Review #1,044: 'Hellraiser IV: Bloodline' (1996)

The fourth instalment of the already-tired Hellraiser franchise signalled the last time that original creator Clive Barker would be involved, and also the final film of the series to be shown on the big screen, with the subsequent sequels heading straight to VHS or DVD. Doug Bradley, who at this point was the only surviving cast member from Barker's terrific 1987 original, described Hellraiser IV: Bloodline as the "shoot from Hell", and its troubled production saw director Kevin Yagher demand his name be removed from the credits, instead opting for the go-to pseudonym Alan Smithee. While things never looked good for the film, Part IV of Miramax's cult franchise isn't actually quite as bad as you would expect.

In 2127, engineer Dr. Paul Merchant (Bruce Ramsay) uses a robot to solve the Lament Configuration puzzle box on board space station The Minos. The opening of the box destroys the robot, and Merchant is taken in for questioning by a group of armed guards suspicious of his intentions. Whilst being interrogated by the groups leader, Rimmer (Christine Harnos), Merchant reveals that he is part of a cursed bloodline that stretches back to 18th-century France, where his ancestor, toy-maker Phillip L'Merchant (also Ramsay), builds the box for a rich aristocrat who desires to summon a slave-girl from Hell. While L'Merchant fails to prevent the demon Angelique (Valentina Vargas) arriving in our world, generations later New York architect John Merchant (Ramsay again) is haunted by visions of the box, building a skyscraper resembling the Lament Configuration.

After two sequels with little to recommend other than Kenneth Cranham's wonderfully over-the-top thesping, Bloodline at least attempts to inject a fresh take on the Hellraiser universe. The decision to portray the arrival of Hell on Earth over three vastly different time periods is an interesting one, even if it is somewhat clumsily handled and often poorly acted. Yet for the bulk of the film we are stuck in the less-interesting modern day, or 1996, and it is here that Bloodline suffers from formulaic storytelling. The introduction of the demon Angelique offers the chance for some twisted sexual tension between her and Pinhead (Bradley), yet this isn't explored enough, and ultimately fizzles out in favour of more time with the over-exposed, iconic Cenobite, whose role was significantly beefed up by the studio following Yagher's departure. It's certainly one of the best of the series' sequels, yet given how bad the movies that followed are, that's hardly saying much.


Directed by: Kevin Yagher
Starring: Bruce Ramsay, Valentina Vargas, Doug Bradley, Christine Harnos, Adam Scott
Country: USA

Rating: **

Tom Gillespie

Review #213: 'Piranha' (2010)

Opening with Richard Dreyfuss fishing on a lake, listening to the sea-shanty "Show Me the Way to Go Home" on the radio (reference noted), the bottom of the lake is split by a quake, which opens a Mesolithic underwater lake, where the ancient fish of the title escape to cause havoc at Lake Victoria at the start of that horrendous American school holiday, spring break. If you are unaware of the voyeuristic nature of these college "parties", they essentially involve guys standing round boats with video cameras, filming exhibitionist college girls as they show their tits.

Schlock exploitation director, Don Dohler, was noted as saying all you need for a cheap horror film, is blood, boobs and beast. This is so true of this expensive nod to the proper grindhouse horror films of by-gone days. British "actress" (I use this very loosely), Kelly Brook, is introduced perfectly in the film, and illustrates the only reason she's been hired, when Laura Forester (Brooklynn Proulx) states, "nice boobs". This is in the opening, where Jake Forester (Steven R. McQueen) meets Jerry O'Connell's porn director, Derrick Jones. Jake is employed to travel with them to locate the best sights on the lake for filming (coincidentally, Jake is a local).

Bizarrely, Richard Dreyfuss's body is discovered by local Sheriff, Julie Forrester (Elizabeth Shue), but it seems as if this gruesome discovery is left without much notice. This scene also marks a second Jaws reference as an eel protrudes from his eye socket, Ben Gardner style. As it becomes apparent that there are some man-eating fish loose in the water, the obviousness of the plot is all too apparent. People get eaten.

The lame gimmickry of the 3D (I only saw the 2D version) is particularly ridiculous. It's a thorough throwback to 3D's eighties incarnation, as puke, beer, boobs and monsters are thrown at the screen. There are some quite inventively gruesome sequences of flesh being torn from skin; but not even a highly histrionic performance by Christopher Lloyd (in proper Back to the Future (1985), Doc mode), can save this derivative remake of Joe Dante's Roger Corman studio 1978 original, which, with a great screenplay by John Sayles, was utterly superior, with a much smaller budget. It certainly does fill that Don Dohler quoter though. there are gallons of blood, masses of monsters, and a healthy dollop of big, mostly porn star, boobs. A film that should be in the top ten for any 14 year old boy!


Directed by: Alexandre Aja
Starring: Steven R. McQueen, Elisabeth Shue, Adam Scott, Jerry O'Connell, Ving Rhames, Christopher Lloyd, Richard Dreyfuss
Country: USA

Rating: **

Marc Ivamy