The US theatrical 1-sheet for the film does not have any credits. This was because original director Kevin Yagher had his name removed and replaced with the Directors' Guild of America pseudonym Alan Smithee. Fearing this would negatively reflect on the quality of the film, Miramax opted for a credit-free 1-sheet.
Kevin Yagher disowned the version with cuts made behind his back due to conflicting artistry ideas. Yagher's version contained much more graphic imagery, plot, and explained everything that happened in the film. The producers disagreed and demanded Pinhead should appear sooner despite every version of the script up until then having him appear around the 40-minute mark. When Yagher was unable to satisfy, he disowned it and never finished filming some final scenes. Joe Chappelle was brought on to finish the film, filming new scenes from re-writes, including the narrative framing device. Some scenes of the original script were thus never shot.
Adam Scott was grateful for getting cast, citing the film as being a huge deal for booking a real movie, which he took very seriously. He remarked that on his first day to the set, he was shown his chair that was mistakenly labeled as Adam Craig. Scott said it was a nice welcome to Hollywood. Despite the film's troubled production and box office failure, Scott didn't care as long as he was working. Later in need of work, Scott even auditioned for the sequel with the hope that the casting directors wouldn't remember him from the last film and no one said anything at the audition. However Scott suspects someone remembered him as he wasn't hired for the sequel.
Walt Disney Pictures came under fire in the media when they purchased the then controversial and hip Miramax Films. The initial slate of films that Miramax would be releasing under the Disney deal included Hellraiser: Bloodline, Scream (1996), The Prophecy (1995), Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995) and Mother's Boys (1994). The outcry was due to the fact that Disney, a family friendly film studio, would be directly involved in the marketing and release of horror movies, despite the fact that Miramax was only a subsidiary company and the films wouldn't bear the Disney logo. Lionsgate would eventually buy Miramax from Disney in the 2000's.
Due to the film's critical and financial failure, this would be the last "Hellraiser" movie to get a wide theatrical release, although some of the later sequels were screened at film festivals, and in various other limited screenings before they went straight-to-video.