At the time of its release, Hellraiser marked a completely different turn for horror. Clive Barker’s vision was low-budget, but high-concept. In addition, Hellraiser bucked the 80’s horror trend of masked, wise-cracking killers stalking horny teenagers. A quick follow-up sequel, Hellbound: Hellraiser II actually exceeded the original. Yet in spite of Barker’s unique vision, the Hellraiser franchise – 10 movies and counting to date – has been the middle-child of horror franchises. To date, Pinhead and the Cenobites haven’t achieved the fan service of horror heavyweights, like Friday the 13th or A Nightmare on Elm Street. Diehard fans may disagree, but the relative lack of love stems in large part to the poor quality and inconsistent narratives plaguing the franchise. With the latest Hellraiser film, Judgment, being recently released, it’s time to take stock of the franchise and rank the films.

10 – Hellraiser: Revelations (2011)

The ninth instalment of the Hellraiser franchise, and first one not featuring Doug Bradley as Pinhead, is absolutely terrible. Honestly, there is not one redeeming quality possessed by this sequel. It’s as though the filmmaker decided to turn the movie into its own Lament Configuration where actually being subjected to it was its own form of Hell. Avoid at all costs.

9 to 6 – Hellraiser: Inferno (2000), Hellraiser: Hellseeker (2002), Hellraiser: Deader (2005), Hellraiser: Hellworld (2005)

Very little distinguishes these movies from one another. Of course, there is the grammatically-challenged title of ‘Deader’. One could also point to rather stunning feat of releasing not one, but two, poor Hellraiser films in one year. To be far, none of these sequels approaches the masochistic levels of awful achieved by Revelations. But they also never register as watchable either. Some of the worst Friday the 13th entries are still enjoyable as cheesy 80s time capsules; the straight-to-video Hellraiser sequels are tiresome slags.

To be far, none of these sequels approaches the masochistic levels of awful achieved by Revelations.

Other reviewers have pointed out that many of these sequels were not even originally written as Hellraiser films. That is, studio executives allegedly shoehorned Pinhead into these films to keep the rights to the Hellraiser brand. If that is indeed the case, it shows in movies where Pinhead barely registers. If you’re a completist, you may feel compelled to watch these sequel, but you’re not missing anything if you skip them.

5 – Hellraiser: Judgment (2018)

Judgment isn’t a good film, but at least it feels like a Hellraiser film. There also seems to be some genuine effort to expand upon the mythology of the series and ingest some creative direction to future sequels. While it still feels like two separate stories forced together, there’s enough in Judgment to satisfy the more devoted Hellraiser fans.

4 – Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth (1992)

Here it is – the point at which the wheels began to fall off. The Hellraiser franchise is premised on a big concept. As a result, the lower budgets for subsequent sequels place a big limitation on that concept. The higher ranked films on this list got around the budget constraints by limiting their scope and using the Cenobites sparingly. In contrast, Hell on Earth puts Pinhead front and center, dangling its premise over camp-territory. Specifically, Hell on Earth mimics the jokey tone of Freddy Krueger from later Elm Street films. It’s a poor decision that strips the character of mystique and dread. Moving the narrative into the larger world also exposes the limitations of the budget. Hell on Earth’s special effects have not aged well. Yet despite these limitations, Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth still feels like a Hellraiser film, largely maintaining the tone of its predecessors.

3 – Hellraiser IV: Bloodline (1996)

Some fans will take issue with ranking Bloodline – yes, the one that sends Pinhead to outer space – ahead of Hell on Earth. Neither Parts III or IV are classics. Still Bloodline gets points for refusing to be a typical sequel. Where Hell on Earth fell into some of the contrivances of horror sequels, Bloodline tries something different. Here, the story focuses on the Lament Configuration itself and three generations of the family responsible for its creation across three timeline. Bloodline tries to enrich the franchise’s mythology and its outer space element still feels like it fits the more idiosyncratic aspects of Hellraiser. Yes, it’s a clunky film with some pretty stilted acting and iffy effects but it still feels like the franchise it trying with this entry.

2 – Hellbound: Hellraiser II (1988)

Less a sequel and more a continuation of the original, Hellbound picks up immediately following the events of Hellraiser. First-time director Tony Randel, working from Barker’s screenplay, dials up what worked the first time. Specifically, Pinhead and his Cenobites get more screen time. And Randel plunges the audience into their Hell dimension, a gloomy labyrinth offering a uniquely grim vision. Hellbound wisely resurrects Claire Higgins’ evil stepmother, Julia, and, as in the original, she gives a scene-stealing performance. On one hand, Hellbound: Hellraiser II is dreadfully serious and bloody affair with special effects reflecting a smaller budget. But like the first Hellraiser, Hellbound has a lot of idiosyncratic charms and a sweeping score that makes the sequel feel much bigger in scope.

1 – Hellraiser (1987)

Hellraiser is deserving of being considered a horror classic. Five Baker fit a big concept into a small-budget film that was different fromother horror films released at the time. More serious and with violence that wasn’t played for laughs, Hellraiser perfectly blended family dysfunction and drama with supernatural mythology. Barker introduced the world to Pinhead and his Cenobites. Its special effects are clearly dated but the moody atmosphere, haunting score, and unique vision make up for it. The Hellraiser franchise may never escape from its straight-to-video (now streaming) Hell of its own creation, but the original film still stands as one of the better genre films.