Hellraiser: Quartet of Torment (1987 - 1996)

"A Box Set that will be Legendary, Even in Hell"

Well it's hard to think there will be another collection devoted to the first four films in the HELLRAISER franchise that's going to contain such a wealth of extras old and new, as well as all four films looking the best they ever have. Arrow Films have gone the extra mile here in putting together their UHD set so let's take a look at what it includes:

Disc One: Hellraiser (1987)

Clive Barker's seminal film, that despite the sterling efforts of its unit publicist (more about him in just a minute) still took UK cinema audiences unawares with its mixture of BODY HEAT by way of Greek tragedy with dollops of sado-masochism and body modification mixed in, looks better than it ever has done before in Arrow's UHD transfer (and which looks a lot better than the Blu-ray of a few years ago). 

Like many 1980s classics, time has weathered HELLRAISER a little. The cracks show a little more now, especially on UHD. It's still a great, timeless, story, and the opening half an hour is beautifully put together. It becomes in danger of losing its focus towards the end, but it still deserves its reputation as a classic, with iconic monsters, a superb central performance from Clare Higgins, and one of the best horror movie scores of all time.

Arrow have provided a plethora of extras new and archival, starting most significantly with a new commentary from Stephen Jones and Kim Newman. It's significant because Steve Jones was the unit publicist on the film and he has plenty of behind the scenes stories. 

Other new highlights include writers Alexandra Benedict and Guy Adams each providing 20 minute pieces on what HELLRAISER means to them. The extremely loveable Mr Adams (watch the piece to discover why I made a point of saying that) is filmed being tattooed while his calm, settled tones recount a personal history that's anything but. Ms Benedict isn't featured onscreen, leaving it to the viewer to imagine what she's actually up to as she discusses the film as being the 'ultimate unboxing video'. There's also a bunch of newly discovered press material "found in Steve Jones' attic" which is introduced by Jones and Kim Newman. Finally, there are two new academic discussions on the film, one between Sorcha Ni Fhlainn and Karmel Kniprath and the other, celebrating the queerness of Clive Barker's writing, between Paula D Ashe and Eric La Rocca. Each runs for nearly an hour

Finally, some (but not all) of the archival material from the Blu-ray has been ported over, including the two previous commentaries (one with Clive Barker and Ashley Laurence, the other with Barker alone) pieces on Sean Chapman, Doug Bradley, and Stephen Thrower's piece on the rejected Coil score. Plus there are the usual image galleries, trailers and TV spots.

Disc Two: Hellbound: Hellraiser 2 (1988)

The sequel some people like more than the first gets the Arrow UHD treatment and again, the results are an improvement on the previous Blu-ray transfer. Arrow have also gone the extra mile to provide some cracking extras.

First and foremost (again) is the commentary track by Stephen Jones and Kim Newman which provides a detailed look at the movie with plenty of behind the scenes stories. The previous two archival commentaries, one with director Tony Randel, writer Peter Atkins and actress Ashley Laurence, and the other with just Randel and Atkins have also been ported over.

Also new to the UHD disc is a chatty, convivial and utterly enjoyable conversation between authors Kit Power and George Lea that lasts a whopping 85 minutes but never outstays its welcome, even though their comments on wishing they could have been old enough to see it on its original cinema release did remind me of my advancing age (I saw it twice on the big screen back in the day).  That Rat Slice Sound is 12 minutes of Guy Adams praising Christopher Young's music and I'll add my opinion to his that Young's score is more effective than the unused Coil themes because of the counterpoint it provides.

Otherwise there's a collection of electronic press kit material plus some archival extras including interviews with Sean Chapman and Doug Bradley, a short making of and the deleted surgery scene, plus the usual trailers, TV spots and image gallery.

Disc Three: Hellraiser III: Hell On Earth (1992)

'Far better than it had any right to be' is my contemporaneous review quote for HELLRAISER III, a film I still have a lot of time for and which sometimes is my favourite of the lot. Cheerfully 'franchise part 3 material' in nature, cleverly including backstory with the Kirsty Cotton tape, and literally raising hell on the streets of LA, the late Anthony Hickox's sequel is just ambitious enough to stay interesting without lurching into the wild incoherence of part II. And that final shot is still an absolute cracker.

Like all previous disc releases of HELLRAISER III you get the option of watching two versions of the film - the 'original theatrical' and an unrated version with all the cut material restored from a lesser quality pan and scanned master. New material is limited to another fascinating and insightful commentary from Stephen Jones & Kim Newman on the uncut version, which also has an archival commentary with director Anthony Hickox and Doug Bradley. An archival Pete Atkins commentary on the theatrical version has also been ported over.

