Hellraiser: Quartet of Torment (1987 - 1996)

"A Box Set that will be Legendary, Even in Hell"

Well it's hard to think there will be another collection devoted to the first four films in the HELLRAISER franchise that's going to contain such a wealth of extras old and new, as well as all four films looking the best they ever have. Arrow Films have gone the extra mile here in putting together their UHD set so let's take a look at what it includes:

Disc One: Hellraiser (1987)

Clive Barker's seminal film, that despite the sterling efforts of its unit publicist (more about him in just a minute) still took UK cinema audiences unawares with its mixture of BODY HEAT by way of Greek tragedy with dollops of sado-masochism and body modification mixed in, looks better than it ever has done before in Arrow's UHD transfer (and which looks a lot better than the Blu-ray of a few years ago). 

Like many 1980s classics, time has weathered HELLRAISER a little. The cracks show a little more now, especially on UHD. It's still a great, timeless, story, and the opening half an hour is beautifully put together. It becomes in danger of losing its focus towards the end, but it still deserves its reputation as a classic, with iconic monsters, a superb central performance from Clare Higgins, and one of the best horror movie scores of all time.

Arrow have provided a plethora of extras new and archival, starting most significantly with a new commentary from Stephen Jones and Kim Newman. It's significant because Steve Jones was the unit publicist on the film and he has plenty of behind the scenes stories. 

Other new highlights include writers Alexandra Benedict and Guy Adams each providing 20 minute pieces on what HELLRAISER means to them. The extremely loveable Mr Adams (watch the piece to discover why I made a point of saying that) is filmed being tattooed while his calm, settled tones recount a personal history that's anything but. Ms Benedict isn't featured onscreen, leaving it to the viewer to imagine what she's actually up to as she discusses the film as being the 'ultimate unboxing video'. There's also a bunch of newly discovered press material "found in Steve Jones' attic" which is introduced by Jones and Kim Newman. Finally, there are two new academic discussions on the film, one between Sorcha Ni Fhlainn and Karmel Kniprath and the other, celebrating the queerness of Clive Barker's writing, between Paula D Ashe and Eric La Rocca. Each runs for nearly an hour

Finally, some (but not all) of the archival material from the Blu-ray has been ported over, including the two previous commentaries (one with Clive Barker and Ashley Laurence, the other with Barker alone) pieces on Sean Chapman, Doug Bradley, and Stephen Thrower's piece on the rejected Coil score. Plus there are the usual image galleries, trailers and TV spots.

Disc Two: Hellbound: Hellraiser 2 (1988)

The sequel some people like more than the first gets the Arrow UHD treatment and again, the results are an improvement on the previous Blu-ray transfer. Arrow have also gone the extra mile to provide some cracking extras.

First and foremost (again) is the commentary track by Stephen Jones and Kim Newman which provides a detailed look at the movie with plenty of behind the scenes stories. The previous two archival commentaries, one with director Tony Randel, writer Peter Atkins and actress Ashley Laurence, and the other with just Randel and Atkins have also been ported over.

Also new to the UHD disc is a chatty, convivial and utterly enjoyable conversation between authors Kit Power and George Lea that lasts a whopping 85 minutes but never outstays its welcome, even though their comments on wishing they could have been old enough to see it on its original cinema release did remind me of my advancing age (I saw it twice on the big screen back in the day).  That Rat Slice Sound is 12 minutes of Guy Adams praising Christopher Young's music and I'll add my opinion to his that Young's score is more effective than the unused Coil themes because of the counterpoint it provides.

Otherwise there's a collection of electronic press kit material plus some archival extras including interviews with Sean Chapman and Doug Bradley, a short making of and the deleted surgery scene, plus the usual trailers, TV spots and image gallery.

Disc Three: Hellraiser III: Hell On Earth (1992)

'Far better than it had any right to be' is my contemporaneous review quote for HELLRAISER III, a film I still have a lot of time for and which sometimes is my favourite of the lot. Cheerfully 'franchise part 3 material' in nature, cleverly including backstory with the Kirsty Cotton tape, and literally raising hell on the streets of LA, the late Anthony Hickox's sequel is just ambitious enough to stay interesting without lurching into the wild incoherence of part II. And that final shot is still an absolute cracker.

Like all previous disc releases of HELLRAISER III you get the option of watching two versions of the film - the 'original theatrical' and an unrated version with all the cut material restored from a lesser quality pan and scanned master. New material is limited to another fascinating and insightful commentary from Stephen Jones & Kim Newman on the uncut version, which also has an archival commentary with director Anthony Hickox and Doug Bradley. An archival Pete Atkins commentary on the theatrical version has also been ported over.

Extras otherwise are archival - the electronic press kit, interviews, featurettes and a making of, plus trailers and an image gallery.

Disc Four: Hellraiser: Bloodline (1996)

Follow the LeMarchand family on their somewhat filmically bumpy journey from the eighteenth century through 1996 to space in the year 2127 in this notoriously troubled production that saw director Kevin Yagher have his name removed from the credits. There's still plenty to enjoy, however, especially the full-blooded gothic opening and the full-blooded Valentina Vargas throughout.

Arrow's disc may well be the highlight of the entire set for HELLRAISER obsessives  - we get the fourth film in the franchise in UHD and it's accompanied by a markedly different workprint version recently discovered in Stephen Jones' attic. The actual highlight of the disc itself, however, might just be the commentary track in which Jones and Kim Newman chat to screenwriter Peter Atkins about the making of the film. It goes into detail about how it ended up the way it did, gives plenty of background on behind the scenes goings-on, and is frequently uproariously funny. A must listen.

Other extras include The Beauty of Suffering, a new 28 minute featurette on how the goth, BDSM and fetish cultures informed HELLRAISER, with interviews with some interesting individuals. The archival material ports over the documentaries from the fourth disc of Arrow's previous Blu-ray set, namely the HELLRAISER EVOLUTIONS documentary and the featurette on Clive Barker's books. 

The set also includes a 200 page hardbound book featuring new writing by Phil and Sarah Stokes.

HELLRAISER: QUARTET OF TORMENT is out on 4K UHD on Monday 23rd October 2023