20140301: Horror Review--Hellraiser 2 1988

Hellbound: Hellraiser 2 (1988)

1. Fundamentals, reception.
1. British live action feature length film, 1988, rated R, 93 minutes, horror.
2. IMDB: 6.5/10.0 from 23,135 audience ratings.
3. Rotten Tomatoes: 50% on the meter; 60% liked it from 47,959 audience ratings.
4. Netflix: 3.4/5.0 from 632,029 audience ratings.
5. Directed by Tony Randel, screenplay by Peter Atkins, story by Clive Barker.
6. Starring: Clare Higgins as Julia Cotton, Ashley Laurence as Kirsty Cotton, Kenneth Cranhum as Dr. Philip Channard/Channard Cenobite, Imogen Boorman as Tiffany, Sean Chapman as Uncle Frank Cotton, William Hope as Dr. Kyle MacRae, Doug Bradley as Pinhead/Captain Elliot Spencer.


2. Setup and Plot
1. We start HR II more or less the next day after HR I ended.


2. Kirsty is in a mental hospital after escaping the cenobites and failing to destroy the puzzle cube.  The multiple murder investigation continues at her late father's house.  Dr. Channard has custody (more or less) of Kirsty, who is not doing much at first to secure her independence from authorities.


3. Meanwhile, the cube has found its way to another person.  One needs to watch to the end to see this part explained.


4. At the hospital, Dr. Channard actually listens to Kirsty's involved tale about Frank, Julia, Larry, and the cenobites.  Dr. Channard has a great deal of knowledge about the puzzle cubes (plural) and occult matters in general.  He keeps his arcana at his house.


5. Perhaps even worse, the doctor uses his patients as experimental animals.  One of his basement efforts draws a lot of blood, which brings back Julia.  Judging from the first film, the cenobites will not be far behind.  Kyle observes this since he was snooping in the Channard's private lab, and hid himself before the doc and the unfortunate patient came in.


6. Julia practices her whiles on Dr. Channard after he takes her home, and lets him know that all she needs is skin.  Julia gets her desired skin from other doomed patients that he brings to her.


7. Meanwhile, Kyle springs Kirsty from the mental institution, since he now thinks that her story was blow-by-blow true. Kyle takes her to Channard's house, where she pores over his documents and objects.  Unfortunately, Kyle meets a fully recovered Julia, and the end of his life.


8. Channard employs the mute patient Tiffany to solve one of the puzzle boxes.  Sure enough, the cenobites are summoned.


9. Will Channard and Julia survive?  How about Kirsty and Tiffany?  Will Kirsty find Larry while the paths between worlds are still open?


3. Conclusions
1. One line summary: Almost as good as the first, but quite different.
2. Three stars of five.


4. Scores
1. Cinematography: 9/10 Better than the original, at least what I saw streamed on Netflix.  This one had the correct aspect ratio, and was consistently better filmed.


2. Sound: 5/10 Not as good.  There was no original score for this one, and the sound was not an effective part of the film.


3. Acting: 8/10 Clare Higgins was my favourite in this film.  Sean Chapman was again good as Frank Cotton.  Kenneth Cranhum was fine as Dr. Channard.  Ashley Laurence had better lines, and gave a better performance than in the first film.


4. Screenplay: 5/10 The maze of the cenobites was murky and unclear, rather like playing a game where the rules are enforced, but not published.  The influence of gaming gets even worse in some of the later sequels.  The front end of the film could have used more careful exposition, but it did move right along.