Update 12/5/15: I added the old US Anchor Bay Hellraiser 2 DVD into the comparison mix, and added the bit about Arrow's Hellraiser 3 mis-framing.
Update 2/19/16: I've added the US Paramount DVD of Hellraiser 3 into the comparison mix (it's got a pretty unique doc covered in the special features portion), and also consolidated this and the previous update to make it all a more readable, cohesive piece.
Update 9/8/17: Adding another Hellraiser 2 DVD to the mix. Why bother? Well, one, just because the more completist I can be the better. But the bigger reason is because the Anchor Bay 20th Anniversary Edition has some exclusive Red Shirt extras on it, that aren't included in the Scarlet Box. It's also worth noting that Arrow eventually reissued the Scarlet Box here in the USA since the last update, in December of 2016.
Update 10/31/23: Happy Halloween, kiddies - Hellraiser is back! The Scarlet Box was awesome, but Arrow's new Quartet of Torment seeks to render it completely obsolete. They mostly do, but not entirely, as you'll see below. This set also includes the fourth Hellraiser film, Bloodlines, which I've compared to its previous releases on its own page, here.
If you've never seen Hellraiser... then you mustn't be a horror fan. But even then, I would recommend this film, because it's truly unique, intelligent and engrossing. And gross. But really, there's so much more to this story; you've got to see past that. It's Barker's masterpiece: a wild story that addresses the darker side of sexuality and invents a Hell that, in a very twisted way, can be attractive. It's the story of what a family must endure when one man decides to unlock the gateway to Hell, and then return. It's got strong performances, great visual effects, an epic score, and while the film may be a little rough around the edges thanks to a low budget and first time director, all its minor flaws are swept over by Hellraiser's visionary content.
Is Hellraiser uncut? Let's talk about that. It's pretty well known that Barker had to cut his film to get it rated; he talks about it in some depth on his group audio commentary, amongst other places. He largely says he prefers it now as it is, and that the scenes are "nastier" when they don't linger on the effects quite as much as they once did, though he does also mention wishing he had to opportunity to maybe put a few bits back. Anyway, that's pretty much all bygone history, with almost every release around the world featuring the same R-rated cut, unless someone someday finds the trimmed footage... except, the opening of Hellraiser 2, which starts with a summary of the first Hellraiser, including exactly eight frames that were cut out of Hellraiser 1. Two of those frames are from the explosion of Frank after Kirstie closes the door, but the other six include a gruesome close-up not seen at all in the theatrical cut of Hellraiser 1. German label Turbine has cut those eight frames from Hellraiser 2 back into their blu-ray of Hellraiser 1, so it's kind of a more uncut and unrated version, though some would argue it's revisionist, since they're technically cutting in footage from a different movie, though it was obviously originally shot for the first. It's up to us all to decide for ourselves, however none of the releases on this page include those eight frames in the original Hellraiser.
Hellraiser II: Hellbound suffers from pretty much all the usual drawbacks of sequels, the worst of which being that it's no longer adapting a Barker novel, instead penned by screenwriter Peter Atkins. Still, it's the most crowd-pleasing of the eight (as of this writing) sequels, bringing back pretty much the entire cast and bringing them into a much more ambitious, and higher budgeted, world. There are stunning visuals and more of pretty much everything fans wanted to see return from the original. It's a great time and very fun film, but it's it's just not quite as smart, and is missing the focus of the original film. Why are we here except to see more? That's more than enough reason to watch and have fun; but we've slid down the scale of artistic achievement.
So Hellraiser II slid, and then Hellraiser III: Hell On Earth, embraced that direction and ran headlong into it. Hellraiser 3 is a B-movie and is fine with that. It's again written by Atkins; but this time it's directed by Amthony Hickox (Waxwork, Sundown: the Vampire In Retreat), who just takes the opportunity to play with all of Hellraiser's toys. It's villains and iconography are back, but now in almost a silly world with lighter characters. There are still hints of Hellraiser's dark power; but this is a film where a monster kills people by shooting compact discs out of his head. This one still looks to have a nice budget (something later films in the series sorely lacked), and I'm sure if this wasn't titled "Hellraiser III," horror lovers would still be talking about what a kick this movie was. However fans looking for the greatness of the original Hellraiser were further disappointed... even maybe a little insulted this time. But if you can ease off your expectations of another Hellraiser 1; this is a very fun and engaging 90 minutes. But we're definitely at the point where I wouldn't recommend it to the non-horror fans.
