Short Takes

Phew!!! What croaked in here!? Uh oh, someone left the Hellraiser franchise alone to fester and sprout its rank spawn. We're up to number-o SIX now! Clive Barker's original was truly transcendent. Although, being rather sequel friendly, Part Four: Pinhead in Space is a guilty pleasure of yours truly, mostly because of the excessive grue and generous face time for ol' needle noggin (Doug Bradley). This outing, the Rubik's cube of death finds itself in a grating, unimaginative Memento knockoff with Dean Winters as an amnesiac apt to frequent "daydreaming" because otherwise there'd be no means for the filmmakers to scurry in and out of mind-numbing flashbacks like spastic hamsters. Ashley Laurence rejoins the saga -- sorta. Like Chuck Heston in Beneath the Planet of the Apes, she gets kilt right off, only to return in the final reel and do something completely boneheaded. Equally frustrating, Pinhead and his Cenofriends barely rate a trailer's worth of screen time. But this disappointing mess is blessedly short and boasts some deliciously gruesome gore FX by CineSchlocker fave Gary Tunnicliffe. There's three alternate scenes with fans likely taking keen interest in the extended banter between Bradley and Ms. Laurence (6 mins). Five breasts. Seven corpses. Tickling. Gratuitous "buzzing flies" sound effect. High heel to the crotch. Gratuitous urination. CGI shenanigans. Wriggling maggots. Pinhead is his ever-cheery self, "Which do you find more exhilarating, Trevor? The pain, or the pleasure? Personally, I prefer pain."

2001, 89 minutes, Widescreen (1.85:1), Director's commentary, Alternate scenes, CGI featurette, Trailers.