Leviathan: The Story of Hellraiser and Hellbound: Hellraiser II And although the film undoubtedly does demand breaks along the way - four hours is just too long of a sit for any movie.Its Perfect for a lazy Sunday in front of the TV, Leviathan: The Story of Hellraiser is a fascinatingly detailed insight into arguably one of the most iconic horror series.A chronological study of its subject, leviathan charts not only the success of the movies but also the origins and rise of production company New World. The quality of films varies wildly throughout the series. You already know that, but it is fascinating to hear the stories behind the production of the first two classics. The motivation to continue to visit and revisit, alongside the pitfalls of chasing the early success.My first foray into the Hellraiser series was 1988's Hellbound: Hellraiser II. A fairly strong offering within the bigger scheme of the series, the first sequel hits the heights of its predecessor and is as good , if not better than the first.With a slightly daunting running time, Leviathan succeeds in remaining entirely engaging throughout which is in no small part due to the quality of contributor. Ranging from self-depreciating honesty to steely resolve, it is clear that it was not always plain sailing for those involved in the production of the Hellraiser series.Narrated by Oliver Smith, Leviathan is absolutely bursting with behind the scene pleasures; photos, footage, storyboards, and stories. Clearly a labour of love, the pacing is excellent, the time dedicated to each film perfect and the sheer volume of information means it is impossible not to learn something about the production.Don't let the duration scare you. The chronological structure allows you to watch in chunks if you so decide. Just make sure you take pleasure in it Solve The pattern Turn the Key Open The Box… In the end Leviathan is an interesting, sporadically fascinating documentary that should leave Hellraiser enthusiasts more than satisfied.

I am just a viewer of this genre of horror, as a kid I was introduced to hellraiser and the clive barker world by my mother, read his books and then eventually his films, this documentary was fascinating to watch from the joe public view, I was very interested in the special effects moments in the hellbound film how it all came together, the interviews of the cast and crew who knew clive from childhood was sweet to listen too, I would of liked to of seen clive himself but I guess I was being greedy, even better that this was independently funded for us die hard fans too makes it more personnel. Well done to all involved I am glad I have my copy to add to the ever growing collection of all things horror.

I saw this documentary online.Now, I don't know how long this whole doc actually lasts for, but the video I watched lasted for 4 and a half hours. And it only covered the first film. Four hours focusing on ONE film. Whose stupid idea was that?The Nightmare on Elm Street documentary "Never Sleep Again" was 4 hours long. But that doc worked because they covered all 8 films. Most documentaries about the making of films should last for either an hour or two. But 4 hours is just unacceptable. Who'd want to sit through all that?This is why we have a little thing called EDITING for the love of Frank! (yeah, that was a pun!)The 30 minute documentary on the "Hellraiser" DVD was good because it was short and simple. Here, we have a 10 minute focus on Clive Barker and "what a real genius" he is. We have another 10 minute focus on how great Andrew Robinson is, another 10 minutes explaining how great Claire Higgins is, another 10 on how great Ashley Laurence is and another 10 explaining how great Doug Bradley....... UGH!!! I DON'T CARE! I HATE ASSKISSING!And the pacing of this doc is so slow and there's barely any behind the scenes footage, so it is mostly people talking, which makes it even more mind numbingly boring.However, there are some interesting things I have learned from this doc:.Doug Bradley was really nervous when he said the line "We want the man who did this" because it was his first day.. Clive Barker called the goop "Elephant cum".. Condoms were used for the latex in the special effects make up. Technicians got strange looks from the shop keepers when buying boxes of condoms.. Clive Barker is obsessed with skinless bodies. He is scared of them and can write them so well. He probably gets off on them.. For Skinless Frank, Clive Barker and Bob Keen went see an autopsy. The body was being skinned alive and Bob vomited. Clive was disappointed because he thought it look like bacon strips put on him.. Tony Randel directed some scenes in the first film, such as the reshoot of the Cenobites in the hospital and the shot of Frank's heart pumping under the floorboards. I think he also directed the resurrection of Frank.. And the actress playing the female Cenobite (who was Clive Barker's cousin, by the way) hated being in the make up so much, she turned down Hellraiser 2.But as for the rest of the doc, yawn!And to think I was going to order this from the net. And be bored out of my mind? I don't think so.I'm beginning why Clive Barker and Ashley Laurence didn't take part in this doc. They knew it was gonna suck!The South Bank special on Clive Barker and Ashley Laurence's interview on the Blu-ray are better than this!

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.