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Whistle Stopper - Hellbound: Hellraiser 2
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List Price: $14.98
Our Price: $7.26
Your Save: $ 7.72 ( 52% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Starz / Anchor Bay
Starring: Doug Bradley, Ashley Laurence, Clare Higgins, Kenneth Cranham, Imogen Boorman
Directed By: Tony Randel
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Audience Rating: Unrated
Binding: DVD
EAN: 0013131123395
Format: Anamorphic
Label: Starz / Anchor Bay
Manufacturer: Starz / Anchor Bay
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Starz / Anchor Bay
Region Code: 1
Release Date: 2001-07-24
Running Time: 97
Studio: Starz / Anchor Bay
Theatrical Release Date: 1988-12-23
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Why Torture Yourself?
Comment: I like horror movies. Almost too much. Let's not go into the reasons why. There are too many. And some of them aren't pretty.
But I also like plots, character development, and complexity. After watching the first Hellraiser, I began to suspect that the series was created as an excuse to watch people get tortured with hooks. If you're not aware of the basic mythology, it is this: there is a box (called the Lament Configuration -- but you only know this if you've read the book) that, when it is opened, unlocks the gateway to another dimension filled with grotesque creatures called Cenobites who's only purpose is to inflict an eternity of endless suffering and pain on the person who opened the box.
I began to wonder early on why on earth anyone anywhere would ever create such a box, let alone open it. See, all of the Saw movies operate on the same basic principle -- "Let's kill a bunch of people in graphic and horrifying ways!" -- but the deaths are (at least partially) connected to a larger theme: cherish your life. The Hellraiser films are like the exact opposite. They function as visual sadomasochism, inviting you to cherish death. Or not even death, because the victims of the Cenobites never really die.
It's complicated, and I'm going somewhere with this. HELLBOUND picks up right where the first film left off. It even offers you a completely nonsensical recap at the beginning. This turns out to be unnecessary, because young Kirsty from the first film now finds herself in a mental institution, and she kindly spells out every little detail of the first film to her creepy psychiatrist, Dr. Channard. Channard, who is a closet Hellraiser junkie, is intrigued by her story and sets in motion events that will open for him the gates to the Cenobite world.
Why on earth? Why would someone do that? Is he mad? Yes, he is. But he is more than that.
When Channard finally visits the "fourth dimension" and sees it for what it is, he is horrified. Naturally. But then he begins to understand, and the nature of that world is made painfully clear. Why do I like horror movies? Why do insane psychiatrists insist on opening the gates to hell? It's really the same question.
This sequel succeeds in ways that the first could only dream of. Barker's sadomasochistic universe is lovingly realized, and captures not just the essence of Barker's twisted brain, but also the twisted essence of why horror movies exist to begin with. Whether you like a little spank with your sex, or enjoy the "burn" of an extra hard workout at the gym, or simply can't look away when you pass a particularly nasty car accident on the street, the basic point is that pain is almost never without pleasure. Pain releases endorphins, it fine tunes the mind, and Barker is fiddling with that visceral clarity that comes from watching something horrible happen to someone else. Horror movies, after all, are the result of a little sadomasochism in all of us, and HELLBOUND takes that point and expands on it until you have an entire universe built on the pleasurably painful line separating life and death.
It's not an easy movie to watch in many respects (and not just because both Ashley Laurence and Kenneth Cranham are some of the worst actors I've ever seen), but it finally answers some niggling questions and becomes more than just an excuse to watch torture. In fact, if you haven't seen the first film, I suggest you skip it and start with this one. If you like horror movies, you've got no excuse not to.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Hellraiser 2
Comment: What a classic 80s horror film! If you love Friday the 13th, Halloween or any of those classic horror films, check this series out! Pinhead is spooky and disgusting! Any horror fan will love this!
Customer Rating:
Summary: A Worthy Horror Sequel
Comment: After the sucess of the oringial Hellraiser , Clive Barker who had made a name for himself passed on the diretcing duties to Tony Randel with the sequel. Randelmade an impressive sequel in Hellbound: Hellraiser II . The film has more gore and a new heroine to help out Kristy Cotton. Once again Juila is back but this time she's totally hell bent and the film's primary villian. Pinhead is still scary but gets some compettion from Doc who is scary in his own right. I give the film *** out of ****.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Not So Unrated
Comment: Ok hear is the good stuff: This is without a doubt the best sequel of the seven sequels that came after the 1st movie. It is way ahead of its time on many levels. It is scary in a very elegant way that rivals The Exorcist & Rosemary's Baby. It takes the sadomasochist under-plot to a level so extreme that you may walk away from this movie finding pain pleasing in a sexual way. WHY? Because this movie brings out the repressed sadomasochist that lives in all of our minds.
