Review #1,066: 'Hellraiser: Inferno' (2000)

The previous instalment of Clive Barker's Hellraiser franchise (although by this point I doubt he wants his name anywhere near the credits), Bloodline, whisked the Cenobites, the puzzle box and all of its desperate-for-a-pay-cheque actors into space. Since this is a sure-fire sign that a horror franchise is doomed and out of any fresh ideas, it was no surprise that number 5, Inferno, found itself heading straight to VHS. With Dimension Films hoping to keep the rights to a series they hope could someday be 're-booted' and back in the cinemas, they began picking up unrelated horror scripts and shoe-horning Pinhead and his minions into the story, slapping the 'Hellraiser' title on the cover to at least attract the hardcore fanbase.

Joseph Thorne (Craig Sheffer) is a good detective with a bad attitude. Although he is highly intelligent with a gift for solving puzzles and, er, amateur magic tricks, he snorts cocaine, beats on innocents who won't answer his questions, and sleeps with prostitutes who apparently kiss on the lips. Along with his partner Tony (Nicholas Turturro), he discovers the Lament Configuration box at the murder scene of an old school friend who has been torn apart by hooked chains. The murder puts him on the path to 'The Engineer', a mysterious man who leaves the severed finger of a child at each of the murder scenes. Yet once Thorne solves the puzzle, he starts to hallucinate, having visions of strange, deformed creatures who torment him.

As a direct-to-video effort and an entry into the atrocious, never-ending set of Hellraiser sequels, Inferno isn't all that bad. As an actual film, it's a cliche-ridden bore that neglects to give a substantial role to the franchise's (no pun intended) pin-up boy, Pinhead (Doug Bradley). Nobody picks up a DVD box with a picture of a demon with nails hammered into its head wanting to see a slow-paced detective story that plays out like Bad Lieutenant (1992) directed by Uwe Boll. The make-up budget can't be blamed either, as we are given a few scenes with lesser, ineffective Cenobites including, I think, two that know kung-fu and wear cowboy hats in the film's most random scene. Directed by an up-and-coming Scott Derrickson, let's hope he's now experienced enough to deliver a coherent Doctor Strange due later this year.


Directed by: Scott Derrickson
Starring: Craig Sheffer, Nicholas Turturro, James Remar, Doug Bradley
Country: USA

Rating: **

Tom Gillespie