Kirsty Cotton (Ashley Laurence) survived the first attack from Hell in "Hellraiser", but her troubles are far from over. She is now locked up in a mental ward run by an occult-obsessed doctor (how appropriate) and her evil stepmother, Julia (Clare Higgins) refuses to stay dead.

This film is incredibly polarizing, I fear, because it has such strong qualities of both good and bad. The bad include special effects that really date the movie (though are still superior to much of today's work) and the introduction of a certain level of silliness that pervades the later films. The doctor as a cenobite is a bit strange in form, and opens the door for the even more bizarre creatures in part three.

There are some plot and continuity issues, such as wondering where Kirsty's boyfriend from part one went. And while the film seems to try to explain loose ends from the first film, it creates a whole lot more... the maze (presumably hell) is not adequately explained, nor is the role of the giant puzzle box. While some of this is addressed in later films, it seems that what we learn later tends to contradict what we see here.

But let us say some good things about this one. First and foremost, the Julia without skin looks incredible. It is hard to say they topped Frank without skin (from the original) but I think they did. The way she comes crawling up out of the bed... her blood-soaked flesh. Beautiful. "Right to Die" owes a huge debt to the work in this film, the same way that this film owes a debt to "Bride of Frankenstein" with its use of thunder and bandages...

We also have to give the gore creators some credit, because the insane man with the knife was pretty intense... actually, all the asylum inmates are well-played. For all the flaws this film may have, they more than made up for it with a couple of memorable scenes. While my favorite in the series is "Bloodline" (I believe I am in the minority on this),I think part two may have been the last great addition. Sequels were not necessary, and obviously everything after part four just gives the franchise a bad name.

Anchor Bay has released a twentieth anniversary edition, and I would strongly recommend it. Older features, such as an audio commentary from 2001, are available, as well as a few new featurettes. "The Soul Patrol" features new interviews with Barbie Wilde, Simon Bamford and Nicholas Vince. "Outside the Box" features a new interview with director Tony Randel and "The Doctor is In" features a new interview with Kenneth Cranham.

As someone who has met Ashley Laurence, Doug Bradley, Clive Barker and each of the cenobites, I have a strong personal interest in this film. I can say that the Anchor Bay edition is easily the best to date and any "Hellraiser" fan would be making a mistake in getting an older, inferior edition.

Despite appreciating horror very much (with a lot of classic ones out there, such as 'Halloween', 'Nightmare on Elm Street', 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre', 'Night of the Living Dead' and 'The Exorcist', plus the best of Hammer House of Horror),even if not my favourite genre, it took me a while to get round to watching the 'Hellraiser' franchise. Due to having so much to watch and review, and the list keeps getting longer and longer.

The film that started the franchise off is not only for me by far the best of the 'Hellraiser' films it also for me, and quite a few others it seems, is one of the stronger horror films of the 80s, though not quite of all time. What is meant by being by far the best of the 'Hellraiser' films is that it is the only one to be above very good, the nine sequels were very variable (leaning towards the disappointing) and the latter films particularly are suggestive of the franchise having run its course.

While the original 'Hellraiser' will always be the best of the series, its first sequel 'Hellbound: Hellraiser II' is one of its better sequels. Would go as far to say from personal opinion it's the best. Not as good as the original and understandably polarising, but it doesn't disgrace it. In some ways it is somewhat of a retread in terms of story except with more gore and less clarity of storytelling, though the imagination and ambition remains.

'Hellbound: Hellraiser II' has its problems. The script is not as vivid and thought-provoking this time round, numerous times being cheesy and muddled. Will Hope is very bland in an underwritten role.

Coming off worst for me was the ending, the Cenobites did deserve a much better defeat than the slapdash and silly one that is here while the staging of the ending itself is more like an incomprehensible parody complete with a terrible, unintentionally silly looking Channard.

On the other hand, the production values mostly were fine. It's very atmospherically shot and the hellish imagery is disturbingly vivid. Apart from Channard, the effects are hardly schlocky and while prominent they are not overused or abused. The music score is an improvement here, more fitting with the atmosphere and very haunting music on its own. Tony Randel does more than competently when it comes to the direction, staying loyal to the spirit of the original. The script is patchy but still intrigues.

