SCREAM PARK takes you on your final ride

RATED- Unrated
RUN TIME- 85 Mins
WRITER(S)- Cary Hill
STARRING- Nicole Beattie, Doug Bradley, and Kailey Marie Harris
DIRECTOR- Cary Hill



Synopsis taken from IMDb
A failed amusement park owner devises a plan to commit gruesome murders in the park as a publicity stunt to sell tickets.




From the jump, I liked the opening music. It told me all I needed to know about the movie. The music has an eerie undertone to it, and a little dash of camp. This lets the viewer know that they aren't just in for a scary movie, they're in for a fun time being scared.

After watching just the first few minutes, I knew that due to it's "fun" vibe that it could go either way in terms of being a good movie and a bad movie. Gladly I can say that it wasn't the latter. It takes you into the non-glamorous life of working at an amusement park, and lets you see the real side of things- how miserable the young adults who work there are, and what they're lives consist of. To my surprise, there's some genuine dialogue between the characters that feels neither forced, nor acted. It comes off like your really watching the characters hanging out in real life. The characters themselves seem like real, everyday people that you'd bump into down the street. They seem completely real, and aren't exaggerated for the screen.

One of the things that caught my eye instantly is that the amusement park in which the film takes place is called Fright Land. Now, being a boy from Delaware, I can't help but nod because one of the only things there is to do in Delaware is go to Frightland every year around the Halloween season. So the fact that I know of an actual fun park that goes by the same name is cool to me.

After their shifts, the staff is told that the park will be closing due to lack of sales. After expected moaning and groaning, the cast decides to do a little partying and drinking after hours at their work place. This obviously goes unadvised by the viewer, because by now any horror fan knows that partying in a horror movie results terribly for the ones getting their freak on.

About a half hour into the film nothing happens but character development. So I was really eager to see where this was all leading to. Especially with weird prowlers appearing here and there and going unnoticed by the cast. Wearing strange masks that are reminiscent of "Beetlejuice" and "The Town That Dreaded Sundown", it's all a matter of patience to see how and when the murder spree begins.

Once the hillbilly psychos come out to play, the cast gets picked off one by one in some brutal and mean ways. Not to mention, there's some gnarly gore. Though the kills aren't anything that we haven't seen before, they're done very well. There's even a jump scare that got a reaction out of me, and that I didn't feel was overdone like most movies have the habit of doing.

Doug Bradley, mostly know for his role as Pinhead in the "Hellraiser" series, makes a very brief cameo as the park owner who devises the devious plan leading up to all the chaos that ensues. It's really a shame that this film has to get by using Bradley's name to get noticed. Because honestly, he's hardly in it and the movie is a really good watch on it's own. I wish "Scream Park" could get by on its own reputation.

Towards the end of the picture, some of the acting does suffer. And while the overall plot isn't creative or original, it's solid. And, it fits for the kind of movie it is. It's an obvious nod to throwback horror films, and when done right, copycat films can be pretty good. Such is the case with "Scream Park". I appreciate the ending, and love it's campy twist. It's a pretty cut and dry film, very easy to comprehend and overall a good, entertaining watch for fans of the slasher genre.

Don't miss "Scream Park" on VOD and DVD tomorrow! I dare you to take a ride...

3 out of 5 stars

DAY 8: Hellraiser: Revelations (2011)

RATED- R

RUN TIME- 75 MINS

WRITER(S)- GARY J. TUNNICLIFFE

STARRING-STEVEN BRAND, FRED TATASCIORE AND NICK EVERSMAN

DIRECTOR- VICTOR GARCIA

Synopsis taken form IMDb

In this ninth installment of the Hellraiser franchise, two friends discover a puzzle box in Mexico, which opens a gateway to Hell. Before long, dermatological nightmare Pinhead has returned to make the lives of everyone in his miserable way.

