Arrow Video
4K UHD Release: October 22, 2024
Video: 1.85:1/2160p (HDR10/Dolby Vision)/Color
Audio: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 stereo and 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH
Run Time: 84:44 (theatrical cut), 82:11 (workprint cut)
Director: Kevin Yagher & Joe Chappelle (as Alan Smithee)
Note: This disc is currently only available as part of Arrow’s 4K UHD Quartet Of Torment collection, which also includes Hellraiser (1987), Hellbound: Hellraiser II (1988), and Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth (1992).
In the 18th century, toymaker Phillip LeMarchand (Bruce Ramsay) was commissioned by the cruel libertine Duc de L'Isle (Mickey Cottrell) to create the Lament Configuration, unaware of the puzzle box’s true purpose. Then, in the 20th century, architect and LeMarchand’s descendent, John Merchant (also Bruce Ramsay), discovered the Configuration’s evil after designing a skyscraper based on his ancestor's cursed creation. Now, in the 22nd century, engineer Dr. Paul Merchant (Bruce Ramsay again) has released the Cenobite priest Pinhead (Doug Bradley) and his evil cohorts aboard a space station of his own design.
Notorious scumbag and art-ruiner Harvey Weinstein barely meddled at all during the post-production of Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth (1992), asking director Anthony Hickox for only a few extra thrills and ‘trailer shots’ (noting that accounts of these reshoots differ). Four years later, Dimension/Miramax’s second entry in the franchise (the first after being bought by Disney), Hellraiser IV: Bloodline (1996), fell victim to significantly more producer interference, some from Weinstein and his brother Bob (who was in charge of Dimension), some from other individuals. The results were catastrophic.
Following budget cuts and disastrous focus group screenings, the original director Kevin Yagher left, was replaced by Joe Chappelle, and asked for his name to be removed from the film. Several other crew members, including an unnamed original cinematographer and members of the art department, were fired and original writer Peter Atkins was replaced by Rand Ravich when he became unavailable for rewrites. Dimension lost faith in the project, advertising was abysmal, critics were cruel, and box office receipts were disappointing, all leading Bloodline to be the last film in the eleven-film franchise to garner a theatrical release.
And yet, in spite of its ruinous history, lack of narrative cohesion, and miniscule $4 million budget (a number that, if true, is $8 million less than the previous two entries, not adjusted for inflation), Bloodline is a decent Hellraiser movie and arguably even an improvement over Hell on Earth’s lacking personality. The clearcut effects of rewrites and reshoots don’t hamper the basic strength of Yagher and Atkins’ concepts, the plot’s grander ambition, and many unique visual ideas. Bloodline works as a series capper (this four-movie collection feels more complete than previous three-movie collections), is relentlessly moody, and, despite its stifling, studio-mandated R-rating, is satisfyingly gory.
Bloodline’s negative reputation is also tied to an end-of-millennium phenomenon where floundering horror franchises sent their mascots to space. The actual scope of the movement was overblown, technically including only three movies – Bloodline, Brian Trenchard-Smith’s Leprechaun 4: In Space (completed in 1996, but not released in the US until 1997), and James Isaac’s Jason X (completed in 2000, but not released until 2001) – but [Blank] in Space still became a shorthand joke for filmmakers being out of ideas. To the detractors’ credit, some of Bloodline’s trailers did push the sci-fi angle, but the space scenes are partially a framing device for the larger tale of the Lament Configuration’s cross-generational curse and account for about one-third of the total runtime.
The next year, 1997, saw the release of Paul W.S. Anderson’s Event Horizon – a much more expensive Pseudo-Hellraiser in Space that was also a critical and box office flop, but garnered an improved reputation and earned a loyal cult following in the years since. Bloodline should probably be remembered as a sort of precursor to that film, rather than an equal to the purposefully sillier Jason X and Leprechaun 4: In Space.
Bloodline was Yagher’s feature directorial debut and the experience soured him and his reputation enough that he never stepped into the director’s chair again. I have a copy of Fangoria #141, which has a Bloodline cover story set visit and interview, and it’s truly sad reading how excited he was about the project, knowing it would be taken away from him. Prior to Bloodline, he was an important figure in ‘80s special effects makeup, including work on three Nightmare on Elm Streets, four Child’s Plays, and all three Bill & Ted movies. His replacement, Joe Chappelle, was a Dimension stock director for a short time, having helmed the similarly discordant and largely disowned Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995) and Phantoms (1998). He found larger success on television, where he continues working to this day.
