ON THIS DAY IN HORROR - March 8th
"HELLRAISER: BLOODLINE" released in 1996
In the 22nd century, a scientist attempts to finally destroy the diabolical Lament Configuration; a cursed puzzle box that acts as a portal to Hell, and it's inhabitants - the Cenobites, in Hellraiser: Bloodline!
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In 2127, a shuttle carrying a team of marines arrives at the space station Minos, that has been taken over by the station's designer, Dr. Paul Merchant (Bruce Ramsay). Once he has been taken into custody, Merchant pleads with one of the marines, Rimmer (Christine Harnos), that they all in danger, explaining that he has just used on of the stations robots to remotely solve the Lament Configuration - a puzzle box that acts as a portal to Hell and summons the dreaded Cenobites. Merchant explains that it was his ancestor, a French toymaker Phillip LeMarchand (Ramsay) originally built the box on commission from libertine aristocrat Duc de L'Isle (Mickey Cottrell) who, along with his assistant Jacques (Adam Scott), then performed a blood sacrifice to summon the demon Angelique (Valentina Vargas). Horrified at what he has done, LeMarchand immediately begins to design for a second box which will neutralize the effects of the first - The Elysium Configuration. However, LeMarchand is captured while trying to steal back the Lament Configuration and is killed by Angelique and Jacques, forever cursing his bloodline for creating the gateway to Hell.
In 1996, LeMarchand's descendant, architect John Merchant (Ramsay), has just finished building a skyscaper on top of the last resting place of the Lament Configuration. Recognising his ancestry, Angelique murders Jacques (who had been granted prolonged life by Angelique) and travels to Manhattan to confront Merchant. After tricking a security guard to opening the puzzle box, Angelique summons Pinhead (Doug Bradley). The two immediately clash, as Pinhead represents a shift in the ideologies of Hell, which she left behind two hundred years ago: while Angelique believes in corrupting people through temptation, Pinhead is fanatically devoted to pain and suffering. Despite their conflicting views, the pair forge an uneasy alliance to kill Merchant before he can complete The Elysium Configuration, with Pinhead capturing Merchants wife Bobbi (Kim Myers) and son Jack (Courtland Mead). While Merchant successfully rescues his family, his flawed design for The Elysium Configuration fails, leaving Bobbi to send Pinhead (and Angelique) back to Hell by closing the Lament Configuration. Meanwhile, back on the space station, Rimmer is convinced of Merchant's story when the Cenobites, led by Pinhead and Angelique, kill the station crew and the marines. While the two escape, Merchant assures Rimmer that releasing the Cenobites was his plan all along, as he believes he has successfully perfected the Elysium Configuration. But will Merchant's design work, or will his bloodline continue to be cursed by the Cenobites?
In 1996, LeMarchand's descendant, architect John Merchant (Ramsay), has just finished building a skyscaper on top of the last resting place of the Lament Configuration. Recognising his ancestry, Angelique murders Jacques (who had been granted prolonged life by Angelique) and travels to Manhattan to confront Merchant. After tricking a security guard to opening the puzzle box, Angelique summons Pinhead (Doug Bradley). The two immediately clash, as Pinhead represents a shift in the ideologies of Hell, which she left behind two hundred years ago: while Angelique believes in corrupting people through temptation, Pinhead is fanatically devoted to pain and suffering. Despite their conflicting views, the pair forge an uneasy alliance to kill Merchant before he can complete The Elysium Configuration, with Pinhead capturing Merchants wife Bobbi (Kim Myers) and son Jack (Courtland Mead). While Merchant successfully rescues his family, his flawed design for The Elysium Configuration fails, leaving Bobbi to send Pinhead (and Angelique) back to Hell by closing the Lament Configuration. Meanwhile, back on the space station, Rimmer is convinced of Merchant's story when the Cenobites, led by Pinhead and Angelique, kill the station crew and the marines. While the two escape, Merchant assures Rimmer that releasing the Cenobites was his plan all along, as he believes he has successfully perfected the Elysium Configuration. But will Merchant's design work, or will his bloodline continue to be cursed by the Cenobites?
[Two Security Guards confront Pinhead]
Security Guard 1: [to Pinhead] Don't make us put some pain on you!
Pinhead: Pain? How dare you use that word?
Security Guard 2: He's got... pins in his head.
