F.A.Q.

The great thing about the Internet is that no matter how much positive and constructively critical feedback you get, there's always a small minority that uses negative attitude to be louder and the most vocal of the rest of the feedback. Here are a few questions/concerns that I imagine will come up, based on my past experience with these fine people:

1) "Why would you even do a film like this? The Hellraiser films are fine the way they are! I find this offensive!"
I'm doing this because I love the film series, I love the comics and the mythology as a whole. This is not intended as an affront to any of the films, but is rather meant to compliment and complement them. Our fan film is not changing the original film or its studio sequels in any way; if you're against the very idea, you're very welcome to skip this film.

2) "Why would you mix in elements from THE PROPHECY? I find that offensive!"
See the answer to question 1, also: I wanted to add elements of THE PROPHECY as I felt that some of its elements could fold neatly into Winter's backstory, and I had already introduced some elements into HELLRAISER: PROPHECY. Again, if you didn't like THE PROPHECY, this film may not be for you.

3) "Why would you waste time following up a crappy film like HELLRAISER: DEADER / HELLRAISER: BLOODLINE / HELLRAISER: PROPHECY? I find this offensive!"
Again, this fan film isn't meant for everyone. If you didn't like Deader, or Bloodline, or Prophecy, you're welcome to skip this film. But, some of us truly enjoyed those films. Personally, I think Deader is the best installment since Hellbound. If you DID like those films, then you may quite enjoy the connections we've written between the stories, and particularly some of the re-creations we've done.

4) "Why would waste your time making a fan film that's so un-original? I find this offensive!"
When making a fan film, there's no winning in a situation like this. If you take creative liberties (for instance, using Angelique as a lead Cenobite instead of Pinhead), a portion of the viewers will say that you're not being true to the mythology. At the same time, another portion will say that you're being unoriginal anyway for even doing a fan film. So either you're original and get criticized for going against mythology, or you're not original enough for doing a Hellraiser fan film that incorporates elements of said mythology. Is there a middle ground where everyone's happy? If there is, then even the professionals haven't found the spot to please everyone. My imagination has so far leaned towards derivative stories like these. I enjoy them. Others have ventured further out, and if that's where you're leaning, I'd recommend checking out some of the other Hellraiser fan films.

5) "Why isn't there more of Pinhead / more cenobite footage in the film? If your Pinhead wasn't going to look as good as the studios' why did you bother? Why did you even bother? I find this offensive!"
Well, you can't please everyone. The story called for a Pinhead scene or two, but given the realm of continuity, there couldn't be too many direct confrontations, because it would conflict with the events established in Deader. But more importantly, this is a story about Winter, not the Cenobites.

6) "Your directing / actors / makeup / writing / production values suck, and yet you went ahead and had the audacity to make a film anyway! It's not nearly as good as the studios'! Why did you even bother? I find this offensive!"
One of the greatest things about putting a fan film out there are the strident cries of that vocal minority that decides that they didn't like the film, therefore nobody else possibly could. (These are, by and large, also the people who've never lifted a finger to do anything themselves, and seem to boost their own self-esteem by posting non-constructive criticism from the cheap seats. They're usually people who declare how much they hate sequels, crossovers and fan films, etc., and then spend their time watching the free fan film that they know that they won't like anyway, yelling at the director afterwards for having wasted their time, and then spend weeks or months afterwards spending more time by continuing to comment on how much time they've had wasted. In some cases, they also follow up by watching and commenting on the Making-of as well.)

Let's be honest. Fan films aren't for everyone. They're usually low-budget productions made by fans on what means and resources they're able to cobble together. These are labors of love (or in the case of HELLRAISER: APOCALYPSE, labors of heckling commentary). They usually don't have the funding or production values or experience of a studio-backed film, and to hold them up to that standard does them a disservice. If films that aren't as strong as the studios' doesn't appeal to you, then just don't watch them. But that doesn't mean that they shouldn't be made simply because you don't like them.

7) "What other Hellraiser fan films are out there?"
Arguably, the best Hellraiser fan film ever made is Gary J. Tunnicliffe's No More Souls, which can be found on YouTube and the Hellraiser: Deader DVD. (Gary J. Tunnicliffe is the makeup artist on Hellraiser 4 through 8, and is the owner of 2 Hours In The Dark.) The production values are the sharpest you'll find; Mr. Tunnicliffe had the resources, experience and ambition to make The Best Hellraiser fan film out there.

The Hellraiser Chronicles: Hellbent (US) and The Hellraiser Chronicles: A Question of Faith (UK) are two of the earliest, done by two different directors. Hellbent is likely the earliest HR fan film made, and the two films will be followed by a third director's work, The Hellraiser Chronicles: Lifebringer, in post-production at the time of this writing.

Wordsworth is a very faithful adaption of a Hellraiser story of the same name from the comics series.

Hellraiser: Prophecy, our first attempt at a HR crossover fan film, is on YouTube and is available on DVD for free distribution.

Hellraiser: Early Grave (UK) and Hellraiser: Masala Nightmares (India) have trailers available on YouTube.

Parodies include Skankobite, Hellraiser: Pwerto and Hellraiser: Apocalypse.

Another earnest attempt by a young filmmaker is Hellraiser: Anuther Dimension (sic).

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