Hello everyone, welcome back to Such Sights To Show You. It's been a very interesting experience so far. We've made it through (Hellraiser), Hellbound, and (Hell on Earth). We started off really at a high point with the original Hellraiser. It laid the ground work for what this franchise is and lays down the rules of the world. Hellbound broke those doors wide open and expanded on the world in such a massive way. If Hellraiser was a haunted house picture, Hellbound was a trip to Wonderland. After that, we witnessed Hell on Earth. It was a bit of a departure from the previous two entries. It was a bit smaller in scope in a sense. Partly that can be chalked up to the budget beginning to shrink for this franchise. However, there are some that have found something to appreciate in that installment as well.
After Hell on Earth, the question then became "Where do you go next for this franchise?". Peter Atkins had returned to script the next installment and prepared to answer that question. Apparently Clive Barker was also returning as an executive producer, he suggested the idea of a three part multi-timeline film. Thus in a weird way, we are almost treated to a Cenobite version of A Christmas Story with its Past, Present and Future. It was honestly a bold and operatic approach for a fourth entry.
Unfortunately, the final product that we received was a bit of a mess. It's no secret that Bloodline had its fair share of production issues. I mean at this point we still had Weinstein still involved in the making of it. They were so sure of what people were looking for, but at what cost? Well, at the cost of the budget of course. After all, this is all a business right? Well, that's how Weinstein was approaching the material. It's also been told that Weinstein and the original director of Bloodline, Kevin Yagher had butted heads quite a bit. Again, it's extremely understandable why Yagher was having many issues as things were being scaled back so quickly from what was originally planned. I imagine that he felt like he was being shoehorned into directing the product a certain way, so it wasn't allowing him to tell the story the way that he wanted to. I'd be pretty pissed about that too.
The production finished its six week shoot originally. Then, things continued to go downhill for the production as the Weinstein became more involved than they already were. Thus, Yagher had told them that he had enough and was done. Thus, Joe Chapelle was brought in for reshoots. Reshoots for Bloodline occurred for two weeks. Then, they were brought back for another two weeks and a final two weeks after that. At that point, it seems like they had effectively reshot the entire film during that time. Personally, I would have been interested to see Yagher's original approach. Encyclopaclypse Publications has delivered the original Atkins script for Bloodline. For those interested, I could delve deeper into exactly how the details are different. But one thing is very evident from the original script, it was supposed to be a very linear timeline. The finished film jumps from one time period to the next in no rough order. I remember when I first watched it and was extremely confused. It just felt like everything was flowing a bit too fast and loose with the timelines. There have been even some fanedits that have managed to place the timeline into more of a linear approach again. It does have a small hiccup here and there, but it definitely works.
One aspect that does feel a bit shallow in the finished film versus the original draft is the character of Angelique. This is a character that drastically changed during the reshoots. Originally, she was someone that was seeking more. She was seeking immortality basically. She wanted more power as well. To the point where she also had her devilish side where she would play 'games' with other aristocrats. Apparently, she had helped give specific instructions that were passed on to LeMarchand to complete the box. So in a sense, it could come across that her goal was similar to Frank's in the original film. That's a pretty fantastic arc as she manages to get what she's looking for. In the reshoots, she's a demon that was summoned by sacrificing a local girl. What the hell? That's very sad of a change honestly. Apparently during the reshoots, they changed the violently antagonistic relationship between Angelique and Pinhead into something more sexually charged shall we say.
Now, I honestly feel like Angelique was changed the way she was to make more room for Pinhead. By this point, it was extremely obvious that the studio felt like Pinhead was face of the franchise. To a certain point, I would agree that could be true. But at the same time, no. It's clearly obvious that Weinstein was trying so damn hard to make the next 'horror icon'. I mean look at Hell on Earth, it's an obvious attempt at trying to Freddy Krueger-ize Pinhead. Don't get me wrong though, I do like Pinhead. But again, Pinhead is only a small piece in what made the original Hellraiser and Hellbound work so well. I mean that with all of the Cenobites really. Look at those initial films and see how long it takes till the Cenobites show up? It's not nearly as quick as everyone was thinks.
So with the finished product, ultimately the story is of the Beginning and Ending of the Lament Configuration. We see the making of the box and ultimately it's destruction by the end. I would say that the whole Present Day storyline feels a bit been there, done that. It feels very familiar with its use of a Reporter character and interacting with Pinhead. Too much like Hell on Earth for my own taste. And then we have the Future story. At this point, horror had a way of taking horror and deciding Why Not Put It In Space? So, we have a member of the LeMarchand bloodline recalling events as a sort of bookend in the beginning and the end. It's interesting as we are able to then see Pinhead and the Cenobites be summoned. And then everything comes to a very grandoise ending with the whole satellite they are on being transformed into a giant version of the box, thus trapping the Cenobites.
Could I tell you anymore of what happened than that brief summary? Honestly, I cannot. I wish that there was more could go into. However, the finished product/film was something that is only 80 minutes. It's very brief and shallow compared to what the story originally was. It's like a blip on the radar. It could be seen as an okay epilogue to the first three films. But sadly, that's about as far as it goes. There are some interesting elements here and there. Especially as we see Angelique transformed into a Cenobite herself. It's very clear that was a product of studio intervention and left a muddled mess.
Do I recommend reading the original script from Peter Atkins? Hell yes. That is what I'll be turning to from now on when I want to revisit Bloodline. It's a very fitting story of Passive Evil vs. Active Evil. It's a story where we were able to see the beginnings of the Cenobites as there are Proto-versions with Angelique. She is the villain of the story. It is her film and story, overall. It's such a grand epic attempt at the story. I would even go as far to say that it is Hellraiser's version of Avengers: Endgame. That's how big of a finale the original pitch for Bloodline was.
And of course, Bloodline was able to do okay enough to continue the franchise. Stay tuned as we will be diving into what I'm calling the more anthological approach moving forward for Hellraiser with Hellraiser: Inferno.
Bloodline (Film) Rating: 3 out of 5.
Bloodline (Original Script) Rating: 5 out of 5.
You can find the Hellraiser Bloodline: Original Script from Peter Atkins over at Amazon.
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