Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth (1992)

(In French, On Cable TV, January 2021) Even if Hellraiser III manages to run with the very last moments of Hellraiser II and much of its thematic content, this third entry clearly marks a shift in the series. The main narrative of the first two films is abandoned along with its protagonist, and the emphasis is placed on showing more of the Cenobites in an urban environment. The usual “raising of the dead by blood sacrifice” eventually leads to an entire nightclub being killed or possessed, and a few scenes set at night in downtown Generic City, USA. The plotting feels much closer to any other horror film of the time, and the place reserved for the gore clearly shows how the film aligns itself with the expectations of the genre horror fans. (New director, moving production to the United States and a takeover by genre-focused studio Dimension will do that.) Parts of Hellraiser III are better than you’d expect, especially for the third instalment of a series that is slowly becoming worse at each instalment. The subplot about Pinhead being a British officer fighting to regain his humanity is developed from the previous film, as is the somewhat underwhelming “pillar” that appears at the very end of the second film. The nightclub massacre, as gory as it is, finally shows what happens when the series goes all-out in its flesh-tearing horror—and the showdown in the city streets outside, as limited as it is, finally expands the series outside the walls of its previous settings. On the other hand, Hellraiser III can be frustratingly generic at other times, running through the motions of a formula horror narrative. The best thing you can say about it is that while it’s slightly less interesting than its predecessor, it’s not yet bad enough to stop watching the series. But just wait.