3,0 de 5 estrellas
Visually Interesting but Disjointed
Revisado en Canadá 🇨🇦 el 3 de diciembre de 2013
** Contains Some Spoilers **
Being a fan of the original film, the first sequel to the never ending series, "Hellbound" is a both a fascinating watch and a frustrating experience. The film tries to expand on the mythology but it makes absolutely no sense and despite repeated viewings, there are far too many plot holes and too many questions that are left unanswered. Yes, I give credit to the film-makers for trying to recreate a nightmare on film and this film does have a rather hallucinatory, dream-like tone, even more so than the original, however I am unable to turn a blind eye to a nonsensical plot, mindless characters and ridiculous turn of events.
Kirsty Cotton (Ashley Laurence), the survivor of the original film, returns (and looking as gorgeous as ever) and is in a psychiatric ward. The doctors and detectives are having a difficult time trying to understand (or believe) her story. Kirsty discovers that the bloody mattress her evil stepmother Julia (Claire Higgens) died in is being inspected and demands it be destroyed, fearing that Julia may be resurrected through it since it has her blood stains all over it (however I fail to see how she would know this since she was not present during Frank's resurrection in the first film). Anyhow, one of the doctors in the hospital is the evil Dr. Phillip Channard (Kenneth Cranham), who has a fascination with the Lament Configuration puzzle box and all things involving it and has quite the collection in his house. He executes a plan to resurrect the dead Julia (who is now more evil than ever and looking far more ravishing than in the first film) and to enter hell, I guess because it is every evil man's desire to go to a plain of existence we are all unfamiliar with and where evil, destructive entities reside *rollseyes*. Meanwhile Kirsty receives a message from a skinless (yes, skinless) man who writes on her bedroom wall using his own blood "I AM IN HELL. HELP ME". She assumes this bloodied messenger is her dead father Larry whom she believes is now in hell and yearning for her help so she decides to book a first-class ticket to hell to save him, even though her first experience in that realm and its creatures nearly caused Kirsty her life (first with that hell creature that chased her down the long, narrow tunnel and then with the Cenobites who nearly claimed her if it hadn't been for her quick thinking and sent them all back to hell via the puzzle box). So I pretty much have to believe this young girl is so fearless, she is going to hell, unprotected, to save her daddy from an eternity of torment? Shouldn't she have consulted with someone beforehand? I mean, going to hell is a big, freakin decision and one that should not be taken lightly and should not be decided upon without at least consulting with your neighborhood Priest. Anyhow, the evil Dr. Channard convinces a semi-catatonic patient, Tiffany, who is a master in solving puzzles, to open the lament configuration and in doing so, opens the portal to hell, releasing the leather-clad Cenobites. Realizing Tiffany did not open the box out of selfish desire (she was tricked into doing so) they leave her alone and retrieve back into their hellish realm. But the sloppy demons leave the door to hell open so Kirsty, Tiffany, the now rejuvenated Julia and Dr. Channard all decide to take a day trip to Hell and this is where the film falls apart.
I understand this film has its legion of fans however I am unable to look past all of its weak points and kind of ridiculous plot twists. The original film was not perfect but at least it had structure and a story that (kind of) made sense and the characters were nowhere near as ridiculous as the characters in this film. In this sequel, all logic goes out the window. There is no rhyme, no reason, it is just one quirky, mad-cap, insane scene after another and the horror is pretty much lost as the film, despite having scenes of explicit gore, becomes an over-the-top fantasy extravaganza. The film starts off great, with a brief summarization of the original and a brief scene showing the origins of pin-head. Although not much is explained, we at least see a humanization of the infamous demon. Julia's resurrection scene is splendid and is so over-the-top disgusting you need to ensure you are not eating anything during that particular scene. The make-up effects is far more grisly here than it was in the original and there is somewhat of a buildup but the film reaches its peak once Tiffany opens the Lament Configuration and Pin-head and the Cenobites enter the picture. Once the action is moved to hell, the film goes down-hill and the new Cenobite that is introduced looks rather silly (I thought clay-mation went out of style in 1981).
Visually, there are moments it delivers the goods- the repulsive gore, gruesome make-up effects. I liked how it tried to expand on the mythology; its vision of hell and the Gods, creatures that live there but the film is messy. As a horror piece- it is inconsistent, at times too cheesy, nonsensical and, as mentioned previously, not at all scary. Bradley's Pin-head is effective but has very little screen time and the climactic showdown is actually anti-climactic. The praise this film has received from the fans may be explained by simple nostalgia; aside from some choice moments, there is more to criticize here than to praise. Considering some of its ideas, this could have been much better. It is light years superior to the sequel that followed it, "Hell on Earth" and fans of the genre should see this, if you haven't already, but count me as one of the disappointed. I thought hell would have been far more horrifying than what was presented here. The film is colorful and hallucinatory but exhausting and rarely does it answer its own questions.
2.5 out of 5
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