Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth (1992)    Dimension/Horror    RT: 93 minutes    Rated R (language, extremely graphic violence and gore, sexual content)    Director: Anthony Hickox    Screenplay: Peter Atkins and Tony Randel    Music: Randy Miller    Cinematography: Gerry Lively    Release date: September 11, 1992 (US)    Cast: Doug Bradley, Terry Farrell, Paula Marshall, Kevin Bernhardt, Ashley Laurence, Ken Carpenter, Peter Atkins, Eric Willhelm, Robert Hammond, Brent Bolthouse, Lawrence Mortoff, Clayton Hill, Aimee Leigh.    Box Office: $12.5 million (US)

Rating: ***

 As much as I enjoy Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth, it hasn’t escaped my notice that the series has started to slip into the realm of the campy. With a subtitle like Hell on Earth, it should have been a total horror epic. The idea of Pinhead bringing an army of Cenobites into the real world sounds awesome to this horror movie fan. That’s sort of/kind of what happens in Hellraiser III only on a somewhat smaller scale. Such is the pitfall of low budget B-movies, the makers can only afford to do so much.

 However, that’s not my biggest complaint about Hellraiser III. In fact, it’s not even a complaint; it’s really more of an observation. What I find most disappointing about this third installment of the franchise is that it isn’t the least bit scary. Whereas the first two Hellraiser flicks are full-blooded horror movies, this one takes too campy an approach to the material to frighten all but the most timid viewers. It plays more like a Nightmare on Elm Street movie with all the stuff about dreams and the heroine’s excursions into the realm of dreams. Then there’s the matter of the new Cenobites. They look more like Borg rejects than Cenobites. They’re pretty silly too. One of them has a video camera in his head and another shoots razor sharp CDs at potential victims. It’s a fun movie, don’t get me wrong. It’s just a step down from its more serious-minded predecessors.

 So when we last saw our old friend Pinhead (Bradley), he had split into two distinct identities- his good human self, WWI British Army Captain Elliot Spencer and his evil id Pinhead. While Spencer remains in limbo, Pinhead and the puzzle box are trapped in the Pillar of Souls, the grotesque statue that rises from Julia’s mattress in the final scene of the previous installment.

 The pillar is purchased by J.P. Monroe (Bernhardt, General Hospital), a rich and spoiled nightclub owner with a thing for the ladies. The scene then jumps to reporter Joey Summerskill (Farrell, Becker) doing a piece at a hospital ER when a patient is wheeled in with hooked chains attached to his body. She watches in horror as he’s pulled apart by the chains. Realizing there’s a hell of a story there, the ambitious Joey starts looking into it. Her investigation takes her to Monroe’s nightclub The Boiler Room and his ex-girlfriend Terri (Marshall, Warlock: The Armageddon).

 Now here’s where dreams come into it. Terri never dreams while Joey always dreams about her father who was killed in Vietnam when she was a baby. It’s in these dreams that she meets Capt. Spencer who explains all about Pinhead and the Lament Configuration. Meanwhile, J.P. discovers the secret of the pillar when it kills a young woman he just slept with. Pinhead asks J.P. to bring him more victims so he can be freed from his prison. Long story short (too late!), Pinhead is freed and proceeds to wreak havoc in our world.

 Since his usual gang of Cenobites was killed in the previous film, Pinhead must create new ones to help him. He goes a rampage through the Boiler Room and recruits a new team that includes “Camerahead” (Carpenter), “CD Cenobite” (Willhelm) and “Barbie” (writer Atkins). What a step down from the Cenobites in the previous films. They’re sort of/kind of cool in a campy way, but that’s not what one expects from a Hellraiser flick.

 Aside from that, Hellraiser III is a fun movie. I went to see it at a Saturday matinee and enjoyed it a great deal. I was actually happy to see a third Hellraiser come to pass as the franchise’s future was put in question by the closing of New World Pictures (the studio that distributed the first two movies). Thankfully, Dimension Films (then part of Miramax) picked it up.

 Hellraiser III is the first of the series to not be shot in the UK. The British connection made I & II feel like very bloody Hammer films. While part III doesn’t have the same feel, it is very gory. People still get torn apart and the nightclub massacre is a nice bloody mess. The gore effects are very good as is the makeup. As for the acting, it’s about you’d expect. Farrell does okay as the heroine of the piece. Marshall fares better as the metal chick who helps Farrell with her investigation. Bernhardt makes a very convincing rich jerk.

 It may not be the best of the series, but Hellraiser III is a damn sight better than what follows. They really should have ended the series with this one.