HELLRAISER 9: REVELATIONS

Hellraiser Revelations was released on dvd before fans knew anything about it. With the pending Hellraiser remake constantly stalling Dimension films was on the cusp of losing their rights to the franchise. And so within a matter of weeks they were filming and within months the movie was on shelves. Needless to say this installment is really rushed. Doug Bradley has a deep seeded hatred for Dimension Films (they're treated him like shit) and when he read the script he didn't see it as a serious attempt to revive the franchise. For the first time he refused to return as Pinhead.... and so Dimension said “fuck you” and cast someone else in his role. The new Pinhead is atrocious. He looks ludicrous and his fake British accent is terrible. The strangest thing about this movie is how much I actually enjoyed it. In their attempt to pump out a quickie, the writers have returned to the source material and the concepts and rules of the story is very true to the original movie. The box, the cenobites, the fleshy resurrection and the need for blood. To my surprise this 9th movie in the series actually does do the legacy some justice. The gore is vulgar and the plot is the best the franchise has seen in years. A welcome addition (imo) is a new apprentice Cenobite, modeled after Pinhead himself. I'd be happy to see this character in future installments. I just hope they can convince Doug Bradley back on board because without him, they need to drop Pinhead out of the series altogether.

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