he was largely neutral, Pinhead, as the series progressed, became a more standard horror villain and murdered more frequently.
He even speaks to this neutral aspect of his character when he tells Kirsty that he and the other Cenobites are "Demons to some. Angels to others." Therefore, an encounter with Pinhead is akin to being caught in a natural disaster - neither evil nor good.
Hulu's 2022 Hellraiser reboot introduced a female Pinhead, and the change brings Hellraiser closer to Clive Barker's original book. The Hellraiser reboot movie includes a female version of Pinhead, but this change to Hellraiser movie tradition actually closer to the character's original depiction.
