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Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth
Official Move adaptation
48 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 1992
13 people want to read
About the author
Peter Atkins
74 books29 followersPETER ATKINS is the author of the novels Morningstar, Big Thunder, and Moontown and the screenplays Hellraiser II, Hellraiser III, Hellraiser IV, and Wishmaster. His short fiction has appeared in several award-winning anthologies and has been selected eight times for one or more of the various 'Year's Best' anthologies. His collection, Rumors of the Marvelous, was a finalist for the British Fantasy Award, and his new collection, All Our Hearts are Ghosts & Other Stories, will be published next year. He blogs at peteratkins.blogspot.com and can be found on Facebook under his own name and on Twitter and Instagram as @limeybastard55.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
February 23, 2019
I have numerous fond memories of my time in Hong Kong. And some of the loveliest of those were spent on days off, long walks through densely urban streets in my favorite South-East Asian metropolis. When I wasn’t strolling through these inner and outer workings, numerous well-placed benches and a fully loaded and toted wireless hard drive kept me constantly amused with books and films garnered from the furthest reaches of the internet.
Of all the numerous movies located in the drive I watched, the HellRaiser Trilogy that was probably one of my favorite. In a similar vein to its science fiction analogue, Alien, HellRaiser occupies its own successful yet somewhat occluded space, far distant from its more popular peers. Of course, their uniqueness grant their own special connections to those willing to dig into the crates, or better yet, scour the creaks and crevasses all across the interwebs.
Sure enough, just like its thematic cousin, Hellraiser got its own, quite voluminous as well, bevy of comic book adaptations. But this one feels far more compressed in all the worst areas. By actually chopping off the more horrific bloodlettings and other nastiness in the cinematic version, the comic actually does an utter disservice to its characteristic over-the-topness. And if the nastiness is shorn, so too are those scenes that do otherwise great justice not just to the Hell on Earth (III) (but, if you watch the movie as you should) the entirety of the HellRaiser mythos as a whole. With many dots to connect within and without, abbreviated at best and skipped over at worst, a read without a watch will be truly disappointing to those expecting something far more chilling.
In fact, if the choice presents itself, I would highly recommend the movie over the comic.
Of all the numerous movies located in the drive I watched, the HellRaiser Trilogy that was probably one of my favorite. In a similar vein to its science fiction analogue, Alien, HellRaiser occupies its own successful yet somewhat occluded space, far distant from its more popular peers. Of course, their uniqueness grant their own special connections to those willing to dig into the crates, or better yet, scour the creaks and crevasses all across the interwebs.
Sure enough, just like its thematic cousin, Hellraiser got its own, quite voluminous as well, bevy of comic book adaptations. But this one feels far more compressed in all the worst areas. By actually chopping off the more horrific bloodlettings and other nastiness in the cinematic version, the comic actually does an utter disservice to its characteristic over-the-topness. And if the nastiness is shorn, so too are those scenes that do otherwise great justice not just to the Hell on Earth (III) (but, if you watch the movie as you should) the entirety of the HellRaiser mythos as a whole. With many dots to connect within and without, abbreviated at best and skipped over at worst, a read without a watch will be truly disappointing to those expecting something far more chilling.
In fact, if the choice presents itself, I would highly recommend the movie over the comic.
August 27, 2022
Review 11: Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth by Peter Atkins
The 1990s. While the rest of the literary horror world was in a slow death, one man was at the top of the world: horror Jesus Clive Barker. This man -in addition to publishing ambitious doorstoppers- was busy writing scripts, directing films, and producing (overseeing) his beloved franchises, Hellraiser and Candyman.
Oh, and he was in comics, too.
The adaptation of the much-maligned (but filled with memorable scenes) Hellraiser sequel is... average. I say that since it failed to depict the carnage and craziness of Hickox's film. The boiler room massacre scene is made underwhelming. The disgusting scene where JP Monroe's girlfriend is skinned alive before being devoured by the Pinhead statue is also not as visceral as in the film. You would think that the comic would and could expand on the limitations imposed on the film (with its limited budget), but it does not, with Hickox's film remaining visually superior. One exception is the beautifully rendered Pinhead "Communion" scene: the power of that scene carries over to the comic.
Overall, this comic is a good distraction that could have been better.
The 1990s. While the rest of the literary horror world was in a slow death, one man was at the top of the world: horror Jesus Clive Barker. This man -in addition to publishing ambitious doorstoppers- was busy writing scripts, directing films, and producing (overseeing) his beloved franchises, Hellraiser and Candyman.
Oh, and he was in comics, too.
The adaptation of the much-maligned (but filled with memorable scenes) Hellraiser sequel is... average. I say that since it failed to depict the carnage and craziness of Hickox's film. The boiler room massacre scene is made underwhelming. The disgusting scene where JP Monroe's girlfriend is skinned alive before being devoured by the Pinhead statue is also not as visceral as in the film. You would think that the comic would and could expand on the limitations imposed on the film (with its limited budget), but it does not, with Hickox's film remaining visually superior. One exception is the beautifully rendered Pinhead "Communion" scene: the power of that scene carries over to the comic.
Overall, this comic is a good distraction that could have been better.
October 14, 2018
Graphic novel adaptation of the film Hellraiser III with art by Steven Buccellato.
This follows the story of the movie but it feels pretty rushed and disjointed. I really can't see the point of this - it adds NOTHING and in fact actually detracts taking away things that made the movie cool like the soundtrack and actually seeing things like the Cenobites being created, the sex scene, the club massacre... It's the bare bones without any flesh or fun.
The other thing that lets this down is the artwork - I've seen Steven Buccellato do far better than this (check out the Christmas Special) - here the artwork is functional at best. The faces are very poor and look nothing like the movie counterparts. Joey in particular looks awful... and nothing like Terry Farrell, even the hair colour's off - she's a blonde here.
This really is for Hellraiser completests only.
This follows the story of the movie but it feels pretty rushed and disjointed. I really can't see the point of this - it adds NOTHING and in fact actually detracts taking away things that made the movie cool like the soundtrack and actually seeing things like the Cenobites being created, the sex scene, the club massacre... It's the bare bones without any flesh or fun.
The other thing that lets this down is the artwork - I've seen Steven Buccellato do far better than this (check out the Christmas Special) - here the artwork is functional at best. The faces are very poor and look nothing like the movie counterparts. Joey in particular looks awful... and nothing like Terry Farrell, even the hair colour's off - she's a blonde here.
This really is for Hellraiser completests only.
September 5, 2017
I think it did a marvellous job condensing the film into 48 pages, but I find some of the artworks troubling and the essence of the story was not properly translated.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews