Leviathan: The Story of Hellraiser and Hellbound: Hellraiser II (2015)

I read a lot of negative reviews about this hard-to-find fan documentary, which looks at both Hellraiser and its sequel at great length. In total, you're looking at about 7 hours of interviews with the people who made and starred in the films. The first part focuses on Hellraiser and a good hour of this film focuses on Clive Barker's beginnings as a playwrite. Yes, its true, pretty much everyone describes him as a genius, a phrase that seems to lose all meaning due to its overuse, but once you get past the introductions, you begin to hear stories of how certain scenes were created, and those interested in the special effects side of the movie will not be disappointed by the contributions from those responsible. The second part (Hellbound) is more to-the-point, without needing to set the scene. Pretty much every apsect of the film, its script, its effects, its casting and its controversial changes are explored in detail too.The film doesn't shy away from questions that have bugged fans for years - such as where exactly is hellraiser set, why didn't actors from the first film reprise their roles, why didn't Barker direct the sequel etc.I really can't understand what the fans are complaining about in their other reviews. There is a great deal of insight here if you're patient enough to watch the entire documentary. This is very much a fan film, made by fans for fans.Someone described this film as being a collection of unedited interviews - I'm not sure what they watched, but that is not the case here. The interview subjects seem to follow the chronological order of the film, rather than the production order, which was a nice touch.I was impressed by how many people involved with the film took part in this project and how young so many of them were at the time.This is the only in-depth look at the two movies you'll get and it didn't disappoint.

It's an exhausting but execellent documentary of extreme pleasures. Its a well made, in depth discussion of the first film, Hellbound , and also the series as a whole.This documentary has moments of surprising creativity and insight to all aspects of the film making process behind the films, It covers all details so intricately like the design of the Lament Configuration and the cenobites.Overall the package from Dead Mouse Productions is sumptuous and will take any horror fans days to get through.It satisfies the fan in me to such a degree that i can't think of anything more to say other just track.down this documemtary on DVD or blu ray.

Oliver Smith narrates this documentary about the 'Hellraiser' franchise.This is a thorough documentary giving you pretty much everything you'd ever want to know about the Hellraiser-series.I had a feeling the "Leviathan Hellraiser" documentary was going to be something special, but I had no idea just HOW special until i brought it. There's something here for even the hardest of hardcore Hellraiser fans (of which I am one), with lots of interesting stories and previously undisclosed revelations, never- before-seen photos and behind-the-scenes footage,A must own for any Cenobite and Clive Barker fan.Leviathan Story of Hellraiser and Hellbound Hellraiser II has raised the bar even higher for documentary retrospectives. BUY IT NOW! http://www.leviathan- hellraiser.co.uk/leviathan-DVD/

I don't like to criticize independent labor-of-love productions, but this is just not a good documentary -- unless you're interested in hearing a lot of people talk about what a genius they think Clive Barker is. I've no doubt Barker is a major creative talent, and Hellraiser is a great horror movie, but it provides next to nothing about the making of the movie, the creation of the story, how it came to life, etc. I mean, apart from "This is a monumental film, Clive is a genius." There's also almost no actual footage from the film, only occasional glimpses. Mostly it's one middle-aged (the movie is several decades old, after all) person after another talking about how much of a genius Barker is and how amazing it is that they were able to know him. The film-makers start to delve into how Hellraiser fit in with the other horror movies of the era but it's all so superficial and shallow, and really it seems like the argument for why Hellraiser was so different from the other movies at the time is because it was just *so* different from the other movies at the time. The whole thing feels like a circular argument, which always leads back "I mean... a genius! The man is a genius!" And even then, they don't even go into *why* he's a genius. People keep talking about how brilliant his paintings are, but then the movie barely shows them. People talk about amazing his books are, and yet I came out of the film not knowing the title of a single one of his books. The whole thing is just so superficial and frivolous. And of course, Barker himself isn't in it. And also, if you're going to recycle that same, tired Stephen King "I've seen the future of horror" quote, then maybe you should actually interview Stephen King and find out why he said it, what made him think that, how was Barker different from the 'past' of horror, etc. But, nope. Almost all of the talking heads are people who haven't done much apart from Hellraiser. There's a very good documentary to be made about Hellraiser, but this isn't it. Again, I get no pleasure from criticizing this movie, but this is the perspective of one person who watched it.Post-script -- Wait, one of the other reviews here calls this a 7 hour documentary. Either he is mistaken or I saw only part of it or I'm confused or.... something. Anyway, what I saw dealt only with Hellraiser and Clive Barker, for what it's worth.