We’re not far from my no-man’s land of the series as we’ve past the first three Hellraisers, which I’ve seen numerous times, and we’re now onto the fourth, which I only saw once or twice, my last viewing being many years ago. My review of Hellraiser: Bloodline is not going to be a complete assessment of the film because, having six more films to review, I simply don’t have the time. Instead I’m going to outline what I remember of the film, my thoughts about it and then I’m going to describe my most recent viewing and compare my former opinion with my current one.

The final in the series to be released in cinemas, Bloodline focuses on three men from three different generations of the same family. The first man is an 18^th century French toymaker who constructs the first lament configuration, the second is an architect in 1996 who has built a skyscraper that resembles the puzzle box and the third is an engineer aboard a space station in 2127 who is working to destroy the box for good.

What I Remember

Bloodline’s premise never left me. How could it? For a horror sequel set in space (an alarm bell for any franchise) Bloodline had an ambitious story. I recall the French aristocratic past, the very 90s’ present and of course the space station of the future. I recall plenty of the visuals from the Siamese cenobites to Pinhead’s hound. Despite the original premise and colourful settings, I remember being quite bored during my initial viewings. I believe I found the modern-day segment particularly unengaging with the protagonist just being a plain old family man.

I knew we learned things about the lament configuration and that it was made by some old craftsman but that’s all I remember. The specifics about its link to hell and the cenobites I have no recollection of.

What I Saw

Bloodline is a lot better than I recall. The present day stuff I still found to be a bit dull but I got a lot more out of the 18^th century segment, had a blast with the gore and makeup effects and appreciated the inter generational narrative that flowed through the three segments.  

Bloodline is sort of a cleverer, more bohemian Hellraiser III, which isn’t too surprising considering they’re both written by Wishmaster scribe Pete Atkins. It has the camp of Hell on Earth with the gore effects and bizarre cenobite designs, however it also has Hell On Earth‘s dull protagonist. The characters in the Paris and space station segments aren’t bad. Phillip LeMarchand, the 18^th century toymaker, is a likable every man with a wife, a home and a prosperous career. Duc de L’Isle, the aristocrat who commissions the box, is deliciously seedy. Paul Merchant, Philip’s 22^nd century descendant, is intelligent and very determined.

John Merchant, Philip’s 1996 descendent, is the same family man I remembered. He didn’t surprise me. I was only interested in him when he was with Angelique, an immortal demon summed by Duc de L’Isle. She’s similar to Julia in that she uses seduction to achieve her aims but unlike Julia, she is completely inhuman. She’s a demon who desires to corrupt people using temptation.

Pinhead is a bit more like how he is in the first two films. There are moments when he’s hammy, stroking a cenobite hound, elegantly describing how ripping people a part and having the time of his life doing it. However, when with Angelique or John, he becomes the emotionless, indifferent super being we were all introduced to in 1987.

If Hell On Earth is a guilty pleasure then Bloodline is an innocent one. John and his family are dull and the idea of people being able to remember their ancestors’ memories is pretty silly but with its strong supporting cast, epic story and occasional campiness, I’d say that, out of the ones I’ve seen so far, Hellraiser: Bloodline is probably the second best Hellraiser film. There’s a lot to like about it and it doesn’t deserve the overwhelmingly negative reception it has.

I give Hellraiser: Bloodline a decent 6 out of 10.