Hellraiser: Bloodline (1996)

(In French, On Cable TV, January 2021) It’s easy to measure Hellraiser: Bloodline’s ambitions against the means at its disposal and condemn the result. But compared to other films in the series, its ambitions become one of the best things about it, even if the low-budget (and considerable behind-the-camera drama leading to “An Adam Smithee film”) doesn’t allow it to fulfill those ambitions. For one thing, this is probably the most mythology-heavy instalment in the series, as it explains how the Lament Configuration (i.e.: The series’ iconic Puzzle Box) came to be in 1769 Paris, follows the current-day setting of the series as left off in previous film, all the while being narrated by a descendant of the characters in a 2127 space station. It’s a bold expansion of scope, but the film doesn’t do much in terms of cross-linking the eras: it’s mostly a historical prologue and futuristic framing device/third act for the current-day story. There’s a mildly interesting contrast between old-school seduction of the innocent versus modern-day BDSM-tinted depictions of hell, and the film concludes with a definitive happy ending of sorts, the threat having been exterminated from existence. No wonder, then, if Bloodline was the last of the series’ theatrical releases, the last to feature creator Clive Barker’s credited input and the last to get mildly positive (if often mixed) reviews from fans of the series—the following six instalments would be sent straight to video and become steadily less interesting along the way. Now, Bloodline doesn’t get a free pass on the sole strength of its more ambitious storytelling: the film is often surprisingly dull, with genre formula popping up even in the most unexpected places. (Hellraiser was faaar from being the only horror series to go to space.) Even with more imaginative ambitions, Bloodline also manages to be less unnerving than much of the previous films, which feels like a wasted opportunity. Still, if forced to choose, I find that there’s more to chew on in Bloodline than any of the other films in the series. Underdelivering on promising material, after all, has been a fixture of the series since the earliest film—At least Bloodline starts with more ideas than the other instalments.