Following the mysterious death of her father, Larry and stepmother, Julie, the authorities have placed Kirsty in the Channard Institute - a psychiatric hospital for the mentally disturbed – for further observation. She tells of a puzzle box that can call forth demons (Cenobities) from hell

The movie begins mysterious not with the purchase of the box, but rather a pillar, the "Pillar of Souls" by J.P. Monroe (Kevin Bernhardt), the sadist owner of a nightclub called "The Boiler Room".

Pinhead is stuck in a block after the Big Confrontation in "Hellbound," The block containing Pinhead and the puzzle cube is bought by a young playboy as sculpture. Pinhead busies himself escaping by getting the playboy to lure victims to his presence so he can use their blood. Once free, he seeks to destroy the puzzle cube so he need never return to Hell, but a female reporter is investigating the grisly murders and stands in his way.

The film begins in the year is 2127 aboard the Minos space station.  Dr. Paul Merchant (Bruce Ramsay) is using a robot to solve the box and summoning the Cenobites to the station. At the same time, troops have enter the station and Merchant is taken prisoner.

As he is being interrogated, he begins explain the history behind the "Lament Configuration". It seems that his ancestor Phillip Le Merchant, a toy maker was commissioned by Duc de L'Isle, the greatest French magician, to create the box. Little did Le Merchant know that it will serve as a key to opening the gates of hell. After witnessing the terror of his creation, Le Merchant sets out to design a box that will send the demons back to hell, the "Elysium Configuration".  He is later killed by a demon before he can complete the box, but his pregnant wife escapes to America with the plans. 

Fast forward to the present (1996), John Merchant is seen working on his great, great, great grandfather's design. All the while he is haunted by nightmare of a beautiful women as he gets closer to completing the box. 

open a permanent gateway to hell. Some lame stuff here....could have been so much better.

 The filmmakers probably had more trouble getting this "Hellraiser" into the theaters than the previous 3 combined. It got so bad that Kevin Yagher, the director, had his name taken off the film and replaced it with a pseudonym "Alan Smithee", because of his displeasure with the films final cut. This film had a lot of potential. I really like the telling of the "Lament Configuration" origin, but the story got a little funky when the demon of the 18th century looked nothing like the Cenobites of today. The ending was descent, but where do we go from here???? Hopefully, not to another sequel unless Clive Barker directs.

Back to Hell

The House of Horrors is © House of horrors Production, 1997-99, all rights reserved. All other mentioned entities within this domain belong to their respective copyright owners and will not be infringed upon herein.