From: ak@opal.cs.tu-berlin.de (Andreas Kutschera)
Subject: REVIEW: HELLRAISER III
Reply-To: ak@opal.cs.tu-berlin.de (Andreas Kutschera)
Organization: Techn. University of Berlin, Germany
Date: Mon, 31 Aug 1992 18:02:51 GMT
Followup-To: rec.arts.movies
Summary: r.a.m.r. #01507
Keywords: author=Kutschera

				 HELLRAISER III
		       A film review by Andreas Kutschera
			Copyright 1992 Andreas Kutschera

     Well, I seldom get the chance to view a film *before* the US
release, so I'll grab the chance and try to do a review of HELLRAISER
III.  No spoilers before the ^L, I promise.

		          HELLRAISER III - Hell on earth

     One-line-summary: Very little continuation, rather boring.

     Judging from the title, HELLRAISER III, is supposed to be a movie
that fits into the storyline of the other two Hellraiser movies.  Having
watched all three of them in a row, I must say that the most "hell-like"
aspect of it was that I watched it in a theatre without air conditioning
on one of the hottest days in August.  Other than that, the movie fails
to live up to its promise.

     What would you expect from a Hellraiser film?

     Yes, the Pleasure Cube is back (it still seems to be the only way
to open the dimensional door).

     Yes, the Cenobites are back (and guess what they want :-)

     So, essentially the story follows the same line as did HELLRAISER I
and II.  But while HELLRAISER II managed to evolve the storyline further
(i.e., tell us more about the characters we already knew), part III only
gives us lots of new characters we don't know and who I don't really
care about.  This, of course, gives the authors an excuse to tell us
the same old story we have already seen, the same special effects we
have already seen and to keep it at a superficial level.

     But, what's even worse, in parts I and II, the main characters had
a really strong motive for what they did.  These people actually
*wanted* something out of life (or out of the Cube).  In part III, none
of the characters really wants something, so everything that happens,
just happens accidentally, almost by coincidence, and the characters
only _re_act (instead of *act*).

     While I liked HELLRAISER I, because it introduced a new concept to
me, and also because I get this chill down my spine when pleasure and
pain are mixed (that's all I'll add to the "Barker: Sex & Horror"
discussion), and I also liked part II, because the characters were still
motivated and the film went deeper into the history of the Cenobites,
part III didn't show me anything new.

     So what I recommend is, if you want a good story with character
development and also some good special effects, go see HELLRAISER I and
II (again, if necessary), and wait for III to come out on video.  If you
can't wait, try to see it for as little money as possible.

     Now, there will be a few *mild* spoilers to prove my point about a
weak storyline, but don't worry, you'll probably figure out most of it
yourself by the first ten minutes of the movie...:


The setting: New York City.

The leading persons:	a television reporter (female)
		-	her cameraman (male)
		-	a nightclub owner (male, age ~32)
		-	one of his lovers (of course, did you expect a
			*homo*sexual relationship?)

     At the beginning of the movie, there is a statue, which is a
leftover from a psychiatric hospital.  The statue looks like a complex
meld of bodies, I-dunno-what and a cute Cube.  Viewers of HELLRAISER I
and II will probably instantly make the connection between the statue
and what it contains.

     So the following questions remain:

	Will the statue come to life?
	If so, how?
	Will the Cenobites be released?
	If so, how?
	Will anyone stand in their way?
	If so, who?
	How will the movie end?
	Is there a possibility for a sequel?

The answer to these questions follows the other ^L :-)

     Since I told you that it was a bad movie, the answer to all the
above questions is: YES (just as you would expect).

--
all replies to : ak@opal.cs.tu-berlin.de

Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews