After the final theatrical installment of Clive Barker's
Hellraiser (1987) series with the release of Hellraiser IV: Bloodline (1996),
everything went to home video release. While this usually means a decrease in
quality, Hellraiser V: Inferno (2000) wasn't as bad as it could have been. For
a home video release, it actually had a slight advantage over the film before
it and Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth (1992), because of how plot was executed
and the direction headed by Scott Derrickson. Even for a script that wasn't
initially going to be related to the series, the way it was used wasn't
perfect, but it did use them differently as opposed to being totally wasted.
It's unfortunate though, because this film had larger potential and missed the
opportunity.
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| Kirsty & Trevor |
Just like Hellraiser V: Inferno (2000), the script was
originally going to be just a crime thriller. However, it was decided to jam in
Barker's Hellraiser characters again. Except this time, the insertion of them
into the story was not done well. Trevor (Dean Winters) and Kirsty (Ashley
Laurence), from the first three films, are a couple who get into an accident.
As Trevor wakes up in the hospital, he discovers Kirsty is missing. Determined
to find out what happened to her, he begins talking with Detective Lange
(William S. Taylor). All the while, Trevor continues to suffer from weird
hallucinations and headaches. The screenplay was written this time by Carl V.
Dupré (Detroit Rock City (1999)) and Tim Day in his writing credit debut. Even
with that said, it's surprising what these two initially tried to do.
The fact that both Dupré and Day both tried to tie back this
video sequel to the original film is commendable. They actually tried to
explain a little more to Kirsty's background after the events of the first
movie. And with Kirsty missing, the mystery of the plot is intriguing at first.
Rick Bota, the director to this feature also tries but this is where the effort
ends. While the premise is fine, the use of its title characters is widely
undercut. Doug Bradley as Pinhead, our favorite lead cenobite and Ashley
Laurence are barely around for the feature. The horror aspect to the film is
there but it involves very little of the cenobites. There's blood, gore and
other usual gruesome things but it all can be dreamed up. Nothing unique about
it.
Making things worse is that the lead, Dean Winters. Mr.
Mayhem himself from Allstate's Insurance commercials is very bland. Nothing he
says stands out or has one change in vocal pitch. He just walks around
confused, thus leading to the audience being confused. For once, he's in the
midst of the mayhem instead of actually causing it. The character who is the
most interesting though, is William S. Taylor because he's the one who outputs
the most energy into his character. Taylor was also in The Fly II (1989) so he
does have some horror film experience. Special effects weren't awful for home
video release. There'll always be some areas that don't look as good, but
mostly it holds up. Thankfully otherwise that would be even worse.
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| "Mmmmm,....acupuncture...." |
The rest of the visuals aren't that good though. The editing
by Anthony Adler and Lisa Mozden wasn't enjoyable. There were way too many cuts
in the same scenes. Some of which were the same shot right after another.
There's no point to that. The camerawork by John Drake isn't much more notable
either. There's not a large variety of locations and much of them are rather
forgettable. Apartments, bus interiors, and police departments are really the
only places featured. Thankfully music was a small saving grace thanks to
composer Stephen Edwards. By no means is his work a match to prior scores, but
he does try and there are a couple themes heard that go with Pinhead and
Trevor's. Edwards also composed the score to Bloodsport II (1996).
Points Earned --> 4:10
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