Product: Hellbound: Hellraiser II
Company: New World Pictures
Review By: Alex Harris

Aspect Ratio	Regional Information		DVD Disc Details
1.85 : 1 Letterbox	2 : UK	NTSC	Closed Captioning: CC Master format: Film Sides: 1 (SS-SL)

I had for many years wondered what the awe behind the Hellraiser series was. A few years back I saw Hellraiser III for the first time. The thing that drove me to watch it is because it had that actress from Deep Space 9 in it. While I was walking through the store I saw that they had Hellraiser II on DVD, and I bought it. Thats what brings me to now. So how is it?

   Well the film originally made its debut in 1988, and still has Kirsty Collins (Ashley Laurence) and Julia (Clare Higgins) in it. This film takes place soon after the ending of Hellraiser. So Kirsty is lying in the the psychiatric hospital and is still being haunted by what happened in the first film. The Psychiatrist running the hospital, Dr Channard (Kenneth Cranham) has managed to get the blood stained mattress into his house and decides to raise the remains of Kirsty's murderous stepmom, Julia. And from that point on Julia and Channard unlock the secrets of the Lament Configuration puzzle box and want to release the unlimited horrors and pleasures of hell onto the earth etc etc....

Ok It all sounds good doesn't it. Well it is in a way. A soon as the DVD loads up you get a nicely done menu from the Lament Configuration opening up and showing you the items to choose. The Special Fetures on this are excellent. You get a Full Motion Menu, Scene Index, Sub-Plots, Theatrical Trailers, Interviews, and a Photo Library. After going through all these special features you almost know the plot of the film. The one problem I have about the film is this. I had a thought that Pinhead would be the main character in the film, I mean he is kind of on the cover and associated with the Hellraiser series. Sadly he is only in a few scenes, one of which is when he gets cut down by Channard. The only other complaint that I have about the film is that Kirsty (Ashley Laurence) and her sidekick she picks up (the one good at puzzles) seem to run about loads, grab onto each other and scream for a while. I can understand it happening a few times, but after that it starts to grind on you. The sfx also show their age as well. 11 years has seen a lot of advances in Sfx  But over all it is an enjoyable film to watch if you are into horror. The only thing I suggest is that you know what happens in Hellraiser I before moving onto Hellbound.

"Hellbound:Hellraiser II" - DVD Features

• Full Motion Menu
• Scene Index
• Sub-Plots
• Theatrical Trailer
• Interviews
• Photo Library

PC Setup

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• Windows 98
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