Hellraiser: Hellworld

Hellraiser: Hellworld (also known as Hellraiser VIII: Hellworld) is a 2005 horror film directed by Rick Bota. It is the eighth installment in Hellraiser series. The Hellworld script is based on a short story called "Dark Can't Breathe" by Joel Soisson.[2] Hellraiser: Hellworld was released straight to DVD in the United States on September 6, 2005, after a handful of minor film festival and private screenings.

Hellraiser: Hellworld
Home video poster
Directed byRick Bota
Produced byRob Schmidt
Written byCarl V. Dupré
Story byJoel Soisson
Based onCharacters
by Clive Barker
Starring
Music byLars Anderson
CinematographyGabriel Kosuth
Edited byAnthony Adler
Distributed byDimension Home Video
Miramax Films
Release date
  • September 6, 2005 (2005-09-06)
Running time
95 minutes
Country
LanguageEnglish

The film stars Lance Henriksen in the role of the Host. Henriksen had originally been approached to play the role of Frank Cotton in the first film in the series, Hellraiser. Henriksen turned the offer down in favor of a starring role in the vampire thriller Near Dark (1987).[3] His role as the Host in Hellworld remains his only appearance in the series to date.

It is also the final film to feature actor, Doug Bradley as Pinhead.

Plot

The film introduces a circle of youths who are addicted to playing Hellworld, an online computer game based on the Hellraiser series. The film opens at the funeral of Adam, one of their friends who was obsessed with the game and ultimately committed suicide after becoming too immersed in the game. The remaining five friends blame themselves for not having prevented Adam's suicide.

Two years later, they attend a private Hellworld Party at an old mansion after receiving invites through the game. Mike, Derrick and Allison are enthusiastic about the party, while Chelsea reluctantly accompanies them. Jake, who is still very much distressed by Adam's death, only agrees to show up after a female Hellworld player with whom he has struck up an online friendship asks him to attend so they can meet. The quintet are cordially welcomed by the middle-aged party host, who offers them drinks, shows them around the mansion (allegedly a former convent and asylum also built by Philip Lemarchand), and provides them with cell phones to communicate with other guests.

As the party progresses, Allison, Derrick and Mike find themselves trapped in separate parts of the house, and are gruesomely killed by the Host, Pinhead, and the Cenobite minions Chatterer and Bound. Jake and Chelsea become mysteriously invisible to other party guests, and are stalked by the Host and the Cenobites.

Holing herself up in the attic, Chelsea finds items belonging to Adam, and discovers that the host is his father, who blames his son's friends for not helping break his addiction. Chelsea and Jake try to flee, only to discover that they have been buried alive and are receiving messages from the host via cell phones in their respective caskets. The Host informs them that they are just coming out of a hallucination induced by a powerful psychedelic he exposed them to upon their arrival, and that the events they have been experiencing have been the result of hypnotic suggestion and their own guilty consciences. Before leaving, he lets Chelsea know that Allison, Derrick, and Mike have all perished in their respective caskets, and that only she and Jake remain alive. Chelsea begins to slip into another hallucination when she is abruptly pulled above ground by police and paramedics, who say they were informed by a phone call from Chelsea's telephone. Looking towards the house, Chelsea sees Adam standing in the window.

Later, the Host sits in a bedroom, going through a suitcase containing Adam's possessions. He finds and opens the actual Lament Configuration, which summons the real cenobites. Pinhead praises Adam's ingenuity and mocks the Host's disbelief before the Chatterer and Bound cenobites tear him to pieces.

Jake and Chelsea are shown driving into the sunrise, when they receive a mysterious phone call from the Host, who suddenly appears in the back seat. The two almost crash the car but are able to stop it. The last scene shows the police entering the bedroom in which the Host opened the box, the walls blood-smeared and the box lying on the floor.

Cast

Production

The film originated due to the necessity of filming a ninth Hellraiser film alongside Hellraiser: Deader as a contractual stipulation for filming in Romania. The screenplay was based on the short story "Dark Can't Breathe" by Joel Soisson, which Carl V. Dupre would adapt into a screenplay set within the Hellraiser series, originally entitled Hellraiser: Deadworld. Many of the cast members, including Khary Payton and Lance Henriksen, were hired by chance after they had completed filming projects in Romania such as Dracula II: Ascension for Payton and Mimic 3: Sentinel for Henriksen.[4]

Reception

The film received a negative response from critics, scoring a 20% approval rating on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on five reviews.[5]

Tim O'Neill for PopMatters found the film acceptable as a horror film, but a poor sequel, saying "while Hellworld is a pretty good generic horror movie, it is an abysmal Hellraiser film."[6] JoBlo.com gave the film a positive review giving it a 7/10 and saying "Overall, this flick was a F*cking-A good time!"[7]

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References
  1. "Hellraiser Hellworld (2004)". British Film Institute. Retrieved 2019-11-10.
  2. Interview with Rick Bota on Hellraiser: Hellworld DVD, Dimension Home Video, ISBN 0-7888-5979-X
  3. Maddrey, Joseph & Henriksen, Lance (2011). Not Bad For a Human. Bloody Pulp Books. p. 135.
  4. Paul, Zachary (2018-02-13). "A Waste of Good Suffering: The 'Hellraiser' Franchise [Part 2]". Bloody Disgusting!. Retrieved 2019-03-22.
  5. "Hellraiser - Hellworld - Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 25 July 2012.
  6. O'Neill, Tim (2005-09-28). "Hellraiser: Hellworld (2005)". PopMatters. Retrieved 2017-10-31.
  7. "Hellraiser 8: Hellword (2005)". JoBlo.com. Retrieved 2017-10-31.
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