Extras otherwise are archival - the electronic press kit, interviews, featurettes and a making of, plus trailers and an image gallery.

Disc Four: Hellraiser: Bloodline (1996)

Follow the LeMarchand family on their somewhat filmically bumpy journey from the eighteenth century through 1996 to space in the year 2127 in this notoriously troubled production that saw director Kevin Yagher have his name removed from the credits. There's still plenty to enjoy, however, especially the full-blooded gothic opening and the full-blooded Valentina Vargas throughout.

Arrow's disc may well be the highlight of the entire set for HELLRAISER obsessives  - we get the fourth film in the franchise in UHD and it's accompanied by a markedly different workprint version recently discovered in Stephen Jones' attic. The actual highlight of the disc itself, however, might just be the commentary track in which Jones and Kim Newman chat to screenwriter Peter Atkins about the making of the film. It goes into detail about how it ended up the way it did, gives plenty of background on behind the scenes goings-on, and is frequently uproariously funny. A must listen.

Other extras include The Beauty of Suffering, a new 28 minute featurette on how the goth, BDSM and fetish cultures informed HELLRAISER, with interviews with some interesting individuals. The archival material ports over the documentaries from the fourth disc of Arrow's previous Blu-ray set, namely the HELLRAISER EVOLUTIONS documentary and the featurette on Clive Barker's books. 

The set also includes a 200 page hardbound book featuring new writing by Phil and Sarah Stokes.

HELLRAISER: QUARTET OF TORMENT is out on 4K UHD on Monday 23rd October 2023

Hellraiser: The Scarlet Box Set

Warning: Before reading what follows, it is only fair that I point out that the subject of this review, Arrow's HELLRAISER Scarlet Box set, is already sold out. It is of course quite conceivable that each film will be released separately at a future date, and so I've decided to press ahead and review the set anyway. 

The 1980s was the time of the horror franchise: from the lunatic incoherence of the FRIDAY THE 13ths to the originality and creativity of some of the NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET series; from the never-ending PUPPET MASTER series to the we-quickly-wished-they-would-end HALLOWEEN movies. I think it's something to be proud of that Britain was the country to come up with the only successful horror franchise to be inspired by sado-masochism, body modification, and sexual perversion. Oh yes, HELLRAISER, despite being funded with American money (and having some dodgy dubbing of bit parts to aid in the midlantic feel), was British through and through. And weren't we all proud when it and our very own Clive Barker took the festival circuit by storm? 

Time has weathered HELLRAISER a little. The cracks show a little more now. It's still a great, timeless, story, and the opening half an hour is beautifully put together. It becomes in danger of losing its focus towards the end, but it still deserves its reputation as a classic, with iconic monsters, a superb central performance from Clare Higgins, and one of the best horror movie scores of all time. I still love HELLRAISER, and in 1988 I couldn't wait to see the sequel.

"So awful you'll have to watch it twice just to check you haven't made a mistake" said Shock Express of HELLRAISER II, just after I had gone to see it at the cinema for the second time to make sure I hadn’t made a mistake in thinking how awful it was.. There are many who like this sequel & I'm probably in the minority but the other comment I remember from Shock Express 'Like a really bad Italian rip-off of the original HELLRAISER' still rings true to me. The script makes little sense (actor Kenneth Cranham admitted he didn't have any idea what was going on) there's some duff acting in amidst Higgins and Cranham, and a curiously empty version of hell. Even Christopher Young’s score sounds like someone ripping off Christopher Young with an orchestra much larger than they should have been allowed to play with.

"Far better than it had any right to be" is my period quote for HELLRAISER III, a film I still have a lot of time for. Cheerfully 'franchise part 3 material' in nature, cleverly including backstory with the Kirsty Cotton tape, and literally raising hell on the streets of LA, Anthony Hickox's sequel is just ambitious enough to stay interesting without lurching into the wild incoherence of part II. And that final shot is still an absolute cracker.