Video
Following its disappointing, some might say doomed, theatrical run, Bloodline hit VHS later in 1996. Eventually, Dimension released a DVD in 2000, but, as Miramax collapsed, it was lost for a bit, until the company sold assets to Echo Bridge Entertainment, who released it on solo and multi-movie Blu-rays in 2011. That 1.78:1 transfer more recently showed up on BD from Paramount. The screencaps on this page are from that Echo Bridge disc, not Arrow’s new(ish) 4K remaster, which is framed at 1.85:1 and presented in full 2160p with HDR/Dolby Vision upgrades. The caps are just here for basic illustrative purposes and give a sense of the general mood and intended color timing of Gerry Lively’s photography, as well as, I suppose, that of the production’s unnamed original cinematographer.
The dark, warm, candlelit 18th century sequences have always been the highlight and look especially nice with the HDR upgrade, which lifts fine detail out of the darkest glooms, helps delineate important shapes, and boosts oranges, reds, and blues. On the other hand, the extra detail doesn’t do the sparse space station sets and outdated digital effects any favors (the prop guns look so terrible!). These scenes tend to lack atmosphere and have a definite straight-to-video aesthetic, though there is plenty of texture for the new transfer to pick up on. Grain levels are fine and largely appear accurate, but somewhat inconsistent due to the varying location types, which change up the color and heft of the granules. In all, this is another sizable upgrade, especially considering the heavy compression of the Echo Bridge releases.
Audio
Every film in the Quartet of Torment collection has DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 and 5.1 options. I’ve been recommending against listening to the 5.1 tracks until now, because Bloodline was designed for a post-digital theatrical release and, while it’s an early-ish 5.1 mix, it’s still the way the film was designed to be experienced. It’s not particularly aggressive, but does have a handful of nice directional cues. As is Hellraiser tradition, there was a lot of ADR, including lead Valentina Vargas’ entire performance being redubbed to cover her French accent (a strange choice, since her character is sort of French). Daniel Licht’s score definitely achieves the Christopher Young vibe, but is a lot thinner, lacking the rich symphonic layering heard from the first two films’ soundtracks.
Extras
Hellraiser IV: Bloodline workprint version (82:11, HD upgraded VHS footage) – Previously only available as a bootleg (it sometimes makes its way to YouTube, but is usually removed), this is the first official stateside availability of the workprint version of the film. This early assembly cut isn’t Yagher’s director’s cut, but it gives us an idea as to what his version of the film may have been like. The video quality isn’t great, having come from a videotape copy, but looks better than the bootlegs and is most welcome supplemental addition to this collection. Until someone finds the fabled 111-minute cut, which seems very unlikely, this incomplete, alternate version is our best glimpse of the movie that might have been. We also get to hear Vargas’ real vocal performance. See Movie-Censorship.com’s breakdown of the differences here.
Commentary with writer Peter Atkins and critics Stephen Jones & Kim Newman – The final of four newly-recorded tracks, featuring Jones, the editor of Shadows Over Innsmouth (Del Rey, 2001), and author of Nightmare Movies: Horror on the Screen Since the 1960s (Bloomsbury, 2011) Kim Newman. The two critics actually speak about Bloodline quite a bit during their Hell on Earth commentary, but, this time, have a production participant’s brain to pick. This often interview-like commentary is focused largely on what went wrong and what could have been. Ideally, we’d have multiple sides of the story to pull from for a retrospective documentary, but Atkins is a solid authority on the subject and Jones & Newman are surprisingly enthusiastic about the film.
Additional alternate footage (5:51, SD) – These shots are much rougher than what was used for the assembly cut, but fills in a few narrative holes.
Beautiful Suffering (27:48, HD) – An exploration of the influence of Goth, punk, BDSM, and fetish cultures on the Hellraiser franchise, as well as the franchise’s effect on the futures of those cultures. It includes interviews with practitioners and experts Ricardo Castro, Dave Darcy Edmond, and Jo Weldon.
Hellraiser: Evolutions 2015 documentary (48:15, HD) – According to IMDb, this 2015 documentary aired exclusively on Arrow’s old Amazon Prime channel. It covers the legacy of the franchise and includes interviews with series directors Tony Randel, Scott Derrickson, and Rick Bota, writers Peter Atkins, Tim Day, and Neal Marshall Stevens, original producer David Saunders, composer Christopher Young, make-up artist Gary J. Tunnicliffe, and actors Doug Bradley, Sarah Hayward, Del Howison, and Khary Payton, along with Re-Animator (1985) director Stuart Gordon.
Books of Blood and Beyond (19:23, HD) – The final of the 2015, Arrow-produced features is this appreciation of Barker the writer, by author of the Harry Grime book series, David Gatward (misspelled ‘Gatwalk’ on the menu).
Theatrical trailer
Image gallery
The images on this page are taken from the 2K mastered BD – not the 4K UHD – and sized for the page. Larger versions can be viewed by clicking the images. Note that there will be some JPG compression.
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