Hellraiser III is a highly commercial horror entry. Well-produced effort is an effective combination of imaginative special effects with the strangeness of author Clive Barker’s original conception, on which the characters are based. Screen story is by Peter Atkins and Tony Randel.
The previous two Hellraisers were filmed in London; the latest was shot in North Carolina. All three films are set in New York.
Terry Farrell toplines as an attractive TV newswoman summoned by the ghost of British World War I Capt. Elliott Spencer, who’s contacted her via her recurring nightmares about her dad who was killed in Vietnam combat before she was born.
Spencer’s experiments with the supernatural had unleased evil on the world in the race of the Cenobites, led by Pinhead, whose adventures were limned in the prior pics. Pinhead is back, with a strange little box that’s key to sending him back to Hell.
Farrell is a strong heroine binding the film together, and British thesp Doug Bradley is a commanding presence as Pinhead, while also doubling as the good guy captain.