Now the bad stuff: This DVD says that it's UNRATED well that is only half-true. Although this DVD has some extra minuets of deleted footage it dose not even come close to the original cut of the film. When the film was submitted to the MPAA, it received an X rating. To achieve R rating statuses over 18 minuets were cut from the movie. There were 3 main elements that were cut from the film & still not included on the Unrated DVD. The first is a much longer version of the "GET THEM OFF ME" man that included four flashbacks to what got him sent to the hospital. The next is a back-story about Kristy's mom with flashbacks to her funeral & a scene where she is going through some old photos of her mother & then the pictures begin to cry blood that turns into cockroaches as it hits the floor. The main bulk of the 18 new minuets are centered around a sub-plot that shows Tiffany & how she came to be at the hospital as well as how her mother became the person who is getting her brain drilled into during the "The Mind is a Labyrinth" scene. Along with these deleted moments in the Tiffany, back-story is a scene explaining why she is so afraid of clowns. This is a graphic scene of Tiffany being raped by a clown. However, the most well known deleted scene is the famous "Surgeon" scene. There have been many roomers that the scene was never completed & is missing a good deal of "cleanup editing". I must tell all of you that this scene is more than complete & when shown on the "UK import X rated cut DVD" this scene has far better picture & sound quality than any other moment on the DVD.
The bottom line: This cut of the film may be far from its original form but that doesn't keep it from being a good Hellraiser movie!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Time to play!
Comment: The blood, gore, "the box", and the cenobites continue. The movie picks up right were the first one ended. Kirsty made a deal with Pinhead, who is the leader of the cenobites, to give them Uncle Frank (he escaped them) in exchange for her. After they took Frank, the female cenobite goes after Kirsty until she is able to use the box to send them all back to Helll. Her father's home then gets destroyed....
Kirsty is now in a psychiatrist's hospital. Dr. Chinnard is fascinated with the mind, the brain, and the other dimension. He was able to take the bloody bed with the chains in it from Kirsty's house. He also has the box which summons the cenobites. Chinnard unknowingly helps Kristy's stepmother Julia to escape the cenobites as she comes out of the bloody bed the way Frank looked in the first Hellraiser (all blood, bones, muscle but no skin). Together the conspire to get Julia back her skin and in return, Julia would show Dr. Chinnard, the other "place" including her god, the lord of flesh and desire; Leviathan. But she has other plans for him as well.
Kristy is hell bent (sorry for the pun) on trying to get her father out of hell as she sees a message in blood in her hospital room. With help from Chinnard's assistant, Kristy is able to get out of the hospital as Chinnard's assistant, Kyle was able to see that Kristy was telling the truth about the box and the demons it caries. Kristy learns that Pinhead as well as his cenobites use to be human. She finds a picture in Chinnard's house of Capt. Elliot Spencer (played by Doug Bradely) and belives it is Pinhead himself. Earily, one of the cenobites is a little child (I'm not going to give up the whole plot). Kristy, even though she didn't open the box, runs into her old "friends," the cenobites, who let her explore as Kristy and a mute girl who loves to solve puzzles are being chased by another demon (not going to give it away) with alternate plans. Pinhead is looking to "play" with Kirsty and get to know her flesh. He also stops his troops from killing her mute friend as Pinhead says," It is not curious hands that summon us, it's desire." As he points to Chinnard's secret room because Chinnard was using the mute girl as a gineau pig. This leads to the ultimate showdown between Pinhead and his troops against the other demon. Will Julia be able to do what Frank couldn't? Escape!
Julia had a great couple of lines when she faces off with Kirsty. "Come on Snow White! Take your best shot!" Who would of thought you would hear the words, Snow White, in Hellraiser (Hellraiser 2 to be exact)!
I thought Hellraiser was slightly weaker than the first one, third one (Hell on Earth) and the fourth one (Bloodlines). I was a little disappointed towards the end (not going to give it away). Don't get me wrong, it's still one of the best horror movies back in the time when horror movies relied more on acting than on special effects/CGI. Pinhead once again shines as the angel/demon of mercy looking to explore peoples flesh and desires while taking their souls. The way to dial his number is by solving the "box" which is known as the Lament Configuration. The boxes history is explained in more detail in Hellraiser: Bloodlines.
I would give this movie a 4.5 but still a great addition to your horror collection. The picture is great and no extras that would make you go, WOW!
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Editorial Reviews:
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Return to the domain of pleasure and pain as kirsty cotton is committed to a psychiatric hospital run by the strange dr. Channard. But when the doctor uncovers the secret of the lament configuration he resurrects the skinless corpse of kirstys evil stepmother & calls forth the legions of the damned. Studio: Starz/sphe Release Date: 06/25/2002 Starring: Ashley Laurence Ken Cranham Run time: 99 minutes Rating: Nr Director: Rony Randel
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