Hellraiser: Bloodline
Short description
This horror and science fiction film follows a family cursed across three centuries after an ancestor created a puzzle box that opened a gateway to hell. In the 18th century, a toy maker crafted the object, leading to generations of suffering caused by demons and the entity known as Pinhead. By the year 2127, a scientist named Paul Merchant attempts to end this legacy on a space station by using a device designed to neutralize the box and banish the forces of hell forever.
Directed by Alan Smithee and Kevin Yagher, the movie is the seventh project listed for Smithee, following While Justice Sleeps. The cast features Bruce Ramsay in three roles as different generations of the Merchant family, alongside Doug Bradley as Pinhead and Valentina Vargas as Angelique.
Produced by Dimension Films, Miramax, and Trans Atlantic Entertainment, the film had a budget of 4 million USD and earned 17 million USD at the worldwide box office. Audience reception is mixed, with a 5.1 rating on IMDb from 27,000 votes and a 5.3 rating on TMDB from 626 votes. Film critics gave the movie a lower score of 4.2 based on 17 reviews.
What's left behind the scenes
- The original director, Kevin Yagher, left the film due to disagreements with the producers, who demanded that Pinhead appear onscreen not at the end of the film, but in the middle, which was detrimental to the original storyline. Joe Chappelle was brought in to complete the work, filming the final scenes.
- Hellraiser 4 was the last installment in the saga to be shown in theaters. All subsequent series were released directly to video.
- Guillermo del Toro was offered the chance to direct the film, but he declined.
- Kevin Yagher's original version of the film contained far more graphic imagery, had a clearer plot, explained everything that happened in the film, and included scenes with cenobites-aristocrats in white powdered wigs, scenes with demonic clowns, and an entire large masquerade ball sequence.
- However, the original version of the film was strongly disliked by the producers. They were most upset that the Nailhead cenobite, a popular recurring character in the series, only appeared at the 40-minute mark. The producers demanded that Nailhead appear earlier—despite the fact that his appearance at the 40-minute mark was originally intended in all script versions.
- The result was a preliminary, shortened, and re-edited version of the film made without the involvement of director Kevin Yagher.
- In order to move on to Pinhead as quickly as possible, the aristocratic cenobites, demonic clowns, and the masquerade ball were ruthlessly cut from the film—despite the fact that promotional photos of the aristocratic cenobites had already appeared on the pages of numerous magazines.
- Kevin Yagher did not accept this version and refused to finish working on the film, resulting in some final scenes remaining unfilmed. These scenes from the original script remained unrealized on screen: new scenes were written instead—including a story about the creation of the puzzle box.
- Screenwriter Rand Ravich was brought in to write the new scenes and finalize the script.
- Kevin Yagher, understandably, did not want his name to appear as the director after all this mess and filed a request with the Directors Guild to remove his name from the credits. This request was granted, and as a result, a pseudonym—Alan Smithee—specifically provided by the Directors Guild for such cases appeared in the film's credits.
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