Okay, I wasn't going to bother writing a review for this one and I rarely take the time to write reviews here, BUT... Seeing this undeservedly LOW score here made me feel that I really had to 'say' something.
First off, YES, I am indeed a BIG fan of the first three films; before these just recently came out on glorious Blu-ray, years ago, I even sprang for the UK Puzzle Box set of the first three films (mainly because at the time UNCUT versions were not available here in the States and also for the full commentaries and the bonus DVD that came with it : ) Now, I know it is hard to believe, but I just NOW for the very first time saw this one, part 4; the reason being is that from some casual stuff I had read, I was under the impression that pretty much all the other 'HELLRAISER' films were not very good. Well... Let me tell you, I was extremely surprised and impressed! As I said, compared to all the REALLY AWFUL Horror films out there that are excruciating and badly made, and that is most of them, I was surprised that this one was made quite well.
Okay, so a lot of the fans are sort of put off because it is really different from the other films. Fine... Isn't the POINT to try to come up with different angles and new approaches rather than just remaking the same film again and again...? I thought it was genuinely very creative and kept my attention very much so throughout the film. Sure, okay, it starts in space and your rolling your eyes, thinking "Oh great,'LEPRECHAUN 3'" :) well, it works; it really does. Obviously a LOT of thought was put into the timeline and the mythology of the box, etc., not to mention the follow through at the end. Sure, it wrapped it up rather quickly and left it kind of ambiguous, but so what?! Yes, of COURSE it doesn't have the intensity of the original or even the complexity of the next two films, but to me I was mainly impressed by their not only coming up with the new idea to show the origins, etc., but also I honestly felt that everything that made up the film was done very well considering that it is a damn 'HORROR' movie! : ) I gave it a good, strong '8' which it fully deserves considering the context and type of film. I think that people get SO jaded and expect SO dang much from sequels. I mean, C'mon, compared to what... 'WITCHBOARD' 1-9 or whatever the hell sequel they're at now, this here is pure art!
Heh, if THIS one threw you, just wait until you see part 5! I just this minute finished watching that one for the very first time also a few minutes ago and that is a WILD departure from the early films. However, it was made even much better than this one; the director was actually very, very good!