Now the Hellraiser films have been released and re-released on home video plenty of times. We're only seeing the first three in this set, because the later ones are all owned by Dimension Films. But the films get less and less worthwhile as you go; so the first three are more than fine. Hellraiser was first released on DVD in 1997, and then re-released in a cool, limited edition tin as a bit of a special edition with Hellraiser 2 in 2000. Unfortunately, I sold that off long ago, but I did manage to snag a single disc release of the 2000 DVD for this comparison. Then we've got the aforementioned UK DVD boxed set of the first three films from 2004, which is kind of the standard def predecessor of the Scarlet Box. It's worth noting that both sets include two versions apiece of Hellraiser III, so we'll get into that as well. Then, to bring in the HD competition, we've got the 2009 US blu-ray, which is also from Anchor Bay. And we're comparing them all to the 2015 Scarlet Box BD set and 2023 Quartet of Torment UHD set, both from Arrow.
1) 2000 US AB widescreen DVD; 2) 2000 US AB fullscreen DVD; 3) 2004 UK AB DVD; 4) 2009 US AB BD; 6) 2015 UK ArrowBD; 7) 2023 UK Arrow UHD. |
The first thing that draws your eye between all of them, though, is probably how much brighter Arrow's blu is. It really brings out some details that were crushed in past releases. It doesn't stop the film from being dark when it means to me, it just keeps the film from being murky like the older DVDs look. Preferable degrees of brightness and sharpness can be a little subjective... a number of people online had been voicing their displeasure in how the clearer transfer makes Arrow's blu look especially grainy. I think the new UHD will satisfy them. The colors are deeper now, too. Comparing the leaves behind Frank, they're downright pale on the BD compared to the richer greens of the UHD. And both the increased resolution and the colors work together to make small detail, like the studs on Julia's belt look considerably more lifelike.
Audio-wise, every disc gives us the choice between the original 2.0 and a 5.1 remix, except the 2009 BD, which skips the 5.1. And the blus and UHD naturally bump them up to lossless. Every disc except the 2000 DVD also includes optional English subs, and the 2009 AB BD also throws in Spanish ones.
1) 2001 US AB fullscreen DVD; 2) 2001 US AB DVD widescreen DVD; 3) 2004 UK AB DVD; 4) 2008 US AB DVD; 5) 2015 UK Arrow BD; 6) 2023 UK Arrow UHD. |
Detail and clarity are naturally improved in this film's jump to HD, but you might notice another difference with the UK DVD: a ghosting effect on the doctor's hand. Yes, all of the DVDs in the 2004 boxed set are interlaced - yuck. Even the original 2001 DVD didn't have this problem, and happily they got rid of it again for the 2008 edition. Naturally, Arrow's blu-rays and UHD are free of this issue. Again, the 4k resolution smooths away the jagged edges of the BDs and the use of the OCN gives us more subtle grain texture, though it's excellently rendered on both of Arrow's discs.
Audio-wise, the situation is pretty similar to the first one. Every disc gives us the choice between 2.0 and 5.1 except the 2008 DVD drops the stereo track. The BD and UHD are of course lossless. Every release includes optional English subtitles except the 2001 DVD.
Now we come to Hellraiser 3. Between the Arrow and Anchor Bay sets, there was also an interesting US DVD from Paramount in 2006. It's unfortunately just the R-rated cut, but it looks pretty good and has a unique special feature which makes it interesting. But of course, the real story is with the Scarlet Box and Quartet of Torment sets, which have both cuts and heaps of special features.
1) 2004 UK AB widescreen DVD; 2) 2004 UK AB fullscreen DVD; 3) 2006 US Paramount DVD; 4) 2015 UK Arrow BD; 5) 2023 UK Arrow UHD. |
Now, I mentioned how the Arrow blu-ray has more picture info, chiefly on the left hand side than the previous versions (and you can see it in those shots I posted above). But it's been pointed out on the blu-ray.com forums that this extra info is probably a framing mistake, as it sometimes shows too much, i.e. camera equipment or crewmen standing on ladders in the background. Here's a clear example of what I mean:
1) 2004 UK AB widescreen DVD; 2) 2015 UK Arrow BD; 3) 2023 UK Arrow UHD. |
1) 2004 UK AB widescreen DVD; 2) 2004 UK AB fullscreen DVD; 3) 2015 UK Arrow BD; 4) 2023 UK Arrow UHD. |
Arrow, on the other hand, takes the unusual tact of shifting the aspect ratio mid-picture on their unrated versions. Rather than cropping the already cropped footage like Anchor Bay, the picture jumps from 1.85 to 1.33, which is a little distracting to say the least. And that's why they also offer the cut theatrical version, so you can see their HD 2k and 4k scans without the sudden drop in quality and shift in aspect ratio. I guess that's fine if you want to show off how good Hellraiser 3 looks here; but this film is genuinely better in its uncut form.
Here, every disc just has a stereo mix, except the 2004, which also has a 5.1. The HD versions are lossless, and they all include optional English subtitles.
1) 2004 UK AB DVD; 2) 2015 UK Arrow BD. |
The old, 2000 Hellraiser special edition DVD already had some solid extras: specifically an audio commentary by Clive Barker, Ashley Lawrence and Peter Atkins, and a nice 25 minute featurette called Hellraiser: Resurrection. All of the subsequent releases kept those, while adding more extras on top of them. Here's the mass amount of stuff the UK box-set added:
Hellraiser:
- audio commentary with Clive Barker - this is a second, newer commentary with Barker by himself, providing a lot of info he missed the first time around.
- Under the Skin part 1 - Doug Bradley interview about Hellraiser
- on-set interview with Clive Barker - a short, vintage promo interview.
- Trailers, TV spots, and galleries - the original DVD had a trailer and some stills, but this set adds more.
- audio commentary with Peter Atkins and director Tony Randel
- audio commentary with Tony Randel, Ashley Laurence and Peter Atkins
- Under the Skin part 2 - Doug Bradley interview about Hellraiser 2
- Lost In the Labyrinth - a 'making of' featurette produced by Clive Barker
- on-set interviews with Clive Barker, Tony Randel, Claire Higgins, Ashley Laurence, Imogen Boorman and Kenneth Crantham - more vintage promo stuff
- Trailers, TV spots, and galleries
- audio commentary with Anthony Hickox and Doug Bradley
- Under the Skin part 3 - Doug Bradley interview about Hellraiser 3
- an on-camera interview with Hickox
- on-set interviews with Clive Barker and Doug Bradley - the vintage promo stuff again
- Trailer and galleries
The US blu-ray of the first Hellraiser has the original 2000 extras, but not any of the 2004 extras except for the Doug Bradley Under the Skin interview. So it's missing the second commentary and the vintage interview. BUT, and this is a big but, it does have some new, exclusive extras. Specifically, it has three all new interview featurettes by Red Shirt Films, who always do a great job. They're all around 15-20 minutes and specifically, they interview Ashley Lawrence, composer Christoper Young and actor Andrew Robinson.
And Anchor Bay's 20th Anniversary DVD also has three all new interview featurettes by Red Shirt Films, which again are all around 15-20 minutes each. This is in edition to the commentary and all the other stuff carried over from the 2004 UK box, even the easter egg behind-the-scenes footage. But today, it's just these Red Shirt extras that are still of interest, because they never made it over to the Scarlet Box. The first one interviews cenobite actors Simon Bamford, Nicholas Vince and Barbie Wilde, the second one is with director Tony Randel, and the third is Dr. Channard himself, Kenneth Cranham.
