I've seen Hellraiser, Hellraiser II : Hellbound and Hellraiser III : Hell on Earth over again. I'll comment on Hellraiser and Hellraiser 2 first.
I've seen these before, but it's been a little while. Should anyone not know them, they are 80s horror flicks, but they are not quite run-of-the-mill as that may sound. The macabre intelligence of Clive Barker's gothic horror mythology makes for a very intriguing and spooky setting and Doug Bradley as the cenobite Pinhead makes for such an interesting character, I find. The whole mythology and its rules quite compelling. The movies are also more dark, gloomy and gory than your average 80s horror flick.
The rest of my post may contain some spoilers, so read at your own peril!
Spoiler for Hellraiser & Hellraiser 2:
I think the first movie may be the creepier one, but the sequel may be the most entertaining. There are a few things I particularly appreciate in the second film. First is that a lot of it takes place in hell which is just plain interesting. Second is the inclusion of Hell's ruler, the god Leviathan, which is a large, rotating geometrical construct mirroring the lament configuration which emits darkness much as a Lighthouse emits light. Instead of the typical fallen angel, we get this which is much more interesting. You gotta love Barker's imagination.
Third, I think the villain, Dr. Channard, is just a great bad guy - both as a human and in his cenobite form. Fourth, it may not be as spooky as the first, but the subject matter is so dark and the gore never lets up. You have insane asylums, skinless people trapped in hell, lobotomy, nails hammered into heads .. I mean, it's completely bonkers!
Hellraiser 3 doesn't have the quality of the first two. It's more boring, less spooky, less gory and it doesn't seem to stick to the rules of the mythology like the previous two did. Pinhead, while getting plenty more screen time and dialogue, comes off as less menacing, even if he is the main villain this time around (spoiler, sorry!). Without having seen the rest of the series, I have heard that the quality only declines the further out you go. Perhaps I'll watch them out of curiosity .. not sure yet.
I love the mythology and the cenobites, so I don't like the thought of them being in sucky movies.
