It’s the year 2127 and Dr. Paul Merchant (Bruce Ramsay) is on a mission. His mission is to undo the mistakes of his ancestors and close shut the gates of hell, which were opened when Phillip L’Merchant (also Bruce Ramsay) created that famous toy box. After the box is given to a rich aristocrat it is used to raise a demon which will control the world. However things go awry and the demon takes on the form of a peasant girl Angelique (Valentina Vargas). Phillip L’Merchant takes the box and runs. Through the centuries Pinhead (Doug Bradley) has tracked and killed the Merchant bloodline, looking for the box.

Dr. Paul Merchant is telling the marines on the space station about his mission, and what needs to be done. He tells them that for so long his bloodline have tried and failed to close the gates. Now Pinhead and his new cenobites have been unleashed in space, but all is not lost. Now Dr. Paul Merchant has Pinhead where he wants him, and the trap has been set.

This movie was plagued with problems during production. The director is listed as Alan Smithee but was actuall Kevin Yagher who worked on some of the Nightmare on Elm Street movies. The studio butchered the movie in his opinion, so he asked to be credited as Alan Smithee which is a pseudonym directors take when the don’t want to be credited with something they see as not being their vision.

That being said, I really like this movie. Sure the script is wooden in places, but the space setting really lends itself to the Hellraiser mythos and there is some great gore. Doug Bradley is still great as the villainous Pinhead, and really delivers each line with relish. I don’t agree with all the hate this movie gets and I think if you like the Hellraiser movies and you’ve never seen it, then it’s well worth a watch.

4/5

JM