Hellraiser: Hellworld

Plot

A group of young people are addicted to an online computer game called Hellworld, based on the Hellraiser series. One of them, Adam, becomes so immersed that he commits suicide. Two years later, the remaining five friends receive invitations through the game to a private Hellworld Party at an old mansion.

Mike, Derrick, and Allison are enthusiastic; Chelsea reluctantly goes; Jake, still distressed by Adam's death, agrees only after an online female friend asks to meet him there. The middle-aged host welcomes them, offers drinks, shows them around the mansion (allegedly a former convent and asylum built by Phillip LeMarchand), and gives them cell phones. Jake and Chelsea become invisible to other guests and are stalked.

Chelsea finds Adam's belongings in the attic and learns the host is his father, who blames the friends for not breaking Adam's addiction. Attempting to flee, they discover they have been buried alive, receiving messages from the host via cell phones. The host explains they are coming out of a hallucination induced by a psychedelic, and the events were hypnotic suggestion and guilt. He tells Chelsea that Allison, Derrick, and Mike have died in their caskets, and only she and Jake remain.

As Chelsea slips into another hallucination, police and paramedics pull her above ground; she reunites with Jake. The police say they were tipped off by a call from Chelsea's phone. Looking toward the house, Chelsea sees Adam standing in a window.

Production

Hellraiser: Hellworld was filmed alongside Hellraiser: Deader between October and December 2002 in Romania, a contractual stipulation for filming there. The screenplay, based on Joel Soisson's short story 'Dark Can't Breathe', was adapted by Carl V. Dupré and originally titled Hellraiser: Deadworld. Several cast members, including Khary Payton and Lance Henriksen, were hired by chance after completing other film projects in Romania.

Did You Know?

• Lance Henriksen had originally been approached to play Frank Cotton in the first Hellraiser film but turned it down for a role in Near Dark.
• Tim O'Neill for PopMatters called the film a poor sequel but a pretty good generic horror movie.