I'm going to put it this way. It's the simplest way I can really phrase it that'll sum it up properly. This series is a really, really old dog and it's had it's day and it's claim to fame. This film takes that weak, depleted dog and walks him around to the back of the barn and pulls the trigger, putting the dog out of it's misery. Only this dog died very undignified and in a miserable way. Not to offend any animal lovers out there, I'm not trying to say it's okay to kill old dogs, I'm just saying that I'm glad this figurative was put out of it's misery.

The new replacement Pinhead (Stephan Smith Collins) is just bad. I haven't done any reading on the topic but I'm really curious as of why Doug Bradley didn't play the part. I would like to know if it was a decision out of his hands and the studio gave it to someone else to try freshen up the series, or if he just saw the script and threw it in the trash can and walked away. Part of me hopes that he did something close to the latter, but  after the last few films, something tells me it was just out of his hands. Clearly he didn't care how good the movies were or he'd have bailed out by this point. Either way, it was a horrific performance and really just worthy of shaking your head in distaste.

It was cool to see Chatterer back, I was glad that they thew him in there. He was the only thing about this film that holds on to the old films. Everything else is so new and poorly done. They made a movie that looks like it was done on my camcorder. It's freaking porn quality, not even the lighting was right. It is an amateur attempt at making a sequel. Hell, this makes all the sequels look like "The Godfather" in comparison. This is one of those movies that I will truly never watch again. I'd give it away if I won an autographed copy.

The story was so repetitive and I swear you could have hired a 15 year old with an imagination to write it. No creativity went into this film. No likable characters, no character development, poor gore, bad effects, bad makeup and no originality. I'm really glad that this is the last one I'm subjected to watch because after this I don't think I could bring myself to be even remotely interested in this series anymore. 

The acting in this film is appallingly bad. I can't believe that the series has sunken this low, to have film that doesn't hold up in any way. And to think I laughed at how the guy from the Allstate Insurance commercials was in a previous film. Atleast he's an actor and not some kid with no or next to no experience as an actor. The apple has fallen far from the tree...

The script is so bad I didn't care about a damn thing in this movie. I laughed it off and impatiently waited for it to be over. Not a scare or an impressive mark about it. It's incredibly bad. I imagine that the crew all met in production and came to the decision to make the worst movie they can make. Thank God I'm finished with this series. Thanks to all my followers who read these reviews. Hopefully some time will pass and people will come across these reviews on my site and view them and respect the heart ache I put myself through (laugh).

I'll be back tomorrow with something new!

  

THIS FILM GETS 1/2 OF A REAPER SKULL OUT OF 5

DAY 7: Hellraiser: Hellworld (Video 2005)

"The Newest. Most Horrific Tale."

RATED- R

RUN TIME- 91 MINS

WRITER(S)- JOEL SOISSON AND CARL V. DUPRE

STARRING- LANCE HENRIKSEN, KATHERYN WINNICK AND CHRISTOPHER JACOT

DIRECTOR- RICK BOTA

Synopsis taken from IMDb

Gamers playing a MMORPG based on the "Hellraiser" franchise find their lives endangered after being invited to a rave whose host intends to show them the truth behind the Cenobite mythos.

Be forewarned that if you don't want to read another rant about an awful Hellraiser sequel, don't bother reading this. Right when I thought the series might have gotten back on track with Deader, they come back with this piece of garbage. This was the most disappointing one yet because not only was it lame, it tried to change key things about the legacy. Yeah, it's all explained away in the end, but it's still ridiculous. This is yet again, another one that doesn't feel like a Hellraiser sequel.

I actually really like Lance Henriksen even though he's been in some bad movies. This though, is a low point and I'm sure he tries not to remember this one. The acting is awful right from the go (except Henriksen) and the story already seemed to be dull. It was one of those films where you know going in that most of the characters are douche bags and you hope they die painfully at the likes of Pinhead. You're not supposed to root for Pinhead! He's supposed to be a force, an imposing entity and instead they dull it down with no likeable characters and no character development.

The funniest thing to me is how all of the characters refer to the original "Hellraiser" as old and outdated. There's several things said about this, trying to imply that this is a much better and scarier movie than the original. Making you think that they beefed things up a bit, but they don't. The fact that they tried to outdo the original is a joke and this film fails miserably in almost all aspects. Some cocky film makers and writers trying to rewrite the past with a straight to video sequel. Yeah, they're weren't delusional with that were they?

