Hellraiser 4: Bloodline

"What you think of as pain...is only a shadow. Pain has a face. Allow me to show it to you." - Pinhead

release year: 1996
genre: horror
viewing setting: home DVD 4/6/23

synopsis: In a story that spans past, present, and future, the origin of the hellish box is revealed.

impressions: While this one was made quietly and on a low budget, I thought it was pretty good. It covered the late 1700s (when the box was built by an unwitting toymaker), the 1990s (when his descendant designs a building based on the box), and the year 2127 (when another descendant uses a space station to try and deal with the demons.) There was a new memorable Cenobite (the Siamese twins) and about a half hour of spaceship-set events. Once again, random people randomly playing with the box seemed able to drive away the Cenobites, but at least that always happens. All in all, this one was fairly well-done, I thought.

acting: Bruce Ramsay does a good job playing essentially three roles, though his characters are all similar. Valentina Vargas is a demon in human form. Doug Bradley is back as the leader of the Cenobites. All other roles were minor and brief.

final word: A solid attempt at an origin story, and also to tie things up neatly.

back to the main review page