Hellraiser: Bloodline (1996)

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Lore & Background

In the 18th century, Phillip LeMarchand a celebrated toymaker (Ramsay) is hired to create his greatest work, the Lament Configuration, not knowing that it will allow the summoning of the demonic Cenobites, including Pinhead (Bradley) and Angelique (Vargas). Hundreds of years in the future, the toymaker's descendant Dr. Paul Merchant (also played by Ramsay), an engineer, has designed a space station that he believes can trap and destroy the Cenobites. Major themes include time, toys and game-playing, adultery and slavery. The film had a troubled history and, after completing the film, original director Yagher left the production when distributor Miramax demanded new scenes be shot. It was subsequently completed by Chappelle. The new scenes and re-shoots changed several characters' relationships, gave the film a happy ending, introduced Pinhead earlier, and cut 25 minutes. Yagher felt the changes diverged too strongly from his vision and was granted the Alan Smithee pseudonym, an alias used by directors who want to go uncredited. Miramax released it in the United States on March 8, where it grossed $9 million. It was not screened for critics and received negative reviews.

In Their Own Story

In 2127, Dr. Paul Merchant, an engineer, seals himself in a room aboard The Minos, a space station that he designed. As armed guards attempt to break through the door, Merchant manipulates a robot into solving the Lament Configuration, destroying the robot in the process. The guards break through the door and apprehend Merchant, who agrees to explain his motivations to their leader, Rimmer. The film flashes back to Paris, France, 1796. Dr. Merchant's ancestor, Phillip LeMarchand, a French toymaker, makes the Lament Configuration on commission from the libertine aristocrat Duc de L'Isle. Unbeknownst to LeMarchand, L'Isle's specifications for the box make it a portal to Hell. Upon delivering the box to L'Isle, LeMarchand watches as he and his assistant Jacques sacrifice a peasant girl and use her flayed-off skin to summon a demon, Angelique, through the box. LeMarchand runs home in terror, where he begins working on blueprints for a second box which will neutralize the effects of the first. Returning to L'Isle's mansion to steal the box, LeMarchand discovers that Jacques has killed L'Isle and taken control over Angelique, who agrees to be his slave so long as he does not impede the wishes of Hell. The pair kill LeMarchand, and Jacques informs him that his bloodline is now cursed for helping to open a portal to Hell. In 1996, LeMarchand's descendant, John Merchant, has built a skyscraper in Manhattan that resembles the Lament Configuration. Seeing an article on the building in a magazine, Angelique asks Jacques to take her to the United States so that she can confront him. When Jacques denies her request, Angelique kills him, as Merchant poses a threat to Hell. Angelique travels to the United States, where she fails to seduce Merchant. Discovering the Lament Configuration in the building's foundation, Angelique tricks Sharpe, a building patron, into solving it, which summons Pinhead. The two immediately clash, as Pinhead represents a shift in the ideologies of Hell, which she left behind two hundred years ago: while Angelique believes in corrupting people through temptation, Pinhead is fanatically devoted to pain and suffering. Despite their conflicting views, the pair forge an uneasy alliance to kill Merchant before he can complete the Elysium Configuration, an anti-Lament Configuration that creates perpetual light and would serve to permanently close all gateways to Hell. Angelique and Pinhead initially collaborate to corrupt Merchant, but Pinhead grows tired of Angelique's seductive techniques and threatens to kill Merchant's wife and child Bobbi and Jack. Having grown accustomed to a decadent life on Earth, Angelique wants no part of Hell's new fanatical austerity, and she intends to force Merchant to activate the Elysium Configuration and destroy Hell, thus freeing her from its imperatives. However, Merchant's flawed prototype fails. Pinhead kills Merchant, but Bobbi opens Angelique's Lament Configuration, sending Pinhead and Angelique back to Hell. In 2127, Rimmer disbelieves Dr. Merchant's story and has him locked away. Pinhead and his followers – now including an enslaved Angelique – have already been freed after Dr. Merchant opened the box. Upon learning of Dr. Merchant's intentions, they kill the entire crew of the ship, save for Rimmer and Dr. Merchant, who escape. Dr. Merchant reveals that the Minos is, in fact, the final, perfected form of the Elysium Configuration, and that by activating it, he can kill Pinhead and permanently seal the gateway to Hell. Dr. Merchant distracts Pinhead with a hologram while he boards an escape pod with Rimmer. Once clear of the station, he activates the Elysium Configuration. A series of powerful lasers and mirrors create a field of perpetual light, while the station transforms and folds around the light to create a massive box. The light is trapped within the box, killing Pinhead and his followers, thus ending Pinhead's existence, this time, permanently.

