Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth (1992)

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

Director:

Anthony Hickox

Writers:

Clive Barker (characters), Peter Atkins (story)

Stars:

Terry Farrell, Doug Bradley, Kevin Bernhardt

1 win & 7 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kevin Bernhardt	...	J.P. Monroe / Pistonhead Cenobite
Lawrence Mortorff	...	Bum
Terry Farrell	...	Joanne 'Joey' Summerskill
Ken Carpenter	...	Daniel 'Doc' Fisher / Camerahead Cenobite
Sharon Hill	...	Blond Nurse
Paula Marshall	...	Terri / Skinless Sandy / Dreamer Cenobite
Robert C. Treveiler	...	Paramedic 1 (as Rob Treveiler)
Christopher Frederick	...	Paramedic 2
Lawrence Kuppin	...	Derelict
Sharon Percival	...	Brittany Virtue
Philip Hyland	...	Brad
David Young	...	Bill the Bouncer
Brent Bolthouse	...	CD the DJ
Peter Atkins	...	Rick the Barman / Barbie Cenobite
Paul Coleman	...	Soldier 1 (as Paul Vincent Coleman)

Storyline

Pinhead is stuck in a block after the Big Confrontation in "Hellbound," The block containing Pinhead and the puzzle cube is bought by a young playboy as sculpture. Pinhead busies himself escaping by getting the playboy to lure victims to his presence so he can use their blood. Once free, he seeks to destroy the puzzle cube so he need never return to Hell, but a female reporter is investigating the grisly murders and stands in his way.

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Plot Keywords:

nightclub | sequel | statue | church | reporter | 

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Taglines:

He'll offer you the heights of ecstasy, but you'll spend eternity in the depths of hell.

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Genres:

Horror

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong violence and sexuality, and for language

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 September 1992 (USA)

Also Known As:

Hellraiser 3

Filming Locations:

Greensboro, North Carolina, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$5,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$3,208,009, 13 September 1992

Gross USA:

$12,534,961

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$12,534,961

Company Credits

Production Co:

Fifth Avenue Entertainment, Trans Atlantic Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min (extended) 93 min (theatrical)

Sound Mix:

Ultra Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The initial 1-sheet artwork featured a side shot of Pinhead's screaming face. The MPAA said the artwork was too intense and asked that Pinhead be removed from the poster campaign. Miramax instead decided to use a composite photo of Pinhead from the original Hellraiser 1-sheet and successfully argued that it was suitable as it had already been used in the past. The MPAA relented and allowed this new poster art to be used.

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Goofs

When J.P. is asking Terri to get close to him, the shadow of the boom mic can be seen on the statue.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Bum: [referring to the Pillar of Souls] You want it?
J.P. Monroe: [laughs] Is it yours?
Bum: No. Not mine. Yours.
J.P. Monroe: How much you want for it?
Bum: Whatever you think it's worth.
[receives money]
Bum: Exactly the figure I had in mind. Take pleasure in it.

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Alternate Versions

The out of print Paramount DVD despite the R rating on the package is really a completely different version and features the uncut sex scene and uncut gore scenes from the unrated version and runs 93 minutes. It also contains two music alterations, most obviously the end credits which have a 'stinger' sound effect and then it jumps right into the song "Hellraiser' blaring over the soundtrack. The original end credits fade out with the classic Hellraiser score building over the soundtrack and playing over the credits for a moment before the "Hellraiser' heavy metal song begins.The sound quality of this DVD is awful and heavily compressed at only 98 kbps. It appears this print matches the Lionsgate Canadian dvd that had been available for years. The Paramount DVD is anamorphic widescreen while the Lionsgate release is not. The true U.S. R rated version runs 91 minutes and is available on VHS from Paramount. It misses out on the more explicit sex and gore scenes, and also misses out on the added character moments available in the unrated 97 minute version released on VHS and Laserdisc by Paramount.

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Connections

Followed by Hellraiser: Judgment (2018)

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Soundtracks

Waltzing with a Jaguar
Performed by Chainsaw Kittens (as The Chainsaw Kittens)
Lyrics by Tyson Todd Meade
Music by Chainsaw Kittens
Produced by Ralph Sall
Published by Threptos Music
Courtesy of Mammouth Records

User Reviews

Departure From the Novel Leads To This...

A reporter (Terry Farrell) is looking for the big story and finds it at The Boiler Room, a popular club where a young woman witnessed someone die in a very painful manner. Also, the reporter has dreams of her father, who died in Vietnam. And the origin of Pinhead!

Some people consider this one the best in the series. I am not one of those people. While there are many great aspects of this movie, the primitive special effects seem to subtract from the overall story. And continuing in the Hellraiser tradition, many things simply do not make sense. Who opened the art store? Where did the statue come from? Why does the statue not attack JP at first, but will later on?

As I say, the special effects are primitive. And I do not mind that, because at least they put in a solid offering. But some things just seem like they could have been done better. In Hellraiser parts 1 and 2, there was no problem creating a person without skin that looked creepy. We see another example in this film, but they also get "slurped" into a statue and this is very unconvincing. In 1992! The effects of the original "Nightmare on Elm Street" blow this out of the water. Others have complained about the cenobites looking like Borg rejects, and that is a fair point -- this film goes above and beyond in incorporating terrible ideas into cenobite bodies.

Terry Farrell does a fine job as the lead. She is a strong heroine, and unlike your typical horror woman, she has more brains than body. You might recognize Farrell as a character from the greatest sitcom on television in recent years, "Becker".

The plot is respectable. There really was no more story to tell about the Cotton family at this point. Moving on to show what lengths evil will go to in order to return to Earth was a good change. And brought to us by Peter Atkins (also the writer of part 4) and Anthony Hickox (who directed the incredible "Waxwork" films).

I do not care for the change in direction the films take from here, though, regarding the cenobites. I understand after explaining Pinhead's origin (something I am very thankful for) they opened the door for more cenobites, but this film and the fourth introduce some of the lamest characters with the lamest one-liners. The subplot of the father is okay, but also makes the Hellraiser mythology even more complex than it is... now we have Hell, Earth, the mind, who can and cannot touch the Lament Configuration... oy vey.

Obviously when a horror series gets going, the sequels are not going to be what the original was. You get paler and paler copies of the original (like "Multiplicity"). But "Hellraiser", unlike "Leprechaun", at least kept the quality respectable through part four... and some (though not myself) would say even up to part six. Check this one out to clear up some mysteries, then catch part four to get the whole story.