Hellraiser IV: Bloodline

Today I'm continuing my journey through all the Hellraiser films. This movie starts off in space, with a robot of some sort opening a puzzle box. Definitely not quite what I expected, but ok, of all places to try to capture Pinhead, off earth is probably a good choice. Right off the bat though, I'm noticing some unnecessary CGI. Mid 90's movies always had a lot of what is not considered to be "bad" CGI, BUT. WHY? The first three films had so much beautifully done practical effects, why change that now? The robot holding the box could have easily been done practically. And they only did it digitally for a few scenes, which were very obviously CGI. I am happy thought that when the robot exploded it was a real explosion. After that it returned to mostly all practical effects, which I was happy about, but, that one opening scene was just such a let down. The dinner scene and the whole 18th century part that follows is absolutely beautifully done. As always, Pinhead has a very powerful and wonderfully done entrance. "Pain has a face, gentlemen, allow me to show it to you... I am pain." What a wonderful line followed by some bloody disgusting torture melding two guys together into one of the creepiest cenobites yet. The hell hound is absolutely fantastic. While a bit of part two, and all of part three were cheesy as hell, this one returned to a much more scary horror type feel. I can definitely appreciate cheese, and it has its place, but I'm definitely happy to see this one be more on the scary side. I also like that this one focused on the struggle between good and evil, which is of course a classic movie theme, but in these films they're just so well and uniquely done. I thoroughly enjoyed "Hellraiser IV: Bloodline", and if you haven't seen it, I definitely recommend checking it out. ~Gangis