Pinhead: What you think of as pain is a shadow. Pain has a face. Allow me to show it to you. Gentlemen, I... Am... Pain
[Pinhead brutally kills the two Guards]
Top and Above: On the space station Minos, a captured Dr. Paul Merchant (Bruce Ramsay) recounts his family legend to Rimmer (Christine Harnos).
Hellraiser creator Clive Barker intially wanted a fresh turn for the series after the two sequels to his original 1987 film. The premise for the film, a shape-changing structure used to trap Pinhead, was inspired by the ending of Hellraiser III (which featured a building whose architecture resembled the Lament Configuration), with Barker suggesting the three-part film set in different time periods and screenwriter Peter Atkins adding the Lemarchand storyline (which came from Barker's original novella). Barker and Atkins pitched the script to Miramax, who agreed to finance/produce Bloodline, but at a dramatically reduced budget which forced the filmmakers to scale back on the special effects and violent confrontations between Pinhead and Angelique.
After Guillermo del Toro declined to direct Bloodline, director Stuart Gordon, known for his low-budget horror films, was approached to direct but backed out after artistic disagreements. Special effects technician Kevin Yagher was subsequently hired after his cost-saving directing work on Tales from the Crypt for Joel Silver. Yagher was initially hesitant about taking the job, as he did not want to do a retread of the previous installments of the series. However, he was impressed with the script and became enthusiastic after Barker described his vision for the film. Doug Bradley, who had played Pinhead in all the previous films, joined the cast first, and agreed the film should focus more on the other characters, and several lesser-known actors joined in major roles, including Canadian Bruce Ramsay (as Philippe "Toymaker" Lemarchand / John Merchant / Dr. Paul Merchant) and Chilean Valentina Vargas (as the demonic Angelique). Vargas said she was reluctant to take the role because of nightmares about Pinhead from the first film, but she soon became interested in exploring her character's seductive and evil nature.
After Guillermo del Toro declined to direct Bloodline, director Stuart Gordon, known for his low-budget horror films, was approached to direct but backed out after artistic disagreements. Special effects technician Kevin Yagher was subsequently hired after his cost-saving directing work on Tales from the Crypt for Joel Silver. Yagher was initially hesitant about taking the job, as he did not want to do a retread of the previous installments of the series. However, he was impressed with the script and became enthusiastic after Barker described his vision for the film. Doug Bradley, who had played Pinhead in all the previous films, joined the cast first, and agreed the film should focus more on the other characters, and several lesser-known actors joined in major roles, including Canadian Bruce Ramsay (as Philippe "Toymaker" Lemarchand / John Merchant / Dr. Paul Merchant) and Chilean Valentina Vargas (as the demonic Angelique). Vargas said she was reluctant to take the role because of nightmares about Pinhead from the first film, but she soon became interested in exploring her character's seductive and evil nature.
TRIVIA: Walt Disney Pictures came under fire in the media when they purchased the then controversial and hip Miramax Films. The initial slate of films that Miramax would be releasing under the Disney deal included Hellraiser: Bloodline, Scream, The Prophecy, Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers and Mother's Boys. The outcry was due to the fact that the "Mouse House" would be directly involved in the marketing and release of horror movies.
Top and Above: Merchant's ancestors; toymaker Phillip LeMarchand (who originally created the Lament Configuration) and architect John Merchant (both played by Bruce Ramsey).
Problems began early and continued throughout production, with Bradley later calling it "the shoot from hell". Firstly, Gerry Lively, who had shot Hellraiser III, replaced the original cinematographer, the assistant director was called away on an emergency, several people suffered from illnesses, and Bradley said the art department and camera crew were all dismissed within the first week. Yet amazingly, Bloodline was completed on time and within its budget. Miramax's reaction to the initial cut was negative, however, and they demanded that Pinhead receive a more prominent role and appear earlier (Atkins said they knew about the script but possibly panicked when they saw the reality). Amongst the rewrites Miramax demanded was inserting Pinhead at the beginning of the movie, which also was changed so that the 22nd century Paul Merchant narrates his ancestors' story, and a happy ending was added.
Though he was not necessarily opposed to Miramax's suggested changes, Yagher said he also did not want to see the film slowly morph into a different product after spending so much effort on it, so Miramax brought on director Joe Chappelle to complete the film, reworking the script with Atkin and screenwriter Rand Ravich. New footage was shot in April and May 1995, which Bradley explained consisted of entirely new material and were not truly re-shoots; including changes to Angelique's origin and relationships with Pinhead and the Lemarchand line. With additional edits made to the original storyline by Chappelle and film editor Randolph K. Bricker, Yagher felt it strayed too far from his original vision and had his name removed from the credits, using the DGA pseudonym Alan Smithee.
