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Surely Pinhead has some better things to do than this. The man is a sadomasochist from hell, there are much better evil soul eggs he could fry than a bunch of idiots who are playing an game online. You know, Pinhead is a cool enough villain (effective at being both creepy and terrifying) and seeing how this is the 8th sequel and the 4th one that has gone direct to video, you would think that someone would just try to at least attempt to revitalize this series. Check out the ones that worked, write down a few notes on why they were scary and why they're still considered to be hip. Bring a fresh start. Write it as a new project with new ideas, and not that stigma that it is an inept direct to video sequel. The first thing that they have got to realize is that if you want to succeed in that field, then don't hire the same screenwriter who wrote "Dracula II: Ascention," "The Prophecy: Uprising," "Mimic 2," "Highlander: Endgame," and so on. You know what this hack's next project is? "Hollow Man 2." Who wants to place bets on whether or not that thing is going direct to video?******

I won't go so far as to say that I was entirely fearful of how this movie was going to turn out. A few months ago I happened to catch "Hellraiser: Hellseeker" on the Encore Channel. It was not half bad. They got Ashley Laurence back to reprise her role from the first two flicks, and the whole movie was basically this poor bastard's trek through hell, without even realizing it. I really kind of got into it, but watching "Hellraiser: Hellworld" reminded me yet of "Hellbound," "Hell on Earth," and "Bloodline." This series ran out of steam a long time ago, and "Hellseeker" like one more quick pulse before an untimely death. *******

"Hellworld" was made in 2003, back to back with "Hellraiser: Deader," which was released, I kid you not, three months ago. I guess I do have to hand it to the makers of those two films. There are some DTV "Hellraiser" fans out there who probably felt like they were having two birthdays in one year with the close release dates of those movies. Hell, I had to wait 9 years between "Jason Goes To Hell" and "Jason X." Why can't the things that I love take me back? And why do the things that no one loves always hump your leg? ******

As for the plot, a group of online gamers log onto the website hellworld.com (the same owner as feardotcom.com perhaps?) and they are in turn invited to a party being thrown for the visiters of this website. The website by the way is an online version of the famous configuration puzzle box. Once the internet hounds arrive at the party, they are greeted by a host (Lance Henriksen) who tells them to freely indulge themselves in the free food and drink. First off, you have to question any event you go to where Henriksen is the host, and you also have to question just what in the hell you are doing in a "House on Haunted Hill" rip off. The characters begin to halucinate from the beverages, but that's really just an excuse for the Cenobites to show up every now and then and pick hack these people up throughout the movie. If the Cenobites were really going to haunt some house, you'd think it'd be the White House, not to mention the posing question of what about the rest of the people who probably logged onto this website? What are the qualifications to be chain meat for Pinhead and his buddies?*******

The movie's not as bad as some of the "Hellraiser" films that actually went to the theater, but I much prefer "Hellseeker." The other DTV installments I haven't seen, but I kind of appreciate how the movie sticks with the halucination aspect, even if it is basically a haunted house slasher film. I can't get past the fact that the movie truly is a "Haunted Hill" rip off, and the makers behind this obviously did not intend to make this anything but a DTV movie. There's no heart behind it. It's only made because I asume that the previous movies keep making money on the shelves. They need to get some creativity back. Make Pinhead scary again, instead of spouter of one liners that would be rejected by Freddy Krueger.

There's a featurette called "Ticket To Hellworld," which I am guessing was just made for this DVD, but I'm not exactly sure why. All it is is the director and cast on the set talking about how much they are enjoying making the movie. This is the kind of thing you see on HBO weeks before a movie is about to hit the theater. Unless I missed it, I never saw any cable TV promotions for the DTV "Hellworld." Why are they trying to promote their movie on a DVD I already own and you'd be about ready to watch?