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.

This has to be the best documentary about any horror Franchise that have ever been made. I have this on DVD and watched it several times. If someone told me a couple of years ago that I would watch a documentary more then once , I would have call them crazy but this is the most entertaining talking head docs I have ever watched. This covers everything you would want to know more about in the Franchise and I mean everything!! From how Pinhead was created by Image Animation and the rest of the cenobites.It leaves nothing unanswered. It is a Hellraiser fan dream come true! Seriously. Highlights for me are the segment dedicated for part 2 , funny enough as it is my least favorite of the original Hellraiser films. So much hilarious anecdotes for that film and the all gay vibe is addressed and yeah it's comedy gold! I would pay to watch a film about the making off part 2 alone! Rest of this massive 9 hours doc is great. It is fascinating to see all these actors again , some have changed for the worst some has not aged. Some has kept in touch with each others , some despise each others.You get to know things about the actors you never asked and it's all part of the fun. Doug Bradley is as always very fun to listen to , Imogen Boorman is just such an adorable person and the perfect of many hosts for this doc.It is not hard to see why Tiffany is a fan favorite when it is played by such a warm person. I could go on and on about the merit of that documentary. If you are a fan of Hellraiser watch it , buy it as soon as possible , you will not regret this purchase. If you are fan of horror films in general , do the same thing. If you are after a fun documentary....Same thing! I cant imagine anyone giving this documentary a lower score then 10.It is a labor of love by people who clearly are huge fan of this Franchise. Simply put , this documentary is flawless! 10 out of 10!

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.

This is without a doubt THE best documentary on Hellraiser and it's first sequel, Hellbound:Hellraiser II. An extremely thorough and exhaustive collection of interviews with pretty much everybody involved in the creation of these two masterpieces on Horror cinema, the only real exceptions being Clive Barker himself (I believe due to illness) and Ashley Lawrence, who portrayed Kirtsy Cotton in the films, but due to the sheer amount of information and anecdotes from the large number of talking heads on offer here, their absence is barely noticeable. Spread out over 3 DVD's, with the first two dedicated to Hellraiser and Hellbound respectively, and the third disc being crammed with extra features, which include mini documentaries on Clive Barker, Channard, The Cenobites, the unused music of Coil and much more.Fans of other excellent documentaries of this type, such as More Brains!:A Return to the Living Dead (from the same writer), Crystal Lake Memories:The Complete History of Friday the 13th and Never Sleep Again:The Elm Street Legacy will certainly enjoy this, I'm sure.Highly recommended for fans of the Hellraiser franchise