The worst thing about this film is that they make Pinhead a damn slasher! Rather than other forces and chains ripping these half wits to shreds, he actually hacks them up himself. He cuts Derrick's head off with a meat cleaver. This shot really turned me off of this movie. Now they truly have lost vision of what Hellraiser is and was. Trying to humanize Pinhead doesn't work, let him be a demon and a supernatural force. 

But this is a far superior portrayal of Pinhead compared to the original film, don't ya know?

Yeah, it gets dismissed at the end as being hallucinations from a psychedelic drug they were given in a revenge scheme. Poor cop-out for a poor movie. If this were a movie on it's own and not a Hellraiser film I may have liked it. But this IS Hellraiser, and they told a really bad and uninventive story with this one. Sometimes trying new things strays way to far from the original ideal and this film suffers horribly. I don't consider this a Hellraiser film. 

Overall, it's a cheap, lousy, half-assed attempt at being even close to a good imitation of a Hellraiser entry. I couldn't be more happy that I'm done with all of this after tomorrow's review. Which won't be pretty either, I promise.

THIS FILM GETS 1 REAPER SKULL OUT OF 5

DAY 6: Hellraiser: Deader (Video 2005)

"The Latest, Most Terrifying Evil."

RATED- R

RUN TIME- 88 MINS

WRITER(S)- BENJAMIN CARR AND TIM DAY 

STARRING- KARI WUHRER, PAUL RHYS AND SIMON KUNZ

DIRECTOR- RICK BOTA

Synopsis taken from IMDb

A journalist uncovers an underground group who can bring back the dead and slowly becomes drawn into their world.

Let me start by saying that as of today I have only 2 more Hellraiser films to review. This brings me a lot of joy. If I were a dancing man, I'd do some crazy dance moves in celebration of ending this marathon.

the 7th installment in this series actually proved to be a  whole hell of a lot better than I expected and probably my favorite sequel in this franchise after part 2. I've been increasingly dreading these movies, so maybe I over-hyped how bad it was going to be. Or maybe this actually wasn't that bad of a movie. It's hard to tell at this point, but I'm going to let this movie slide and say it was a decent sequel just for the sake of showing you that I'm not biased in my judgement on this series.

The concept of this film was good for starters. The cult of sickos committing suicide and then being brought back to life by Winter LeMarchand, the cult leader. You knew he wasn't any good from the beginning when our lead Amy Klein (Kari Wuhrer) sees the video tape of one of his resurrections. I was really feeling the vibe of this movie and it seemed dark enough of a story to properly fit in the series. Aside from the acting being poor, the story was compelling and for the first time since Hellbound I found myself fully into the story. This felt right at home and like a Hellraiser film, not a film that was trying to be a Hellraiser film.

Amy's investigation was one that you knew she was going to become enthralled and obsessed with and she did. When you put yourself in that situation to be put in the middle of something as dark and depressing as a suicide/resurrection cult, you're bound to get dragged down into the nitty gritty. I liked the fresh approach to the series, they seemed to be back on track with this one.

I was most intrigued to see if Winter LeMarchand was Pinhead and was surprised to see that he wasn't. I fully expected him to be the lead Cenobite. However, I knew  that having the power to bring those who kill themselves back from the dead would come with a high cost. And it did. Besides, if you ask me, someone who dabbles in that crap to begin with is asking for trouble and get what they deserve. It's like playing with a Ouija board, you mess with it, you deal with it.

The plot develops smooth, though there is some predictability. You see some of it coming, but it wasn't as easy to guess as the last two films. Pinhead's role in this film was small, but he was used at the right parts. When he was on screen he felt imposing as he's supposed to. Honestly, I think I'm giving this movie the compliments I'm giving it due to the fact that it was a genuine Hellraiser film. And at this point I really needed that. 

They attempted to get the Hellraiser train back on track with this film.

Overall, was this film perfect or have a great cast? No. This film is still very poor and not one I'd watch for a long time, but that's actually a positive thing. The last few films I never plan to watch again. This proved to be a fair sequel and I'd definitely say it belongs in this series. Though yet again the dream sequences were overused...

THIS FILM GETS 2 1/2 REAPER SKULLS OUT OF 5

DAY 5: Hellraiser: Hellseeker (Video 2002)

"Evil. Deadly. Immortal."

RATED- R

RUN TIME- 89 MINS

WRITER(S)- CARL V. DUPRE AND TIM DAY

STARRING- DEAN WINTERS, ASHLEY LAURENCE AND DOUG BRADLEY

DIRECTOR- RICK BOTA

Synopsis taken from IMDb

A shady businessman attempts to piece together the details of the car crash that killed his wife and rendered him an amnesiac-- and left him in possession of a sinister puzzle box that summons monsters.

You all know Dean Winters from the funny Allstate Insurance commercials. He's the guy always putting himself in harms way by by doing goofy things. Well anyway, he's the lead in this movie. I can't say that they got a great lead actor, but at this point I think the quality of the Hellraiser series has died. He was pretty good on Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles though, I'll give him that. At this point, I don't expect much from these movies anyway.

I found this one to be slightly better than the last film, believe it or not. The 5th film took the wind out of my sails. I'm not saying that this film put wind back in the my sails, but it was relieving to see that they were able to make a slightly better film that isn't as hard to sit through. Trevor Gooden (Winters) tries to piece the pieces of his life together after a devastating car crash, and when his wife isn't found I knew it was one of two things: either she's made the accident happen somehow or he's in another real or dream state. And yet again, good old Grimm here figured it out about a half hour in.

The twist was pretty good actually, even if I did spot it a mile and a half away. Still, this movie kept me entertained and that's more than I can say for the last few films. The gore in this one isn't abundant, but I enjoyed what they did show. They overused the dream sequence again like a mother though. Always trying to pull you into an intense scene just to have you realize it's a dream. The problem with the over usage is that you expect everything that happens that's screwed up to be a dream after a certain point. 

Then when you find out it's not a dream you don't really care.

The story to this one actually seemed like it belonged in the Hellraiser series, unlike the last film. I think that for a torture S&M series like Hellraiser they should have gone with a more darker and sinister approach to this film and some of the other sequels. I see why they didn't though, they wanted to take an average guy in the world we all know and put him smack dab in the middle of the hell and chaos that is the Hellraiser franchise. If they had buffed the script up a bit and found a more solid actor this film could have been one of the best ones. However, it's intentions and purpose fall a little short.

Pinhead is barely in this film, yet again only showing up when you need answers and only giving hints of sadism and sarcasm. He did appear as sinister in this film though and that gets some brownie points with me. I really felt the Hellraiser vibe in this movie, even if it is a lackluster straight to video sequel. 

All in all, it's not a good movie by any means. It has a lot of potential but there's too many things you have to look past in order to enjoy it. This is a step up from the last film, but if you've read my review you know how badly I hated it. So this one didn't have to do much to be a better film in my eyes. I knew I was watching a Hellraiser film and that's what matters most.

THIS FILM GETS 2 REAPER SKULLS OUT OF 5

DAY 4: Hellraiser: Inferno (2000)

"The Terrifying New Chapter In The "Hellraiser" Legacy!"

RATED- R

RUN TIME- 99 MINS

WRITER(S)- PAUL HARRIS BOARDMAN AND SCOTT DERRICKSON

STARRING- CRAIG SHEFFER, NICHOLAS TURTURRO AND JAMES REMAR

DIRECTOR- SCOTT DERRICKSON

Synopsis taken from IMDb

A shady police detective becomes embroiled in a strange world of murder, sadism and madness after being assigned a murder investigation against a madman known only as "The Engineer".

My God, this movie was painful to watch! This hit a new low for this series and there's still 4 more to go. The quality of this film felt exactly like watching an after hours soft core porn on the Cinemax channel. It was cheaply thrown together and the acting is the scariest thing to come out of the series thus far. And to think that Scott Derrickson did this film! For those of you who don't know, Derrickson is responsible for such horror films as "Sinister" and "The Exorcism of Emily Rose", both films I thoroughly enjoyed.

This installment of the Hellraiser saga is more like a really boring detective movie. It's like they just wanted Pinhead to make a cameo so they could title it under Hellraiser. Thing is, I doubt it was intentional, but the whole movie is completely predictable. Once you're about 25-30 minutes into the film you've put it together, yet you have to wait a whole other damn hour just for them to get to what you already discovered on your own. I almost fell asleep during the film and had to find myself texting and checking email's in order to stay awake and focused on the film.

When the lead, Detective Thorne (Craig Sheffer) discovers the box and opens it he begins to experience some hallucinations. They overuse the living hell out of the dreams. Every other scene is something screwed up happening, something gory and twisted, just to discover it's a dream. Oh, and then something else gory and brutal happens and guess what? A dream as well. I've never seen the dream within a dream sequence done so many times in one single film. 

Christopher Nolan's "Inception" wasn't full of as many dreams as this film. And after a while you just stop caring and want the movie to be over. The special effects were nothing new, there was nothing that stood out about them. "The Engineer" looked absolutely stupid and embarrassing. It looked like a cheap Cenobite, only without the normal tortured look and wasn't disturbing or scary in the least bit. It looked like a mummy. 

Pinhead plays a very minor role in this movie and while I'd like to say that's what hurt it, I think him being in the movie at all is what completely kills it. Only because when you see him reality sets in and you realize that this is actually supposed to be a Hellraiser film. And that's just depressing. He shows up at random times for a few seconds at a time until the end when he explains to Thorne what's been happening, but as I said earlier, you already knew where this was going. So ultimately his role in this film is null and void. 

This Hellraiser madness week has turned into the Hellraiser bashing week. I'm sorry to all of you reading, I really don't mean to be a sour puss but my God, these films are bad. Some of you feel my pain. Others, I hope are learning from my pain and know not to go near this series other than the first 2. And to think I have 4 more films to go! I have to laugh at my situation, I had no idea what I was getting into, although I was warned. I do know that I'm not going near this series or even the first 2 films for a long time after this, I'm burned out and have a bad taste left in my mouth.

THIS FILM GETS 1 REAPER SKULL OUT OF 5

DAY 3: Hellraiser: Bloodline (1996)

"This year, the past, the present and the future will all meet at the crossroads of hell."

RATED- R
RUN TIME- 85 MINS
WRITER(S)- PETER ATKINS
STARRING- BRUCE RAMSAY, VALENTINA VARGAS AND DOUG BRADLEY
DIRECTOR- KEVIN YAGHER



Synopsis taken from IMDb
In the 22nd century, a scientist attempts to right the wrong his ancestors created: the puzzle box that opens the gates of Hell and unleashes Pinhead and his Cenobite legions.




You know that you're getting into a bad movie when it's a horror film and it takes place in space. Some horror films work in space, most don't. Pinhead and his Cenobites being in space? This doesn't fall into the category of being one that works. This is how you know they were reaching when they made this film, they've completely exhausted any originality. Jason and Leprechaun tried going to space as well and it didn't work for them either. STOP WITH THE SPACE CRAP! 

The inside of the spaceship was hard to look at it was so bad. It looked like something you'd see from a bad Syfy channel movie. The sets were awful and cheap and laughable. I think this is officially the film where Pinhead and all his Cenobites stop being scary and become a joke. There's virtually no scares in this movie, which is a shame. Pinhead never scared me to begin with, but he sure as hell wasn't scaring me in this one. 

The biggest shame of it is that this film actually had a decent plot, minus the being in outer space part. For the first time in the series you get to understand the box and learn it's history and who made it. This flashback parts of the movie aren't bad and feel like a legitimate "Hellraiser" movie. When it goes to present time and you see the spaceship, the movie looses the feel of being a movie from this franchise. It's more like they wrote a sci-fi movie and decided to just thrown Pinhead in it for the sake of spicing up the story.

