Two teenagers Steven Craven and Nico Bradley take a trip to Mexico for a hedonistic holiday where they disappear . A year later the families of the two boys gather at home of Nico's parents where they look through the boys belongings including video-cam that shows the mysterious and shocking last moments of the boys lives . An even bigger shock happens when Nico staggers in to his parents home
I've just found out a new phrase " ashcan copy " which relates to something produced for legal purposes . Apparently The Weinstein Company were going to lose the copyright on the original HELLRAISER so produced REVELATIONS for the sole motive that they'd keep the rights for the remake . I'm not sure what is worse: the fact that someone feels the need to remake the original Clive Barker film , one of the most hauntingly beautiful and intelligent horror movies of the 1980s or the fact we're getting yet another sequel which will have nothing in common with the original . The truth is REVELATIONS despite being a heavily flawed film at least does manage to mirror the original source and from a narrative point of view is certainly one of the better sequels of the franchise
The fundamental problem of the HELLRAISER series is that all the productions have struggled to have anything in common with the original . At least HELLBOUND had the same look and feel of the first film even though it was an incoherent mess that gave the impression it was written as it went along but after that no one seemed to be trying and two of the sequels had the exact same plot of the protagonist experiencing a death dream before being dragged to Hell . At least with REVELATIONS we get plot turns and concepts that feel they belong in the Barker universe with serial killing , stolen skins , sexual deviancy and a derelict stalking the characters . In fact REVELATIONS feels like it's a direct reworking of the Barker original even down to the dialogue which is not something you can say about most of the sequels and if you saw the screenplay before you saw the film you'd be very puzzle-boxed why everyone seems to hate REVELATIONS with a passion
One major problem is that Doug Bradley is replaced as Pinhead and unlike the Doctor in DOCTOR WHO and James Bond Pinhead is Bradley and Bradley is Pinhead . Stephan Smith Collins has a good try in the role but even if you've only got vague memories of the other films you're aware the actor has been recast and is doomed for that very reason . That said Collins is by no means the worst actor in the cast because that belongs to Jay Gillespie as Nico who when he has to turn mean and nasty has the audience laughing out loud while feeling sympathy that someone with such little talent has been given such a pivotal role in a film . Honestly I doubt if I've seen such a worse actor bring down a film and watching REVELATIONS you're reminded how good Andrew Robinson and Sean Chapman were playing the villains in the original
HELLRAISER REVELATIONS is far from being the worst of the HELLRAISER sequels and surpasses most of them by having the same sleazy themes of the 1987 film that set it apart from the other films of the 1980s . The problem lies that the recasting of Pinhead has alienated the fans of the series and if Bradley had been cast the same people would be falling over themselves to praise this movie . On a story level it does feel like a HELLRAISER continuation but is let down by some dreadful acting
I've just found out a new phrase " ashcan copy " which relates to something produced for legal purposes . Apparently The Weinstein Company were going to lose the copyright on the original HELLRAISER so produced REVELATIONS for the sole motive that they'd keep the rights for the remake . I'm not sure what is worse: the fact that someone feels the need to remake the original Clive Barker film , one of the most hauntingly beautiful and intelligent horror movies of the 1980s or the fact we're getting yet another sequel which will have nothing in common with the original . The truth is REVELATIONS despite being a heavily flawed film at least does manage to mirror the original source and from a narrative point of view is certainly one of the better sequels of the franchise
The fundamental problem of the HELLRAISER series is that all the productions have struggled to have anything in common with the original . At least HELLBOUND had the same look and feel of the first film even though it was an incoherent mess that gave the impression it was written as it went along but after that no one seemed to be trying and two of the sequels had the exact same plot of the protagonist experiencing a death dream before being dragged to Hell . At least with REVELATIONS we get plot turns and concepts that feel they belong in the Barker universe with serial killing , stolen skins , sexual deviancy and a derelict stalking the characters . In fact REVELATIONS feels like it's a direct reworking of the Barker original even down to the dialogue which is not something you can say about most of the sequels and if you saw the screenplay before you saw the film you'd be very puzzle-boxed why everyone seems to hate REVELATIONS with a passion
One major problem is that Doug Bradley is replaced as Pinhead and unlike the Doctor in DOCTOR WHO and James Bond Pinhead is Bradley and Bradley is Pinhead . Stephan Smith Collins has a good try in the role but even if you've only got vague memories of the other films you're aware the actor has been recast and is doomed for that very reason . That said Collins is by no means the worst actor in the cast because that belongs to Jay Gillespie as Nico who when he has to turn mean and nasty has the audience laughing out loud while feeling sympathy that someone with such little talent has been given such a pivotal role in a film . Honestly I doubt if I've seen such a worse actor bring down a film and watching REVELATIONS you're reminded how good Andrew Robinson and Sean Chapman were playing the villains in the original
HELLRAISER REVELATIONS is far from being the worst of the HELLRAISER sequels and surpasses most of them by having the same sleazy themes of the 1987 film that set it apart from the other films of the 1980s . The problem lies that the recasting of Pinhead has alienated the fans of the series and if Bradley had been cast the same people would be falling over themselves to praise this movie . On a story level it does feel like a HELLRAISER continuation but is let down by some dreadful acting