Though he was not necessarily opposed to Miramax's suggested changes, Yagher said he also did not want to see the film slowly morph into a different product after spending so much effort on it, so Miramax brought on director Joe Chappelle to complete the film, reworking the script with Atkin and screenwriter Rand Ravich. New footage was shot in April and May 1995, which Bradley explained consisted of entirely new material and were not truly re-shoots; including changes to Angelique's origin and relationships with Pinhead and the Lemarchand line. With additional edits made to the original storyline by Chappelle and film editor Randolph K. Bricker, Yagher felt it strayed too far from his original vision and had his name removed from the credits, using the DGA pseudonym Alan Smithee.
[Angelique confronts Pinhead]
Pinhead: Temptation is illusion. But the time for trickery is past. In this game, we show ourselves as we really are.
Angelique: And what is that?
Pinhead: The beauty of suffering.
Angelique: You are no different from that beast who sucks the bones you throw to it!
Pinhead: [as he hooks into her flesh] And you, Princess? What are you?
Top and Above: Pinhead (Doug Bradley) reluctantly join forces with the demon Angelique (Valentina Vargas) to stop Merchant from creating the Elysium Configuration - a counter box that can contain the Lament Configuration and forever close the portal to Hell.
Released on March 8th, 1996, Bloodline was a reasonable success at the US box office, grossing nearly $9.5 million against a $4 million budget. Although the film did receive mostly negative reviews from critics, Variety called it "a pointless mess" without a likable protagonist. The reviewer further criticized the acting and said the grotesque special effects have become tiresome since the first film, except for the space-based effects. Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times wrote that if Barker himself had rewritten and directed the film, it might have worked; however, the writing is convoluted, and the film's atmosphere is "more repellent than intriguing".
Following the film's release, questions of a sequel immediately rose, however Atkins said he was uninterested in exploring more Hellraiser stories, as he could not see anywhere for the series to go creatively, but he recognized Miramax had a financial interest in keeping the series alive. And while Bradley said he was open to reprising his role, Barker's reaction was more negative: "I think they are making another one. Oh, God!". Although Bloodline was the last Hellraiser film to be released theatrically, five direct-to-video sequels followed throughout the years; Hellraiser: Inferno (2000), Hellraiser: Hellseeker (2002), Hellraiser: Deader (2005), Hellraiser: Hellworld (2005), and Hellraiser: Revelations (2011) - interestingly, each of these sequels were conceived as original screenplays that were later converted into Hellraiser films. A tenth film in the series, Hellraiser: Judgment, began filming in early 2016, starring Damon Carney, Randy Wayne, and Alexandra Harris, as three detectives investigating a serial killer, only to discover a much deeper threat of other worldly proportions. Horror icon Heather Langenkamp will also co-star, with Paul T. Taylor appearing as Pinhead. Meanwhile, plans for a reboot/remake of the original Hellraiser film continue to be developed by Clive Barker and Doug Bradley.
Following the film's release, questions of a sequel immediately rose, however Atkins said he was uninterested in exploring more Hellraiser stories, as he could not see anywhere for the series to go creatively, but he recognized Miramax had a financial interest in keeping the series alive. And while Bradley said he was open to reprising his role, Barker's reaction was more negative: "I think they are making another one. Oh, God!". Although Bloodline was the last Hellraiser film to be released theatrically, five direct-to-video sequels followed throughout the years; Hellraiser: Inferno (2000), Hellraiser: Hellseeker (2002), Hellraiser: Deader (2005), Hellraiser: Hellworld (2005), and Hellraiser: Revelations (2011) - interestingly, each of these sequels were conceived as original screenplays that were later converted into Hellraiser films. A tenth film in the series, Hellraiser: Judgment, began filming in early 2016, starring Damon Carney, Randy Wayne, and Alexandra Harris, as three detectives investigating a serial killer, only to discover a much deeper threat of other worldly proportions. Horror icon Heather Langenkamp will also co-star, with Paul T. Taylor appearing as Pinhead. Meanwhile, plans for a reboot/remake of the original Hellraiser film continue to be developed by Clive Barker and Doug Bradley.
ROTTEN TOMATOES SCORE: 25%
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