Another thing that I did not like is the dogs that are in this movie. For the first time in the franchise we see dogs that are Cenobites and it just layers the cheese to this movie even higher. They definitely fit with the look of the series, but it just doesn't work. It's too much. They tried to expand and broaden the horizons of what they can do and so they came up with mean dogs. Real creative and scary...NOT.

Pinhead went back to his normal self in this one, which was a relieve. He doesn't act out of anger and is calm, cool and collected again. Always speaking vaguely and never answering questions, just riddles and things that we don't understand. That's one thing I've noticed, Pinhead doesn't ever give direct answers aside form "Angels to some, demons to others", he talks poetically but his words don't mean much to the viewer. If they did, the lead character wouldn't have to do research to find answers.

Up until this point I would have considered myself a fan of the franchise, even though part 3 was a dud. This one cuts that connection or bond that I had with them. I know now that it really is all down hill from here and they've truly lost their way. Pinhead was never supposed to go to space, come on! I see now why Clive Barker lifted his hands off the series, I would have too. 

THIS FILM GETS 1/2 REAPER SKULLS OUT OF 5

DAY 2: Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth (1992)

"What began in Hell, will end on Earth"

RATED- R

RUN TIME- 93 MINS

WRITER(S)- PETER ATKINS AND TONY RANDEL

STARRING- KEVIN BERNHARDT, LAWRENCE MORTORFF AND TERRY FERRELL

DIRECTOR- ANTHONY HICKOX

Synopsis taken from IMDb

An investigative reporter must send the newly unbound Pinhead and his legions back to hell.

The third installment of the "Hellraiser" franchise turned out to be not as bad as I was expecting. Yeah, it sucked, but I survived it with no trouble. There were even some parts that had piqued my interest. This is definitely where the films start to decline and you can see it transpiring  right in front of you. After remembering his past in "Hellbound: Hellraiser 2", Pinhead is split into two identities. One being his normal demonic self, the other is of World War 1 British Army Captain Elliot Spencer.

A smug punk named J.P. Monroe purchases the pillar from the previous film that has all the cenobites including Pinhead in it. I understand where they were going with having it purchased like it's a piece of art, but J.P.'s character wasn't doing anything for me. There's absolutely no way you can sympathize with him, he's a jackass and you really don't care that Pinhead uses him. One of the most ridiculous things that I didn't like was that it only takes 2 victims to feed on before Pinhead is back again and free of the pillar. You can tell the writing is getting sloppy and it's becoming more about the gore and torture. Did it not take a dozen bodies in the first two films to bring back Frank and Julia? 

Yet Pinhead drains 2 victims at the hands of J.P. and is free to wreak havoc. 

Not to mention that the whole reason Pinhead gets woken up is due to a rat biting J.P.'s hand, and he swings his bloody hand all over the room when he over acts and reacts. I'd like to know what the hell kind of rat that was supposed to be because the damn thing had lock jaw and bled his hand well. I know there are some seriously nasty rodents out there but this is just unbelievable. J.P. didn't take any convincing to be an evil bastard, he shed a few fake tears but the next thing you knew, he was changing his voice to a more sinister tone. Ridiculous. 

They work the reporter angle in this one as well, which I thought was a fresh take, but it doesn't work out too well. It's cool to have someone investigating the weird phenomena, but when they're not personally involved you don't feel for them or care. The characters had no dimension and were paper thin. I did like how the reporter, Joey Summerskill watched Kirsty's tapes from her time at the institution. It showed they attempted to follow the story of the original, but in the midst of doing their own thing they lost sight of what Hellraiser should be.

The main thing that I did not like at all about this movie is that Pinhead isn't the cold and brooding demon like he was in the first 2 films, in this one he actually has facial emotions and acts out more. I don't know if this was Doug Bradley's doing or if this was the production's fault, but it just doesn't work. Pinhead is a calm, collected evil. Not one looking all angry and having different facial expressions. They were adding things to a character that was already well made, and should have just let Doug Bradley's human self do all the facial expressions and acting out since he is sill in the movie as Pinheads human self. It's slowly beginning to not feel like "Hellraiser" anymore.

