After the disappointing reception of Hellraiser: Bloodline in 1996, the Hellraiser series had little promise. But, apparently enough promise that the series would be released direct to video and the first film to do that was the fifth entry, Hellraiser: Inferno. Released in 2000, Hellraiser: Inferno was not originally meant to be a Hellraiser film but, the studio found it cheaper to take a pre existing script and shove Hellraiser elements to then make it a Hellraiser film. Hellraiser: Inferno was written and directed by Scott Derrickson and stars Craig Sheffer, Nicholas Turturro, James Remar, and Doug Bradley. The film would be enough of a success that the series would continue well after the release of this film on direct to video.
Detective Joseph Thorne (Craig Sheffer) is a shady cop. He does drugs, takes money from dead victims, and hooks up with prostitutes while he is still married. When he finds the Lament Configuration and opens it, people start dying and someone known as the Engineer is behind all of this.....
Hellraiser: Inferno is a peculiar film in many ways. First off, it does not feel like a Hellraiser film. But that is not a bad thing at all. This film is a psychological horror/thriller that is actually fairly well constructed. It just has Pinhead sprinkled throughout the film. Clearly though, this was all unintentional. They had no idea that the already pre existing script would actually work as a Hellraiser film. The film is still dark and creepy all around. But what this film does bring that is new to the series is a sense of mystery. The cop plot and the whole murder plot is very gripping and while one probably would catch on a bit too early as to what this all boils down to, it is still very interesting to watch. This story in a way reminds me of the first Max Payne game. It is a psychological thriller with a cop/detective who is apart of a much bigger scheme. The story is a slow burn all around (with this film even managing to be the Hellraiser film with the longest runtime) but it is well worth it when the film gets to the climax and eventually the reveal which, as mentioned before, does get made a little obvious before hand. For some, the story may get a little convoluted if thought about too much but is otherwise fairly straightforward. The main character is not very likeable in the least bit but that is most certainly the point of the film. The character of Pinhead is not present in the film for very long and has little impact on the plot. But on the other hand, it is nice to see Pinhead more so as a neutral force as seen in Hellraiser and Hellbound: Hellraiser II. The other Cenobites are creepy enough and are fairly simple in design. Special effects are done by Gary Tunnicliffe who did effects for Hellraiser: Bloodline and would do effects for the rest of the series and even go and direct Hellraiser: Judgment. The special effects are nothing great and considering a small budget, you are very limited on things that you can do in a film. CGI is used a few times and it does not look terrible considering that this is a low budget, direct to video film. We do get a good look at some great practical effects but there is not too much of them. It is probably the least gory Hellraiser film up to this point in the series.
Hellraiser: Inferno is highly underrated but I am seeing this film slowly gathering a cult following and it brings a smile to my face. If you did not like Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth and Hellraiser: Bloodline, and you want something a little different, Hellraiser: Inferno is the film for you.
