Welcome back to Such Sights To Show You! We had a small hiccup as four entries are apparently nowhere to stream. In a way, it does go to explain that these were the one-shot entries more or less in the franchise. There were still two more entries that were available for streaming right now - Revelations and Judgement. As they say, the show must go on.
In 2011, Miramax (under the guise of Dimension) knew that they were running out of time with Pinhead and the other cenobites. The rights were looming and soon to expire. What do you do when that happens? Well, you greenlight a film of course. Apparently, that is exactly their reasoning behind the previous entries. It definitely makes sense as there were three out of those previous entries where it's obvious that they were spec scripts that then had Pinhead thrown into them. Why? To keep the rights, of course. The one film that honestly felt like a natural Hellraiser film out of those was Hellraiser: Hellseeker. And that was due to the fact that we get to revisit the character of Kirsty Cotton from the first and second films.
Now, this brings me back to Revelations. Revelations was the ninth film in this franchise. It had an extremely quick turnaround from script to release. A complete three weeks was the entire production, the filming itself only took eleven days. The film was written by Gary J. Tunnicliffe. Tunnicliffe has had a large part to play for this series as had a hand in contributing to the makeup for the films since Hell on Earth.
The story revolves around two college kids going to Mexico and having the time of their life. On their journey, they come across the Lament Configuration. And it changes their lives and families forever.
That's roughly the gist of the film. It's an extremely basic summary. If one were to go by that summary like I originally did, it doesn't sound good. It sounds like a complete cash grab. It also doesn't help that Doug Bradley chose not to return. Instead, we receive a different Pinhead. If they had chosen to not include Pinhead, I would have understood. But at this point, he's become the poster child for this franchise.
Over the years, I kept seeing the Revelations cover. It was just sitting there on the shelf. Each time I passed on it because literally everyone was saying that it was such a bad film. It was a complete dumpster fire. It's only purpose was to make sure that the rights stayed with Miramax and Weinstein. However, my curiosity got the better of me one day. I decided maybe it's time to give it a shot.
Is Revelations a bad film? It's something that will absolutely be different from person to person. We all have our own thoughts on what makes a film good or what makes a film bad. It's one of the wonderful parts of our community - seeing all the discussion that is had. And also seeing all the horror films that I have, I can say that it's not a bad film.
It's the first sequel in this series to feel like a Hellraiser film since those initial four. Some would probably disagree and say that Hellseeker did as well. My thoughts on Inferno and Hellseeker are that they are more psychological horror. Hell, one of my friends pointed out to me that Inferno felt more like a Silent Hill film. Revelations feels absolutely like a back to basics approach. The scope of Revelations is smaller and more compacted. Yes, a good reason for that is due to the rushed production of it as well as the budget. But honestly, I thought it works for the film.
There was definitely a moment or two where I turned my head at the film. If you've seen it, you can probably guess what that'd be. I don't have many problems with horror films. But one thing that tends to get to me is when they decide to place children or babies in the line of fire. Human Centipede Part II, I look at you with what you did and never will revisit. Thankfully, that small moment happens off screen.
The use of found footage in the film was interesting. It does allow us an insight into the two college kids, Nico and Steven. Yeah, there's a bit of Dude Bros. douchebaggery that happens. Basically what you imagine would be. Then we are introduced to their families, the Cravens and Bradleys. They are having dinner together along with Nico's sister, Emma. They wanted to take the time to try and get along after their children disappeared on their trip. Steven returns and then chaos ensues.
I will say that the film does go a bit balls to the wall over the course of the film. Just remember that this isn't a long film. It's only an hour-fifteen. That's pretty damn fast. But it does have some feeling of a 'reboot' in a way. It follows some beats that are similar to what happened in the original film. But this time, it's more subpar. Honestly, I'd say that it feels like a Blue Light Special of the first film.
I wish I could go and say that Hellraiser Revelations is high in the franchise. I'd honestly be lying through my teeth. However, this isn't the worst. I have definitely seen worse. Is it a bad horror film? Taken it out of the franchise to rate it, I'd say no. I have definitely seen other horror films that were downright bad and just wonder how it was ever made. If I'm looking for something to throw on for background noise, I may turn to Revelations at some point. It's fine. Honestly, the cast and crew probably did the best that they could with what they were given from Miramax and Weinstein.
Rating: 2.75 out of 5. (Fine)
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