Hellraiser 5: Inferno
While many fans of the series might take issue with the fact that franchise star Doug âPinheadâ Bradley is reduced to a mere 5 minutes of screen time (something that no doubt pissed off Part 4 helmer Kevin Yagher), credit should be given for trying something different with the concept, as director Scott Derrickson (who went on to direct The Exorcism Of Emily Rose as well as the Day The Earth Stood Still remake) combines not only elements of Hellraiser, but of detective film noir, Jacobâs Ladder, and Angel Heart, in a style clearly influenced by David Lynch. The story follows an LA police detective (Craig Sheffer) who enjoys, among other things, chess, cocaine, and hookers, as he takes on a case involving a victim who has been torn apart by hooks Cenobite-style, and soon comes into possession of the ubiquitous puzzle box that opens the doorway to Hell. Soon he seems to find himself losing his mind, experiencing nightmarish hallucinations as he gets on the trail of the killer, known only on the streets as âThe Engineerâ. The key problem lies with the casting of Sheffer: Unlike say, Mickey Rourke in Angel Heart, he fails to convincingly get us wrapped up in his character, and the viewer ultimately becomes indifferent to his fate even as his world crumbles around him and his psyche becomes more and more ravaged, begging for some kind of salvation or reprieve yet getting little sympathy from the audience, thus diluting much of the filmâs impact. In other roles, NYPD Blueâs Nick Turturro does second-string work as Shefferâs partner, a honest cop who seems baffled by his co-workerâs collapsing mindset; Nicholas Sadler plays a drug-dealing informant who comes to a bad end; and character acting icon James Remar gets some good moments as the department head shrinker who tries to help Sheffer come to terms with what he is going through. Itâs interesting to note that this entry has some of the most overt Christian themes in the series, taking note of the fact that the nightmarish experience is part of the expenses for the wages of sin. As the reality of the film becomes more and more surreal, a couple of aspects of the film become weighted down in monotony, as when Sheffer and Turturro visit a remote roadhouse that seems straight out of Twin Peaks. Nonetheless, much of what we see is quite terrifying, and right in line with the tradition of the series as being horror films that are truly scary as opposed to being hip and cool, even if from Pinheadâs point of view it might seem like just another day on the job for him, as this is more of a stand-alone entry in the series rather than a continuation of the linear storyline from before. Overall, while not the best in the series, still leaps and bounds ahead of most of the PG-13 crap that passes for horror nowadaysâŚ
7/10