Dom Robinson reviews
Hellraiser (Widescreen re-issue)
Distributed by
VCI
Cat.no: VCD 0005W
Cert: 18
Running time: 90 minutes
Year: 1987
Pressing: 1998
Region(s): 2, PAL
Chapters: 21 plus extras
Sound: Dolby Surround (Dolby Digital 2.0)
Languages: English
Subtitles: None
Widescreen: 1.85:1, Fullscreen: 4:3
16:9-enhanced: Yes
Macrovision: Yes
Price: £19.99
Extras : Scene index, Sub-plots, Theatrical trailers, Interviews,
Photo Library.
Director:
Producer:
Screenplay:
Music:
Cast:
Larry: Andrew Robinson (Dirty Harry, Into the Badlands, The Last Days Of Paradise )
Julia: Clare Higgins (Hellbound: Hellraiser 2, Small Faces, Bad Behaviour )
Kirsty: Ashley Laurence
Frank: Sean Chapman (Made In Britain )
Frank the Monster: Oliver Smith
Pinhead (Lead Cenobite): Doug Bradley (Hellbound: Hellraiser 2, Hellraiser 3: Hell On Earth, Hellraiser 4: Bloodline, Clive Barker's Salome And The Forbidden, Proteus )
Chattering Cenobite: Nicholas Vince
'Butterball' Cenobite: Simon Bamford
Female Cenobite: Grace Kirby
Hellraiser
Frank's brother - Larry - and his wife Julia move into the same house, but
removal day causes problems for Larry as he catches his hand on a nail in the
process, spilling blood in the process. Julia takes Larry into the empty room
where Frank met his death and the split blood brings Frank back to the land
of the living...almost.
There's just one thing that Frank needs to become whole again - more bodies
to feast upon, so Julia, who once had an affair with Frank, pretends to go
out seeking possible suitors, takes them back to the room, renders them
powerless with a hammer-blow to the head and it's chow-time.
Possibly the only one keeping their head together - literally in the cases of
some people - in the whole fiasco is Larry's daughter, Kirsty, although there's
enough freaky goings on to make anyone lose their sanity.
Each of the cast does a fine job, but the best performance comes from Andrew
Robinson as Larry, who also portrayed the killer in Dirty Harry ,
especially when his character becomes just as crazy.
What this release needed was a crisp, widescreen 1.85:1 remastered transfer with
pixel-perfect compression. Gladly VCI have addressed one problem that dogged
the first release - the fact it was fullscreen only. Given that a widescreen
PAL version existed on video it made me wonder if VCI's DVD division were
anti-widescreen? At least this time we have an anamorphic 16:9, rather than
1.85:1, widescreen transfer but the print itself is average at best. Also,
there are a lot of artifacts which really show up on any areas of black, grey
and brown.
The Dolby Digital 2.0 (Dolby Surround) is very effectively used mainly to set
the ambience, be it eerie music just before something nasty happens, or the
thud of hammer hits when certain people suddenly aren't feeling well.
Extras :
Chapters/Trailer :
Interviews and Photo Library : The Art of Horror
which featured on the widescreen video release, especially since there was
plenty of space available on the disc.
The photo library is rather good showing publicity stills for Frank, Julia,
Kirsty, the Cenobites, Behind-the-scenes material and various publicity
pieces.
Also Available :
Languages/Subtitles :
There's just the one language on this disc - English - and there are no
subtitles, nor is there a commentary track.
Sub-Plots : 1. The Cenobites
2. Julia's Victims
3. Julia and Frank
To those who know the film, you'll have an idea of what to expect, but to those
who don't I won't spoil what's in store. However, to summarise, each heading
contains three or four small clips strung together which show how that aspect
of the film develops. It's worth noting that you should only view these after
seeing the whole film so as not to spoil any surprises.
Menu :
The interactive menu is disappointing. Sometimes you can click on what's on the
screen, while at other times you need to use the onscreen remote control.
Once you get used to this it's not too bad, but is a pain to get to grips with.
Another thing to note is that on playing the disc you can't skip past the
VCI logo and copyright info.
Overall, this release hits middle-ground. It's good points are the number of
trailers and extras in the form of interviews and a photo library, but it
could have had so much more - a director's commentary track and a decent
remastered transfer, both of which featured on the NTSC Laserdisc boxset, plus
the aforementioned thirty-minute Clive Barker feature.
It's major bad point though is the picture quality which is very disappointing
and suffers badly from artifacts at times. This time round though there is no
billing on the back of the box claiming that the DVD format enables "a far
superior picture and sound quality than has ever been achieved before".
Hmm.. I wonder why.
FILM : ****
PICTURE QUALITY : **
SOUND QUALITY : ****
EXTRAS : ***½
-------------------------------
OVERALL : ***½
Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 1998.
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