And I mentioned earlier that Paramount's US DVD of Hellraiser 3 had an interesting exclusive feature, right? It doesn't have any of the extras from the other releases, except for the theatrical trailer, but it has a half hour documentary called Clive Barker: The Art of Horror. This had previously been released on VHS in 1992 by itself. It's not about Hellraiser 3, but Clive in general. It centers heavily around a couple direct interviews with Barker, and focuses on some interesting aspects of his career you don't see covered as often on his DVDs including his model kits and comic books. He even talks about Transmutations and Rawhead Rex, which is valuable, since there are no editions of those films with any extras at all. If you've got this disc, hang onto it, and you might even want to pick it up as an addendum to the Scarlet Box just for this feature. If you do, be careful, Miramax reissued this Hellraiser 3 DVD in 2011, but minus the doc. So make sure you get the 2006 one. The front covers are identical, except Miramax's has their logo on the top.
So now onto the new Scarlet Box. It has the original Hellraiser 1 & 2 2000 extras and ALL, yes all, of the 2004 boxed set's extras. Some of the features are given different names... The "on-set interview with Clive Barker" is now just listed as "original EPK," but it's the same thing. Everything from the lament configuration boxed set has been carried over. And, of course, some big new extras have been created. Specifically:
Hellraiser:
- Leviathan - A full length documentary on the making of Hellraiser, that was previously only available on DVD direct from the creators' website. It's feature length and interviews just about everybody, but it should be noted the version they sell is even longer than the trimmed down documentary included here. Still, the one in this set runs 90 minutes, so it should easily satisfy most viewers
- an interview with Sean Chapman - a pretty lengthy talk
- Soundtrack Hell - a featurette interviewing Stephen Thrower, of a band called Coil. He talks about how he was commissioned to create a soundtrack for Hellraiser that ultimately wasn't used, in favor of what Chris Young created.
- Leviathan - Just like on disc 1, but all about Hellraiser 2. This was sold with the first one on DVD, too; and I think this one is also cut down, although the version here is over two hours.
- a second interview with Sean Chapman
- deleted surgeon scene - This might actually be the crown jewel of Arrow's new extras! This is a very famous scene that was long believed to not actually exist. You see, on the back of the old Hellraiser 2 VHS box, one of the screenshots showed two cenobites dressed as surgeons - a scene that never appears in the film. In interviews, everyone always said that they posed for publicity stills like that, which is why the shot exists; but they never actually shot such a scene. Well, here it is! Arrow found it. It's in low, video tape quality and it has this ugly "Copyright: Troopstar" notice printed in large text over the entire scene; but after all these decades, we finally get to see that scene!
- behind-the-scenes footage - less than 2 minutes, but still very cool to see some fun glimpses of the making of this film
- a new audio commentary with Peter Atkins (on the shorter, theatrical cut)
- Hell on Earth: The Story of Hellraiser III - This was an extra on the Leviathan DVDs; a 30+ minute documentary on the making of part 3.
- an interview with Paula Marshall
- FX dailies - about 25 minutes worth of alternate takes and unedited, video-taped footage of the special effects being shot for the film
- an interview with David Gatward, a horror author, about Barker's books.
- Hellraiser: Evolutions - a documentary that runs a little under an horror on the legacy of the Hellraiser films. It's got a lot of stuff on the later films, and even interviews some of the people who worked on those, like Rick Bota and Scott Derrickson. Definitely one of the most compelling new extras, although I wish they got a little more specific about the sequels than generally pontificating about the legacy. I guess I was hoping for a Crystal Lake Memories of Hellraiser, but that would be insane to ask of a bonus disc extra. This is already pretty neat.
- The Hellraiser Chronicles: A Question of Faith - This is a roughly half hour long Hellraiser fan film. It's fairly cheesy, but earnest.
- audio commentary with the director on Hellraiser Chronicles.
The Hellraiser and Hellraiser 2 discs also have an easter egg apiece tucked away for those of us who remember the old VHS tapes. The first easter egg was also on the Anchor Bay boxed set - again showing that Arrow has imported absolutely everything. The second one is new. Oh, and the short clip of behind the scenes footage on the new Hellraiser 2 blu was also an easter egg on the Anchor Bay box.