Overall, I wasn't completely hating this movie but I sure as hell wasn't enjoying it. Compared to how bad some of the sequels to come are I'd say this one is great, but it's really not. This is where the grip of what the first two films had begins to slip and get away from itself. Unless you want to laugh or be aggravated at how poor this movie is, avoid it.

THIS FILM GETS 2 REAPER SKULLS OUT OF 5

DAY 1: Hellbound: Hellraiser 2 (1988)

It will tear your soul apart...again.

RATED- R
RUN TIME- 97 MINS
WRITER(S)- CLIVE BARKER AND PETER ATKINS
STARRING- ASHLEY LAURENCE, IMOGEN BOORMAN AND KENNETH CRANHAM
DIRECTOR- TONY RANDEL



Synopsis taken from IMDb
Kirsty is brought to an institution after the death of her family, where the occult-obsessive head resurrects Julia and unleashes the Cenobites once again. 




After watching this film for the second time I found a new appreciation for it. It's actually not as bad as I remembered it being, which is refreshing. It's actually a very good follow up to the original. Still not on par with the first film, but not a bad film or sequel at all. Hell, if they'd stayed this good we'd all be fans of the series!

What I like about "Hellbound" is that you get to go back and explore the origins of Pinhead. I'm a sucker for origins stories. While Pinhead's past isn't extraordinary, it helps the movie flow and gets you some character development. One thing that I didn't like was the fact that Julia is back. Not that it's a reason to not like the movie or anything, I just don't like her character. She's one of those villains who's such a snake that you just wish them an awful death.

The way Julia comes back is through the mattress she died on. Before Dr. Philip Channard becomes the main villain and Cenobite in this film, he brings one of his sick mental patients to the mattress and essentially feeds him to Julia. This series is more known for it's gore and torture more than anything else, but the effect of Julia resurrecting from the bed was a good scene and her makeup was done with old school class.

Kirsty's character in this film didn't really do much for me though. I feel like she was just there to be there. There wasn't really any character plot or development with her in this film. She just runs around screaming, trying to not get caught by the Cenobites. I like that she's in an institution and considered crazy for her stories that recap the first film. I just felt like there should have been something more to her, or maybe even introduce a new heroine that Kirsty has to help out with her knowledge. 
Kirsty does play an important part in the end though. 

Of course Julia backstabs the doctor who brought her back, even though he thought to have her loyalty. Anyone who seen the first film knows that Julia is conniving and manipulative and knows not to trust her. It ends up working out in the end though because the Channard Cenobite is a bad mother. The special effects suffer but that's fine, the first film isn't known for it's outstanding special effects. It's the makeup we care about and that delivers grotesquely. Channard Cenobite is absolutely one of the most memorable characters in this series.

In the end, I like this film a whole hell of a lot more this time around. It's not a perfect film, but it's a solid 80's horror flick. One of the things that I liked most about this film was that Frank returns once they're all in hell, or the 4th dimension, whatever you want to call it. Aside from Kirsty's dad, just about the whole crew from the original is back in this film. Although we do see Kirsty's dad, only he's skinned and suffering in hell. Part 2 of this series showed us there was still some wind in the sails of the inevitably sinking ship known as the Hellraiser franchise.

THIS FILM GETS 3 REAPER SKULLS OUT OF 5

Wrong Turn 5: Bloodlines (2012)

RATED- UNRATED
RUN TIME- 90 MINS
WRITERS- DECLAN O'BRIEN AND ALAN B. McELROY
STARRING- DOUG BRADLEY, CAMILLA ARFWEDSON AND SIMON GINTY
DIRECTOR- DECLAN O'BRIEN



Synopsis taken from IMDb
A small West Virginia town is hosting the legendary Mountain Man Festival on Halloween, where throngs of costumed party goers gather for a wild night of music and mischief. But an inbred family of hillbilly cannibals kill the fun when they trick and treat themselves to a group of visiting college students.



