Hellraiser Quartet Of Torment Limited Edition Blu Ray [Blu-ray]

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Being Frank: Sean Chapman on Hellbound - archival interview about the actor’s return to the role of Frank Cotton All the new features don’t focus on the specifics of the films, but of the broader themes and context of the franchise. And they are all well worth watching, even if at times they veer into raging pretension. Digging into some of them, the two documentaries on the Hellbound disc are possibly the best two here, the first being a loose but fun deep dive into the film by a couple of friends which sounds like the kind of conversation you wish you had down your local, whilst the second fully appreciates the work that composer Young brings to the whole series. However the new features on the first film’s disc take an interesting look into Barker and what his work meant to people and it’s a lovely approach to take rather than regurgitate the same talking heads talking about the same film again.

Archival features, including Hellraiser Evolutions documentary, Books of Blood and Beyond literary appreciation, theatrical trailer and image gallery Under the Skin: Doug Bradley on Hellraiser - archival interview with the iconic actor about his first appearance as 'Pinhead' Whilst the first film kept its setting unknowable, and the second mixed together the US and UK even more, the third film takes a strong stance on setting, and moves things to New York, where we meet young reporter Joanne ‘Joey’ Summerskill (Terry Farrell), who is haunted by dreams of her father dying in Vietnam. Whilst out on a story she stumbles across a mysterious death that leads her to a nightclub where the owner has a strange, column-like statue that contains the spirit of Pinhead following his apparent destruction in the second film. Unbound to the puzzle-box, and with his human spirit now separated from him, Pinhead seems to play by new rules, and will wreak death and destruction on anyone he can unless he can be returned to his former self. Hell Was What They Wanted! – brand new 80-minute appreciation of Hellbound, the Hellraiser mythos and the work of Clive Barker by horror authors George Daniel Lea (Born in Blood) and Kit Power (The Finite)

The Hellraiserseries has a history that is unlike most long running horror franchises. Originally released in the late 1980s, when the slasher genre reigned supreme and audiences had been fed a steady diet of movies like Friday the 13th, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and Halloween, Hellraisercame along and did something completely different. Flesh is a Trap – brand new visual essay exploring body horror and transcendence in the work of Clive Barker by genre author Guy Adams (The World House) Hellbound: Hellraiser Ii expands on Barker’s original vision as screenwriter Peter Atkins takes Julia Cotton, her step daughter Kirsty (Ashley Laurence) and the sinister Dr. Channard (Kenneth Cranham) into the dominion of the Cenobites themselves. Hellraiser Iii: Hell on Earth sees Pinhead set loose on the sinful streets of New York City to create chaos with a fresh cadre of Cenobitic kin. Then, Hellraiser: Bloodline sinks its hooks into past, present and future with the story of Phillip LeMarchand, the 18th-century toymaker who made the lament configuration puzzle box, his descendent John Merchant - a 20th-century architect whose most recent building bears a striking resemblance to the lament configuration - and Dr. Paul Merchant, a 22nd-century engineer and designer of The Minos, a space station which is a great deal more than it seems.

Archival audio commentary with director Tony Randel, writer Peter Atkins and actor Ashley Laurence – This archival audio commentary from 2000 with the director, writer and lead actor Ashley Laurence is another decent one. There’s quite a bit of overlap from the prior commentary that Randel and Atkins did but this one’s a little more lively due to the inclusion of Laurence. Audio commentary with Stephen Jones and Kim Newman – Exclusive to this release is this brand new audio commentary with Jones and Newman is a great one. Jones worked on Hellraiser so he recounts his experiences on set, as well as a conversation he had with John Carpenter before becoming a unit publicist. Newman and Jones have a great rapport, there’s a vast array of knowledge that the two share about the film and it’s one of the better audio commentaries on a boutique Blu-ray in recent memory. Hell Was What They Wanted! – brand new 80-minute appreciation of Hellbound, the Hellraiser mythos and the work of Clive Barker by horror authors George Daniel Lea ( Born in Blood) and Kit Power ( The Finite) Books of Blood and Beyond: The Literary Works of Clive Barker – archival appreciation by horror author David Gatwalk of Barker’s written work, from The Books of Blood to The Scarlet Gospels The Pursuit of Possibilities - brand new 60-minute discussion between acclaimed horror authors Paula D. Ashe (We Are Here To Hurt Each Other) and Eric LaRocca (Everything the Dark Eats) celebrating the queerness of Hellraiser and the importance of Clive Barker as a queer writerNewly uncovered workprint version of the film, providing a fascinating insight into how it changed during post production – This workprint opens with the following information: “The following version of Hellraiser: Bloodline is a workprint with temporary music and sound effects. It was assembled sometime after Kevin Yagher’s departure from the film; even though his name is still listed as director in the opening credits, it is most emphatically not his director’s cut, which remains lost. This version, which has a different plot structure and some alternate material compared to the final ‘Alan Smithee’ cut, is presented from a timecode VHS, the best material available for this release.”

There’s no doubt that the Hellraiser franchise has been diluted somewhat by a sea of inferior sequels and the loss of just about everyone associated with its beginnings in the intervening years. However, there is something that can’t help but resonate with the public’s consciousness about the film’s antagonists and what they stand for – at once terrifyingly evil and wholly unknowable, yet rooted in what it means to be human, their being angels to some and devils to others is a notion we seem unable to shake. And certainly the best of the films are gathered here in this collection, now including one of the most interesting if not quite best of the sequels. This time, we follow Terry Farrell’s Joey, a reporter who discovers the aftermath of a victim from the actions of the puzzle box. As she slowly uncovers more and more information about the box’s history and its connection to her father’s supposed death in Vietnam. On my first viewing of this film, I really disliked it and found it to be an unbearable drop in quality from those original two films, but after revisiting it all of these years later with a much greater appreciation for the horror genre, there’s some stuff to like here. Power of Imagination - brand new 60-minute discussion about Hellraiser and the work of Clive Barker by film scholars Sorcha Ní Fhlainn (editor of Clive Barker: Dark Imaginer) and Karmel KniprathUnder the Skin: Doug Bradley on Hellraiser Iii – archival interview with the iconic actor about his third appearance as ‘Pinhead’ Hell Was What They Wanted! – A brand new hour and 25 minute appreciation of Hellbound, the Hellraiser mythos and the work of Clive Barker by horror authors George Daniel Lea and Kit Power. One of the most substantial new extras on the release, the pair touch on their history with the Hellraiser franchise, their experiences seeing the brand-new restoration on the big-screen and their love for Hellbound in particular. It’s an excellent watch that will interest any fan of Hellraiser or Clive Barker.