Every Hellraiser Movie Ranked From Worst To Best

Just as the Cenobites remain trapped in another dimension until somebody gets to grips with the Lament Configuration, there’s a great movie incarcerated inside Hellraiser: Bloodline - it's a shame its potential was never unleashed.

The last instalment to receive a cinematic release had no shortage of ambition, serving as both sequel and prequel to the original Hellraiser as it charts the history of a cursed bloodline bound to the puzzle box for eternity as a Cenobite minion.

Much of the film takes place on a space station in a gritty used future setting and follows Dr. Paul Merchant, the last of the cursed bloodline, as he bids to vanquish the scourge on his family history once and for all.

Sending a series into outer space is often a cheap trick which usually spells disaster - yep, we're looking at you, Jason X - but it actually works in Hellrasier’s favour, differentiating this instalment from the rest and giving it a unique look and feel.

There’s also some vintage Hellraiser horror on show, like the scene where two hapless space station guards are merged into one twisted entity, destined to spend the rest of their days in agony.

Bloodline has all the makings as a good film and could have been a fitting bookend to the series, but the movie suffered a whole world of problems during production and burnt up on its way into the stratosphere, weighed down by an excess of flashbacks.

Writer Peter Atkins and director Kevin Yagher set out to make a far different film, but studio meddling muddied the waters to such an extend that the finished product ended up a disjointed mess - not unlike those two space station guards.