Doctor Channard is sent a new patient, a girl warning of the terrible creatures that have destroyed her family, Cenobites who offer the most intense sensations of pleasure and pain. But Channard ha...
Hellbound: Hellraiser II recycles the same puzzling configurations whilst building upon its gory labyrinthine lore. After commencing with an unnecessary brief recap of Kirsty’s father’s murder, an event that powered her motives in the original feature released just a year before this instalment, she is now admitted into a psychiatric hospital after continually reciting events of sadist Cenobites and their cultish leader Pinhead “S&M-ing” her house up with chains and blood. However, with Kirsty’s father, uncle and stepmother all ripped apart, and the Lament Configuration missing, her only fear now is the freeing of a skinless Julia whose hardened blood still covers the mattress that she originally bled out on.
Randel, with Barker as executive producer, merely replicate the exact same proceedings that occurred in the original film. An obsessed doctor brings home mentally ill patients so that Julia can stick her hand inside the back of their cranium and suck the juicy flesh right out of them. A predictable role reversal for her character, considering she was performing the same serial killer actions for her lover Frank. The doctor’s assistant MacRae, a terrible performance from Hope who resembles a wet flannel, coincidentally sneaks into the house to witness the grotesque event before alarming Kirsty back at the hospital that everything is “all true”. Anyway, moments later another patient, whom coincidentally adores solving puzzles, unlocks the Lament Configuration and the labyrinth-like world of the Cenobite dimension where the group encounter the God of hell, Leviathan.
As a continuation of Barker’s original feature, despite the fact that he himself wrote this story, it fails on almost every level. There’s no narrative structure in place, but rather a series of gruesomely surreal deaths that hold minimal purpose to the grand outset of the Hellraiser lore. The regeneration of Julia, whom could’ve stayed trapped in hell, acting as a prime example of predictable plot replication to prevent Pinhead from being re-introduced too soon. In fact, the entire first half pandered to erratic expositional dialogue bolstered by deliciously cheesy acting that accumulated zero progression whatsoever.
It’s only when Tiffany unlocks the Lament Configuration, likening its unholy curse to Pandora’s Box, that the story begins to interest. The Cenobite lore commences its intricate unraveling, adding indications to Pinhead’s origin and Leviathan’s transformative abilities, continuously excelling in detailed practical effects to depict this dimensional interpretation of hell. From robust wirework to stop-motion tentacle apparatus, the audacious deaths remain creative throughout and evoke the inner sadist within the viewer. Muscular skin suits draped in viscous blood provide inventive production and costume design, although closeup shots reveal the practicality of these suits, diminishing the “movie magic”. Randel continually visits surreal imagery when Kirsty is navigating hell, supplying ominous dread whenever she precariously opens a door.
Bold directorial choices, including the fate of Pinhead and his fellow chattering Cenobites, prove to incite uncertainty within the second half, bestowing much excitement and anticipation for the inevitable sequel. A sequel one hopes does not replicate the same plot structure again. However, overall, Hellraiser II remains an enjoyably bloody time that continues to pin its gory legacy on Pinhead himself. So, y’know, show me more of him next time!
