Hellbound: Hellraiser 2 begins with Kirsty (Ashley Laurence) waking up in a hospital, after having survived the ordeal from the first film.
The doctors believe she is suffering from ptsd, after witnessing her family being murdered...and don't give much credence to her claims...thinking she has lost her mind.
The main doctor dismisses her calls to destroy the mattress that Julia died on...knowing that it will allow her to come back to life, like Frank (i'm pretty sure they say Ray in the film) did in the previous film.
Her only hope to prove her sanity is a young doctor, who is intrigued by her story- and probably crushing on her a little.
It's through his investigation that he discovers the doctor at the helm of the asylum is, himself, a sadistic madman- who, not only, encourages and enables his patients to torture themselves (as part of the ritual to revive those who've been taken to hell via the powers of the puzzle box)...but is also obsessed with the puzzle box Kirsty has been rambling on about...and seems to be sacrificing the mental patients to whatever it is he just spawned from hell.
So he starts to think she might be telling the truth...
The first 20-odd minutes of this film are essentially a re-cap of happenings from the first film (in the context of her telling her story to the police and doctors).
And, the introductory torture/reincarnation scene is super cringeworthy...in the sense that it literally makes you cringe.
From there, we watch as things go full on kinky, as the mad doctor forms a romantic relationship with his, now mummified, mistress from hell...whom he feeds other women that he keeps bound and naked in his home dungeon.
Obviously, after witnessing what he does...the young doctor helps Kirsty break out.
But he doesn't last too long...and she's, once again, left to fight Julia...and the mad doctor...on her own (at least at first).
(Because) The mad doctor- driven by an obsession to obtain occult knowledge- plans to use a traumatized young patient- named Tiffany- who he has been training to solve the puzzle boxes he has in his possession- to open a portal to hell.
When she does...their two worlds become one...as it enables Pinhead and his Cenobite minions to cross over into their dimension...while Kristy and Tiffany use the portal to enter Hell, with hopes they can free their parents from the confines of the labyrinth...which it is suggested, is the mind.
Upon confronting Kristy, Pinhead poses the question: if, when you enter Hell, you are trapped within your own mind...is it even possible to free another person, who is trapped in their own personal hell?
A very profound question, that requires psychological, mythological, and theological considerations to even begin to address.
Though, one particularly applicable to the situation that Kristy finds herself in.
Thus, in order to navigate her way through this mental prison, in which she has become trapped- and save her father- Kristy must confront her own trauma head on, and battle the demons that dwell within her own mind.
Her katabasis.
Though, I suppose it is also possible she really does traverse the dimensional boundaries into actual Hell...considering the young girl also goes through the experience, and all.
Either way, this all acts as a metaphor for them being trapped in a mental asylum (while, arguably, not even being crazy...or guilty of anything).
In this sense, the Cenobites become like the patients (whom Kristy is trying to free from the hell's of their own minds...by reminding them of who they were when they were humans); while the doctor/leviathan cenobite beast (who attempts to hold a coup in hell) is symbolic of the authoritarian level of control that the overseeing doctor has over the patients in an asylum.
The whole narrative in this film seems to be derived from the story of Guanyin- a Chinese princess, who chose an ascetic life, over one of a politically arranged marriage...before becoming a bodhisattva, and willingly going to hell, so that she could free the souls that have become trapped there.
And I really like the introduction of the character of Tiffany.
I'm hoping she maintains a leading role in the rest of the series, going forward.
Despite the fact that Barker delegated the screenplay writing and directorial roles to others for the production of this feature...it is actually the better of the two films.
As, storywise, it's much more complex than the first film...and does much more for the worldbuilding of the series.
While the setting and special effects continue to be badass.
Having watched the first two films now, I still feel like the Hellraiser story is incomplete.
As you are left with so many questions about the world and it's characters.
That being said...it's a good way to keep you engaged with the series, as it continues.
Looking forward to watching Hellraiser III!
7 out 10.
The doctors believe she is suffering from ptsd, after witnessing her family being murdered...and don't give much credence to her claims...thinking she has lost her mind.
The main doctor dismisses her calls to destroy the mattress that Julia died on...knowing that it will allow her to come back to life, like Frank (i'm pretty sure they say Ray in the film) did in the previous film.
Her only hope to prove her sanity is a young doctor, who is intrigued by her story- and probably crushing on her a little.
It's through his investigation that he discovers the doctor at the helm of the asylum is, himself, a sadistic madman- who, not only, encourages and enables his patients to torture themselves (as part of the ritual to revive those who've been taken to hell via the powers of the puzzle box)...but is also obsessed with the puzzle box Kirsty has been rambling on about...and seems to be sacrificing the mental patients to whatever it is he just spawned from hell.
So he starts to think she might be telling the truth...
The first 20-odd minutes of this film are essentially a re-cap of happenings from the first film (in the context of her telling her story to the police and doctors).
And, the introductory torture/reincarnation scene is super cringeworthy...in the sense that it literally makes you cringe.
From there, we watch as things go full on kinky, as the mad doctor forms a romantic relationship with his, now mummified, mistress from hell...whom he feeds other women that he keeps bound and naked in his home dungeon.
Obviously, after witnessing what he does...the young doctor helps Kirsty break out.
But he doesn't last too long...and she's, once again, left to fight Julia...and the mad doctor...on her own (at least at first).
(Because) The mad doctor- driven by an obsession to obtain occult knowledge- plans to use a traumatized young patient- named Tiffany- who he has been training to solve the puzzle boxes he has in his possession- to open a portal to hell.
When she does...their two worlds become one...as it enables Pinhead and his Cenobite minions to cross over into their dimension...while Kristy and Tiffany use the portal to enter Hell, with hopes they can free their parents from the confines of the labyrinth...which it is suggested, is the mind.
Upon confronting Kristy, Pinhead poses the question: if, when you enter Hell, you are trapped within your own mind...is it even possible to free another person, who is trapped in their own personal hell?
A very profound question, that requires psychological, mythological, and theological considerations to even begin to address.
Though, one particularly applicable to the situation that Kristy finds herself in.
Thus, in order to navigate her way through this mental prison, in which she has become trapped- and save her father- Kristy must confront her own trauma head on, and battle the demons that dwell within her own mind.
Her katabasis.
Though, I suppose it is also possible she really does traverse the dimensional boundaries into actual Hell...considering the young girl also goes through the experience, and all.
Either way, this all acts as a metaphor for them being trapped in a mental asylum (while, arguably, not even being crazy...or guilty of anything).
In this sense, the Cenobites become like the patients (whom Kristy is trying to free from the hell's of their own minds...by reminding them of who they were when they were humans); while the doctor/leviathan cenobite beast (who attempts to hold a coup in hell) is symbolic of the authoritarian level of control that the overseeing doctor has over the patients in an asylum.
The whole narrative in this film seems to be derived from the story of Guanyin- a Chinese princess, who chose an ascetic life, over one of a politically arranged marriage...before becoming a bodhisattva, and willingly going to hell, so that she could free the souls that have become trapped there.
And I really like the introduction of the character of Tiffany.
I'm hoping she maintains a leading role in the rest of the series, going forward.
Despite the fact that Barker delegated the screenplay writing and directorial roles to others for the production of this feature...it is actually the better of the two films.
As, storywise, it's much more complex than the first film...and does much more for the worldbuilding of the series.
While the setting and special effects continue to be badass.
Having watched the first two films now, I still feel like the Hellraiser story is incomplete.
As you are left with so many questions about the world and it's characters.
That being said...it's a good way to keep you engaged with the series, as it continues.
Looking forward to watching Hellraiser III!
7 out 10.