Hellraiser: Revelations (2011)

Well guys, I’ve just watched Hellraiser Revelations and to be honest, I struggled to get through this one. The film is by Victor Garcia and effects by the very talented Gary J Tunnicliffe who did the fantastic Hellraiser short ‘No More Souls’. Unfortunately you can not use the word fantastic in describing Hellraiser Revelations.One of the characters in the film said; “This doesn’t add up.”  and that basically sums up the entire flick. I wasn’t sure where Hellraiser Revelations was heading. The film starts out as some sort of found-footage flick and briefly enters a familiar Hellraiser world, but is quickly shifted into some home-invasion scenario. Lets just say, I was a little confused and lost.


The film opens with two best friends Nico and Steven who apparently hate life, so they head out to Mexico for unknown reasons recording their exploits as they go along. They reach Mexico with the intentions to get as drunk as possible and get laid by the local hookers with for some reason no Mexicans in sight. This mis-adventure in ‘Mexico’ leads to a dead hooker and a flash forward to months later where Steven and Nico are assumed dead and missing.
Steven’s mother soon gets her hands on their belongings from a private investigator who couldn’t find out what happened to them. Soon she finds the video the recorded and witnesses their exploits, where she witnesses Nico with a puzzle box in his hands and suddenly Pinhead is standing in-front of Nico spewing a few lines. It’s here we get our first good look at the “new” Pinhead and it’s just not the same.
After this, Steven’s mother begins to shed tears and quickly shuts the camera off, why the investigator gave the video back and found nothing out is beyond me. Stevens sister Emma finds the box in Stevens room and as you probably guessed begins tinkering with it herself.
Soon the box glows and some weird things happen, suddenly Steven appears behind her and this is where the plot heads elsewhere and the twist and turns begin to appear. It is at this point that the truth behind what happened to Steven and Nico is revealed.
At times I can see where they tried to create something similar to the original Hellraiser but the execution just wasn’t quite there. Fans familiar with the original will notice similar details throughout, however its a little all over the place and I’m confused as to what they are trying to achieve.
Now, if Doug Bradley had returned and if the production had not felt so rushed, this could have been good. Instead, its pretty dire with the exception of some good gore scenes but sadly the ending is left completely wide open no doubt as a setup for another direct to dvd sequel.
If you really want to check this one out, rent it and save yourself some money, but if I was you, I’d just stick to the first two Hellraiser flicks and imagine the sequels didn’t exist. I give Hellraiser: Revelations 4/10, some good practical effects and I could see where they was trying to go, they just lost it somewhere and delivered a tired and rushed flick, which is a shame really considering Gary J. Tunnicliffe’s awesome Hellraiser short No More Souls.