Same goes for the story, regardless of whether sense is a strong suit or not (it isn't),which is most notable for Pinhead's very intriguing back-story and more of the Cenobites. Do prefer the mysteriousness they had in the original from being catalysts rather than being heavily focused on, but they are genuinely frightening, still look good and seeing more of and to them made them more interesting. While the ending disappoints, the twist is a clever one. Like the original, 'Hellbound: Hellraiser II' is genuinely disturbing while having tension, suspense and dread, the creativity of the set-pieces and deaths still remaining. The inmate skin flaying especially will be embedded in my mind forever. The gore is more in quantity and more graphic, but it didn't feel that pointless to me even if some parts serve more purpose to the story than others.

Characters have personality and don't do anything that makes one infuriated by them, the detail to characterisation that was present in the original is here too. Cannot say anything bad about the performances, apart from Hope. Imogen Boorman brings nuance to a role not easy to pull off, while Clare Higgins and especially Kenneth Cranham are deliciously evil. Ashley Laurence is appealing and Doug Bradley shows why Pinhead is justifiably a horror icon.

To conclude, worthy sequel. 7/10 Bethany Cox

HELLBOUND: HELLRAISER II is the horror film that shows such nasty horrors that other late '80s horror films can only dare to hint at, and to boot it's a film made at Pinewood Studios. I have a feeling that this was the last horror film made in Britain (not counting amateur productions of course) to really offer up graphic, depraved horror, the stuff of nightmares, and we've never seen its like since. This is in some ways a superior sequel to the first film and I would rate the two almost equally as horror classics of the 1980s; it's merely that HELLRAISER came first with a delightful and raw simplicity that gives it the edge. HELLBOUND: HELLRAISER II takes the basic premise of the first film, only to expand upon it, explore the mythology created, and deliver an even bigger and better adventure.

The gore and violence certainly hasn't been toned down, and in some ways it's even nastier than before. There are skinless people, hooks ripping flesh and, in a moment of pure evil, a man who hallucinates that his body is covered with grubs is given a straight-razor with which he proceeds to slash himself before a living corpse comes out of the mattress he is sitting on and devours him - if that isn't spine-chilling then I don't know what is. This is a very visual movie which is one of the few to offer up a depiction of hell; the resulting images are both creepy and highly disturbing. The hell displayed here is a labyrinthine maze of ancient corridors, populated by the weird figures of giant babies with their mouths sewn shut, undulating bloodstained bodies, and a clown who juggles his own eyeballs. Then we get skinless corpses writing "I AM IN HELL HELP ME" on walls with their own blood and one of the scariest mental asylums I've seen on film (you know, the 'maintenance' level).

The special effects are varied and entertaining, aside from the huge spinning demonic shape in the sky at the end which is a little bit rough around the edges. The makeup is gruesome and the cenobites are as disgustingly awful as ever. Even some cool stop motion animation pops up at the end of the movie to menace our heroes. The music is evocative, the pacing excellent and Tony Randel's direction top-notch - compare this to a pitiful mess like DREAM DEMON and you'll see what I mean. The film also benefits from a high calibre of acting from most of the cast, some of whom return from the first film.

First up is Ashley Laurence reprising her role to good effect as the feisty Kirsty, although Imogen Boorman stands out more as the strangely beautiful mute girl who has a way with jigsaws. Clare Higgins is back and even more deadly-but-beautiful than ever. However, the film is commanded by Kenneth Cranham playing the fiendishly perverse Dr. Channard who eventually ends up becoming a new, even more horrific Cenobite (one with plenty of comedic one-liners too). Cranham's initially decent doctor soon turns out to be a sweaty bastard as the cracks start to show and it's another excellent performance from the underrated actor. Watch out for William Hope playing a young male doctor, Kyle, who helps Kirsty in her quest.

Doug Bradley is perfect as Pinhead although largely underused here, what with all the other sub-plots going on. HELLBOUND: HELLRAISER II is an imaginative piece of work with a truly unique visionary style, a masterpiece of the macabre and not for weak stomachs - this comes highly recommended. Unfortunately it marked the end of quality in the series which, with the arrival of HELLRAISER III : HELL ON EARTH, turned into just another US horror franchise, albeit one with a little more class than most.