I was fortunate enough to get to see this film at an advanced screening, for those of you who are itching to see it you won't have to wait long. It hits Blue-ray and DVD this Tuesday, October 23rd.

Although the Wrong Turn movies have digressed I still haven't been able to pull myself away. I've seen all of these films.

This film starts off bloody and brutal, what we have come to expect for the opening credits of this series. We see an ax used to dismember a passerby. The opening scenes to these movies are for pure shock value, to show you that they don't hold back and that they're gory and over-the-top.

The group of friends this film revolves around are heading to the festival and carrying alot of drugs, planning to party hard. While talking and distracted the driver has to swerve to avoid hitting a pedestrian and wrecks his fathers vehicle. When going to check on the man they may or may not have hit during the chaos the man stabs one of them in the arm. In retaliation the group of boys start kicking the hell out of the man just in time for the sheriff to pull up and see the beating happening. This gets the gang of friends and the weird pedestrian a night in jail.

It was awesome to see Doug Bradley in this film playing the pedestrian, Maynard, and father of the 3 hillbilly's. For those of you less informed,  Doug Bradley is most commonly known as Pinhead from the Hellraiser franchise created by the legendary Clive Barker.

While in jail Maynard makes everyone on edge by telling everyone including the sheriff that they've made a mistake and that they're going to pay. He's very arrogant and this scene reminds me very much of the jail scene from 30 Days Of Night (2007). Playing mind games, getting into the heads of everyone and getting off on it. Knowing something sinister is on it's way.

Amidst the jail scenes One Eye, Three Finger and Saw Tooth are wreaking havoc, slaying festival goers in barbarous ways, sparring no gore on their way to get Maynard out of jail.

But the sheriff is left alone to deal with the all the calamity because all of her officers are at the festival making sure things don't get out of hand. Can she hold off the hell that's coming down on her?

I am a fan of the original Wrong Turn (2003), it isn't a staple in the horror genre or anything of the sort, but it's a good, enjoyable horror film full of gore and chills. As this series moves on it strays less and less from the standard set by the first film, becoming tongue-in-cheek and senseless slaughter films.

That used to bother me. I remember when the 2nd Wrong Turn hit video how disappointed I was in it. I couldn't believe how far the ball had dropped. After that I said I'm done with the series and have no interest anymore if that's what they've become. Then some time later, I was over a friends house having a few laughs and he told me he just purchased Wrong Turn 3: Left for Dead (2009) and asked if I wanted to watch it. We talked and chatted about our opinions of the films and decided we had nothing to lose, so we watched it.

Then a few months ago when I was rearranging my Netflix queue I decided to put Wrong Turn 4: Bloody Beginnings (2011) on it. So when it arrived I watched it. That's when I realized that despite my dislike of the sequels, I still keep watching them.

Then I kind of had a revelation and said that regardless of how more superior the original film was, that these sequels are still appealing to me. They're fun movies. They're the type of movies you watch for the gross out factor and to see the hardcore death scenes, as well as laugh at the bad acting and cheese. These films don't hide that though, and that's what piqued my mind and turned my opinion around on them. I'm not saying they're great movies or solid horror films, I'm saying they sure as hell aren't the worst horror films you'll ever see and they're amusing. They're a shell of their predecessor but they're here, like it or not, and they're probably aren't going anywhere for a while.

If you watch them expecting serious horror films or if you're trying to compare them to the original don't hold your breath.

For those of us who've come to understand what to expect of these movies, you'll like this 5th installment. For those of you who don't like these films, you shouldn't bother.

Although these films are low budget and senseless predictable gore fests, the story for this one is still considered weak to me. It's a simple story and it's all about dialog and kills. Not that the other films didn't suffer from the same things, but this film seems to have even less effort put into it. There are some awesome deaths though, and it's got laughs and some turn your head moments. The things these movies are known for.

I guess you could say this is probably the least best film in the series but I still found it amusing.

THIS FILM GETS 2 1/2 REAPER SKULLS OUT OF 5