Reader's Guide

The film's cast includes Doug Bradley as Pinhead. In the shooting script, Pinhead had a violently antagonistic relationship with Angelique. This was softened during editing and pick-ups, and a hinted sexual attraction between them was introduced. Bruce Ramsay as Phillip "Toymaker" LeMarchand / John Merchant / Dr. Paul Merchant. Ramsay called Phillip an ambitious but good man who is seduced by Angelique's power. He described John as more self-aware and mature; Paul, he said, is weathered. Valentina Vargas as Angelique / Peasant Girl. Vargas said she was reluctant to take the role because of nightmares about Pinhead, but she soon became interested in exploring her character's seductive and evil nature. Originally a demon summoned through black magic who commissions the Lament Configuration, her origin was changed to be dependent on the box. Kim Myers as Bobbi Merchant. Bobbi was written to mirror Larry from the first film, both of whom suspect their spouses of infidelity. Adam Scott as Jacques, de L'Isle's assistant. Jacques initially had a smaller role, but he was rewritten and expanded upon when Angelique's origin changed. Christine Harnos as Rimmer. Originally male, Rimmer was rewritten in a later draft after several female characters were streamlined out, including a descendant of Kirsty Cotton who would serve as Paul's love interest. Charlotte Chatton as Genevieve LeMarchand. In the script, Genevieve is also depicted as more suspicious of her husband, whom she suspects to be having an affair. This was mostly removed during editing. Mickey Cottrell as Duc de L'Isle. In the script, de L'Isle had a larger part, but some of his scenes were given to Jacques when Angelique's origin changed. He is modeled after the Marquis de Sade and Gilles de Rais. Jody St. Michael as Chatterer Beast, a Cenobite. The script describes it as pieced together from the remains of a dog and a man after a car accident. St. Michael played the Chatter Beast as an animal. Courtland Mead as Jack Merchant. Mark and Michael Polish as Siamese Twins. For production, Clive Barker, acting as executive producer, wanted a fresh turn for the Hellraiser series after two sequels to his original 1987 film. The initial premise for the film, a shape-changing structure used to trap Pinhead (Doug Bradley), was inspired by the ending of Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth, which featured a building whose architecture resembled the Lament Configuration. Barker suggested a three-part film set in different time periods, and Peter Atkins added the LeMarchand storyline, going back to Barker's novella The Hellbound Heart. Atkins had previously written Hellbound: Hellraiser II and co-written Hellraiser III. Atkins and Barker pitched the idea to Miramax, who greenlit it without requiring an outline. In The Hellraiser Films and Their Legacy, author Paul Kane described the screenplay as ambitious and "one of the best of the Hellraiser sequels". This screenplay featured a linear timeline, more special effects, and violent confrontations between Pinhead and Angelique (Valentina Vargas). When Miramax was unwilling to provide a budget to realize these scenes, the film was scaled back. Stuart Gordon, known for his low-budget horror films, was approached to direct but backed out after artistic disagreements. Special effects technician Kevin Yagher was subsequently hired after his cost-saving directing work on Tales from the Crypt for Joel Silver. Yagher was initially hesitant about taking the job, as he did not want to do a retread of the previous installments of the series. However, he was impressed with the script and became enthusiastic after Barker described his vision for the film. Doug Bradley, who had played Pinhead in all the previous films, joined the cast first. Bradley agreed the film should focus more on the other characters, and several lesser-known actors joined in major roles, including Canadian Bruce Ramsay and Chilean Valentina Vargas. As the script was scaled back once again to save money, the number of characters was reduced, and several were rewritten to have simpler motivations and origins.

Did You Know?

• Hellraiser: Bloodline was the last Hellraiser film to be released theatrically and the last to have any major official involvement with series creator Clive Barker until the 2022 reboot.
• Original director Kevin Yagher left the production when Miramax demanded new scenes be shot; the film was subsequently completed by Joe Chappelle, and Yagher was granted the Alan Smithee pseudonym.
• The film was not screened for critics and received negative reviews, grossing $9 million in the United States.
• Adam Scott appears in his first major film role as Jacques, de L'Isle's assistant.
• The initial premise for the film, a shape-changing structure used to trap Pinhead, was inspired by the ending of Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth.