Clive Barker was a virtual unknown when, in 1987, he cashed in his literary cachet to write and direct the bloody and brilliant Hellraiser. Based on his own short story, and centering on the underworld‘s own "explorers of the further regions of experience," aka the Cenobites, it stood in stark contrast to the slice-and-dice dynamic of a by-then exhausted slasher genre. When sequel time came around, Barker was off crafting his Star Wars of horror, otherwise known as the disappointing Nightbreed. So American director Tony Randell was brought in to helm the follow-up. The results were bigger in every way -- grander in scope, broader in mythos, and bloodier than ever before.

After Kirsty Cotton (Ashley Laurence) survives her first run-in with evil, she ends up at an institute run by Dr. Channard (Kenneth Cranham) and his assistant Kyle (William Hope). While he promises to help, it turns out the psychiatrist is obsessed with the Lament Configuration, the demonic puzzle box which unleashes the Cenobites. With the help of the bloodstained mattress where Kirsty‘s stepmother Julia (Clare Higgins) died, Channard wants to use a mute patient named Tiffany (Imogen Boorman) as a gateway, solving the cube‘s riddle and opening up a conduit to head demon Pinhead (Doug Bradley). Of course, such a strategy could lead to a literal Hell on Earth.

Hellbound: Hellraiser II does something rather unique for a fright film. Instead of repeating what was successful the first time around, it attempts to broaden its perspective, and as a result, establishes the foundation for the rest of the franchise. It introduces us to the Cenobite process, explains how humans are seduced and then transformed into the demonic sadomasochists, and expands on the original‘s sex and pain perversions. It features several incredibly gory sequences (including a psychiatric patient‘s memorable self-mutilation), multiple bows to Barker‘s original, and enough open-ended elements to guarantee an ongoing