Hellraiser: Inferno

Directed by Scott Derrickson, Hellraiser: Inferno follows a police officer (Craig Sheffer’s Joseph) as he finds himself pursued by Pinhead (Doug Bradley) and the Cenobites while attempting to solve a murder. Filmmaker Derrickson, working from his and Paul Harris Boardman’s screenplay, delivers a pervasively interminable thriller that suffers from an ongoing paucity of compelling (or even interesting elements), as the movie, which runs an endless 99 minutes, progresses through a generic, by-the-numbers narrative that’s overflowing with unappealing cliches and conventions – with the film’s cop-movie first half about as generic and familiar as one could possibly envision. The arms-length atmosphere is compounded by Sheffer’s far-from-charismatic performance and a continuing emphasis on lackluster plot developments, and it’s clear, as well, that the increased inclusion of extraordinarily tedious dream sequences only compounds the already-tiresome vibe – with the absence of horror-specific attributes ultimately ensuring that the picture works as neither a gritty thriller nor a Hellraiser sequel. (Pinhead’s screen time adds up to less than five minutes!) By the time the almost breathtakingly tedious final stretch rolls around, Hellraiser: Inferno has undoubtedly confirmed its place as an abhorrent, awful entry within a franchise riddled with unwatchable installments.

no stars out of ****