The Quartet of Torment is an interesting follow-up to the Scarlet Box. It adds a bunch of new stuff, but unfortunately loses a lot, too. And I'm not sure it's a good trade.
So, for starters, what did we lose? Both Leviathan documentaries, which were some of the best, most comprehensive features of any Hellraiser release, plus their Story of Hellraiser III doc. We also, as I mentioned earlier, lose both Salome and The Forbidden, as well as their corresponding interview featurettes. The Hellraiser Chronicles film has gone, too (and taking, obviously, its commentary with it). And finally, on a smaller note, we lose that Hellraiser 1 easter egg of the weird merch ad from the VHS. But here's what's new:
- Hellraiser 1 commentary by Kim Newman and Stephen Jones.
- Hellraiser 2 commentary by Kim Newman and Stephen Jones.
- Hellraiser 3 commentary by Kim Newman and Stephen Jones.
- 60-minute conversation on Hellraiser and Barker's novels by film scholars Sorcha NÃ Fhlainn and Karmel Kniprath
- visual essay celebrating by genre author Alexandra Benedict about the Lament Configuration
- 41-minute (Arrow's press releases say 60, but the exact running time is 40:57) discussion on the queer aspects of Barker's work by horror authors Paula D. Ashe and Eric LaRocca
- visual essay about Barker and body horror by Guy Adams
- Extended Hellraiser 1 EPK material with an intro by Newman and Jones
- Extended Hellraiser 3 EPK material
- 80-minute discussion of Hellraiser 2 by horror authors George Daniel Lea and Kit Power
- visual essay on the music of Christopher Young by Guy Adams
- a half hour featurette interviewing a group of leather fetishists on Hellraiser's influence on the BDSM scene
The long discussions are interesting, but too long and indulgent. They're in serious need of editing, to trim it to just the insightful moments. The Hellbound discussion also gets pretty hyperbolic, with one author describing a scene from Hellraiser 2 as the most emotional scene in all of cinema. Sure. Two of them are well shot and look good, but the queer culture one is a webcam-based Zoom chat. You'll have to be pretty damn dedicated to sit through all three hours of that stuff, especially when a lot of time is wasted on banal observations. Then there's the BDSM one, which is just silly. As for the visual essays, Benedict's look at the box is interesting and focused, but Adams'... well, I've seen several extras of his now on recent releases, and they've all been downright annoying. His music one is alright, I guess, but the other one is pure TMI.
And there's a commentary, workprint, easter egg and trailer for Hellraiser 4, which I've covered on its own page.
Oh god, and I still haven't talked about the packaging yet. Now, the Lament configuration box was pretty neat (if flimsy), and it had a booklet with notes from Barker himself as well as critics. And the old Hellraiser tin was neat and had some cool postcards in there. But man, The Scarlet Box has everything - multiple postcards, a little booklet of Barker's conceptual art and storyboards, a double-sided, fold-out poster, a Pinhead pin, and you want a booklet? This set has a 200 page, hardcover book in it! It's actually written by the two critics who wrote notes for the Anchor Bay box; but apparently they had a lot more to say. And it's all in a very nice, and absolutely not flimsy box.
And now we're on to the Quartet of Torment box, which maybe isn't quite as impressive, but it comes pretty close. It's a sturdy slipbox which houses the updated, 200-page hardcover book, plus a foldout digipack that houses all four discs, which slips into a red, semi-transparent sleeve. There are two versions, the standard one with Pinhead on the cover, and an Arrow website exclusive with Chatterer on the cover.
These are massive collections that will take you ages to work your way through. The Scarlet Box was the ultimate release for its time, like the DVD box before that, but the Quartet of Torment is the new king. Admittedly, extras-wise, it's almost a step backwards, but the new 4k masters on next generation discs, with the corrected framing for part 3 and the inclusion of Bloodline for the first time, makes it an easily essential addition to your collection. If you've already got the Scarlet Box, though, you'll probably want to hang onto it.