Hellbound: Hellraiser II (1988) (UK/USA)

aka Hellraiser 2

⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

As to be expected, following the events of the prior film, Kirsty (a returning Ashley Laurence) wakes from unconsciousness and finds herself institutionalized at the Channard Psychiatric Institute. The police may not believe her stories of demonic entities and dangerous puzzle boxes granting access to another realm but it certainly catches the interest of Dr. Channard himself (Kenneth Cranham who understands the assignment and reminds me more than a little of Edmund Purdom), as he has a deep fascination with the occult and what some may call an obsession with the “Box of Sorrows”. This dude has been tracking down a doorway to Hell for a very long time. He gets his hand on the mattress where Kirsty’s stepmother bled out and manages to pull the same stunt the woman pulled on her lover the last time out. With Julia (you better believe Clare Higgins is back and better than ever) returned via a gruesome scene that has stuck with me since my first viewing somewhere around seventh grade, the doctor and she manage to get up to plenty of no good. Kirsty has visions of her father suffering in Hell and she is soon placed in the unenviable position of following the lunatic doctor into the underworld and freeing the soul of her unfairly tormented papa. A young doctor witnesses the madness Channard is unleashing and decides to help, a puzzle-solving young mute wanders deep into the abyss after calling forth those leather-clad Cenobites and Channard seeks power that’s probably going to end up fucking him right in the butt. Theres some wonderful bizarre bits sprinkled throughout, a brief glimpse at Pinhead’s origin, a few well-executed twists and Clare Higgins even more seductive and dangerous this time around. There’s an abuse of old footage (from both Hellraiser and earlier in its own runtime) which always feels like a cheat, the last act is a bit silly, some of the special effects leave a bit to be desired and the script runs into sloppiness thanks to feeling like it may have come out of the oven a bit too soon. Still, a worthy direct follow-up.