Editor Reviews:

Amazon.com:
This is the first Hellraiser sequel that doesn't bear the imprimatur of creator Clive Barker, and that makes it a sequel that many Hellraiser fans will want to disown, but they shouldn't dismiss it altogether. Now under the control of Miramax producers Bob and Harvey Weinstein, the franchise takes an entirely new direction, and Inferno is primarily a detective thriller in which a corrupt cop (Craig Sheffer) takes on a case that will judge his soul and, ultimately, damn him forever. His judge and jury will be Pinhead (Doug Bradley) and his legion of twisted Cenobites, but before he can be tried and condemned, Sheffer's cop will watch as those around him are killed off one by one, leaving a trail of blood (and telltale severed fingers) that leads back to the torment of his own youth.

So, what you really have here is a variation on It's a Wonderful Life and A Christmas Carol, with all the themes reversed to hellish extremes. The plot doesn't hold together all that well, but you can't fault the film for establishing and maintaining a heavily somber tone. This is pretty dark stuff, after all, and although Hellraiser fans will lament that Pinhead's appearance is relatively brief, he's presented here in an intriguing new light--not merely an icon of pain and suffering, but a giver of counsel and justice to those (like Sheffer's cop) who arguably deserve the eternal anguish they will receive. Does that make Pinhead a good guy? If this otherwise lugubrious sequel achieves anything, it's that it raises that question and lets the viewer decide. --Jeff Shannon

Rating : - Hercule Pinhead
If you pay close attention, you'll notice that the opening credits of HELLRAISER: INFERNO are missing the words "Clive Barker." In its place are a couple guys whose last names are Weinstein. That's a clue right there: this movie isn't interested in building on the Hellraiser mythos.

It IS interested in clues, though. Craig Sheffer (of One Tree Hill) narrates the film as Detective Joseph Thorne. Joe is a good cop ("I'm good with puzzles" he growls) but not a good man. He wishes he was good, but can't be bothered to do much more than wish. Not until people he knows start dying.

Along for the ride is Joe's hapless partner, Detective Nenonen (played by John Turturro's youngest brother, Nick). Together the two stumble onto a case involving sadistic deaths, a strange puzzle box, and a criminal mastermind known only as The Engineer. At the scene of each crime is found the severed finger of a mysterious child who -- by all accounts -- is still alive.

It's actually a pretty cool idea, when all is said and done, but the delivery here is tiresome. Sometimes films confuse the word "mysterious" with "confusing," and here its no different. Joe is tormented by mysterious dreams and hallucinations, grotesque visions that blur the line between reality and nightmare. Loathesome though he may be, Joe is the audience's viewpiece, and viewers are bound to realize they're being manipulated long before Joe discovers the same thing about himself.

It's got real grab in parts, and the creepy Hellraiser watermark rears its head many times and with chilling charm (although purists interested in gruesome deaths and gory torture will be disappointed). Still, the whole thing plays out very much like Pinhead playing How To Host a Murder Mystery, up to him wrapping things up neatly with an out-of-character moral summary. It's fun, no denying, but also hard to take seriously. Like any murder mystery hosted by any friend (even one from hell), this party goes best with a glass of wine or beer, a few friends, and a willingness to pretend like you don't know whodunit.