The story was a mess. All over the place. The story, acting, cinematography and atmosphere in the first movie was much better. But this movie still had something else. They should have hired Lucia Fulci to direct both the first and second films.Kirsty in the mental hospital. She's just an OK actor, nothing great. The mute girl puzzle solver – sucks as an actor. She finally speaks towards the end of the movie and it's just a cliché garbage. The Assistant doctor's acting sucks. His dialogue sucks. He breaks into the Doctors house, what the hell was that, besides to move the plot along. At least he was killed off fairly quickly. The Doctors acting was good, but it could have been great with some better dialogue. As a Cenobite he was intense, but then goes comical cliché. Towards the end when he starts killing his patients, it sucked. Julia was great and she was given some great dialogue, but it should have been more. Frank was underused, and burning down his part of hell, and killing him in hell was nonsense. Cenobites were good, but underused. And I did not like that they were killed.What was great was when the Doctor was turned into a Cenobite, and then he says "to think I resisted" – that was good. The fx Claymation sucked.They should have elaborated on the Leviathon, and the original cenobites, & Pinheads human background, of why he searched out the box, like Frank.I've seen this movie many times. Last time was Nov of 2015, and now again Nov 7, 2017. So, no more surprises. And for that it had a bigger impact at first. Watching it now, it loses the impact, and the plot holes come out, and all the stupid decisions made. The first film is much better. It is not a perfect movie. But it had better story, acting, atmosphere, and cinematography. The music is good in #2, the acting is decent, but not great, the visuals are better in #2, but the comic dialogue and clichés are there and that hurts it.In the past couple of weeks I have watched parts 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 1 and 2. 1 is the best. 2 follows 1. 3 is a joke cliché mess. 4 is a mess. 5 is interesting and could have been much better. 6 is full on garbage. 8 is full of cliché and could have been much better. What 3, 4, 5, 6 and 8 have is decent horror scenes with Pinhead that is lacking in 1 and 2.Rating for #2 is a B for a B movie. 7 stars.

This sequel ranks up there with the likes of The Dark Knight (2008), The Empire Strikes Back (1980), and, while we're at it, The Godfather Part II (1974).Clive Barker didn't direct the sequel leaving that duty to Tony Randel (Ticks). But he did contribute to the script and as a producer. The second film works well since it also lets us discover the origins of Pinhead.'Hellraiser,' for better or worse, is a franchise that has endured for 30 years now. The series may have gone downhill with each subsequent direct- to-video sequel, but the original theatrically released films stand as favorites of the genre. I personally have a deep love for these movies and they have long been staples of my collection on various home video formats. The first four Hellraiser films are the best in the series that's so far reached 10 installments

The first two Hell Raiser movies are my favorites. The music helps make the movie for me. Great music. Just a very cool movie. Scary enough for some I guess, I just like the acting and story line. Not gonna give any spoilers - just watch. A cousin told me about these movies a long time ago - I thought, whoa, is he messed up? But then I watched and paid attention... the more I watched, the more I liked these films. Give it a few tries and do not blink or you will miss part of the plot! Remember, it is "only" a movie... You will probably like the ending :-)

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.