Arrow's four disc set is packed with extras. Disc 1 (HELLRAISER) gives us two audio commentaries from Clive Barker, and then Barker with Ashley Laurence. You get ex-Coil member Stephen Thrower telling us about the band's discarded score, including some snippets and some pleasant reminscencing about his association with Clive Barker. Leviathan is an enormous, lengthy, detailed documentary about the making of the films that has been edited down into more easily digestible 90 minute chunks over the first two discs. Sean Chapman talks about his role in both movies, here and on disc 2, as does Doug Bradley. There's also a wealth of archive featurettes, trailers, the screenplay and an image gallery

Disc 2 (HELLRAISER II) gives us two commentaries (Tony Randel & Peter Atkins, then both with Ashley Laurence), more Leviathan, more Sean Chapman and Doug Bradley, more archive featurettes and interviews, plus the script, trailers and an image gallery. You also get (in 4:3 and taken from VHS one presumes) the missing 'surgeon scene' which is very much in the same tone as the rest of the film, so completists will no doubt be delighted at its inclusion. 

Disc 3 gives you two versions of HELLRAISER III, just like the previous Anchor Bay DVD set did - the 'original theatrical' and an unrated version with all the cut material restored from a lesser quality pan and scanned master. There's a brand new commentary from writer Peter Atkins as well as a ported over commentary from Anthony Hickox & Doug Bradley. We also get ported over interviews, featurettes, more Doug Bradley, a new interview with Paula Marshall, and a thirty minute making of amongst others.

Disc 4 was not provided for review, but apparently offers Clive Barker's shorts SALOME & THE FORBIDDEN, which everyone has probably seen by now. There’s a documentary on Barker’s literary work, and most interestingly, a brand new documentary looking at some of the other films in the series, including director interviews. 

The entire set also comes with a 200-page hardback book with new writing on HELLRAISER, lots of stills and more. Very finally, a word on the transfers. Both HELLRAISER and HELLRAISER II have quite a lot of grain in the prints, especially in some of the darker scenes. In fact when compared with previous releases Anchor Bay’s DVDs actually look better. Turning down the resolution on HD TVs will help immensely with the ‘problem’. HELLRAISER III, on the other hand, just looks great. 

Arrow Films released HELLRAISER: THE SCARLET BOX on 26th October 2015 in such a limited edition is has already sold out. Let's hope the individual films get releases soon. 

Lord of Illusions (1995)

Clive Barker’s final movie as a director to date was this ambitious adaptation of his story The Last Illusion from the Books of Blood. The production history was troubled, with financing initially coming from Polygram Pictures. Unfortunately the company collapsed and the film was sold off to MGM / UA where it was recut and suffered patchy and disinterested distribution. This is a great shame as it’s actually a very good film indeed, and one whose reputation can only grow as time goes by.

While on an unrelated case, private detective Harry d’Amour (Scott Bakula - an excellent choice for the character, by the way) stumbles across a fortune teller with scalpels sticking out of his face. He lives just long enough to whisper a few tantalising facts about a fanatic cult whose powerful leader, Nix (Daniel von Bargen), was eventually despatched using a special ritual by Phillip Swann (Kevin J O’Connor) and  some other rebellious cult members. Of course we already know all of this because it memorably takes up the first part of the film.

       Thirteen years later, Swann is now a famous illusionist and D’Amour is hired by his wife Dorothea (Famke Janssen) to protect him against members of the cult who want to bring Nix back. Swann apparently dies during one of his stage performances and other members of his group are dying too. Meanwhile Nix’s cult is regrouping at their old stomping ground in the desert and the hunt is on for their master’s buried body. Will Harry be able to solve what’s happened to Swann, save the girl, and stop the evil sorcerer from destroying the world?

LORD OF ILLUSIONS has a lot going for it, not least in terms of its lead performances. The casting is excellent and there’s a pleasant noirish feel to the picture that never gets too heavy but instead lends a feeling of adventure to the sometime horrific proceedings. The ending is a 1995 special effects tour-de-force but because what we’ve seen beforehand is so good it feels weirdly excessive. That’s a minor quibble, though, as is the fact that filming went on so long that original composer Christopher Young had to leave to be replaced by Simon Boswell who manages a perfectly excellent  job on this.

101 Films offers us LORD OF ILLUSIONS on a double disc set. One is the ‘theatrical cut’ on Blu-ray and the other is the ‘Director’s Cut’ with commentary on DVD. The Blu-ray has a running time of 108 minutes and 50 seconds whereas the DVD runs for nearly 117 minutes. Neither versions have the 87 minute running time listed on the back of the box. On the DVD commentary track director Clive Barker confirms that we are watching his director’s cut and he also helpfully points out which scenes were removed for cinema release. There are no other extras. 

      Finally, apparently 101 Films' first pressing of this disc had a problem where the DVD wasn't actually included in the set. According to the company this problem has now been rectified.

101 Films should have corrected sets of Clive Barker's LORD OF ILLUSIONS on double disc Blu-ray and DVD on 17th March 2014