Review of Hellraiser

Video

Special effects good, video transfer bad. That just about sums it all up, as this has to be the worst disc for picture quality I`ve seen so far. Yes it does come with both pan`n`scan and anamorphic versions, and no the compression isn`t any relation to the problem. We are talking crappy master here, there is so many specs and scratches on the print it makes the R1 of Bladerunner seem in mint condition. Contrast is pretty terrible, colours are very brown, too much detail is lost in dark scenes which fill most of Hellraiser. I could go on but the point is made. The chapter stops are okay, although more than 21 might have been nice.

But transfer aside, the special effects work is very good indeed. Only some badly animated lighting composite effects near the end marr an otherwise good visual experience, unless you hate blood that is. Very little of the gory makeup work seems to have aged, just as well since this contributes a lot to the fear factor in this film. The Cenobites are so cool you almost want to invite them around for tea.

Audio

Urg, its in Dolby Surround, the original material has yet to be granted a remix in loverly 5.1 so don`t expect anything amazing. In fact, stereo seperation didn`t seem that great in most of Hellraiser, and what little came out the rear speakers mainly entailed reverb effects.

Despite the quality of it all, the music is good and adds a nice spooky feel to the dark imagery, and considering the films original budget probably wasnt particularly high, the dripping blood and tearing flesh noises are very good.

Features

After a lively animated main menu, the rest are dull and static, you also get a few trailers, photo library thing, and a totally lame and pointless experience known as subplots which appears to just play certain sections of the film. No prizes for this disc, especially for the asking price.

Conclusion

I`ve seen this film before, and I actually think its a very good modern classic horror movie with an original well constructed plot. Clive Barker has done a lot worse since, and Clare Higgins is excellent as the bitch-wife double crossing her husband for his own brother. Andrew Robinson, probably best known for being a tailor on Star Trek: Deep Space 9, puts in a good double performance as innocent husband and fully restored brother, plus of course Doug Bradley is perfect as Pinhead. I`m not a great fan of bad horror, for me it has to be scary or at the very least tense, and Hellraiser does the job here.

There seems to be a big discrepency in the running time between this Region 2 version and the one released in the US. As it stands, the UK version is a neat and tidy film, but with a whole 28 minutes of footage listed on the R1 box I can`t help but think there is something important missing here. Now I know the BBFC only asked for 4 seconds worth to be snipped, and this discrepency could be a misprint on one of the boxes, but I`m left with the impression that there is a whole new version of this film going around that I`m missing out on, which like The Abyss: Special Edition changes the whole pace and feel of the viewing experience.

Overall then, good movie, terrible disc. The fact we seem to be missing nearly half an hour of footage, the poor surround track, absolutely abismal video print, and not one I`d recommend with any gusto.