I think I actually even remember renting this one lol, and again, I was probably absolutely terrified when I first saw it, probably from the floor of my brother’s bedroom. We mostly disconnect from the flow of the first two movies here, though Kirsty features slightly, and the whole backstory of Pinhead begins being sketched out in that awful way that pretty much destroys the simplicity and mystery of the first movie.

Evil is scary ‘cos it’s unknowable – the poetry of the original is the reason why it worked. I guess it’s the same problem with most sequels, particularly in this genre – people always want to know where It came from, what It is … problem is, once those questions are answered? The fear is gone. The irony is that this movie actually almost puts that into a line, when Pinhead says, “No longer shall we have to creep in through the cracks of your world …” to which my response is, NO! We like when you creep in through the cracks! lol.

All that said, and early-nineties datedness (dialogue, I’m looking at you) aside, this is still much better than expected. The visual effects seem astounding to me for the time – pyrotechnics, make-up, even some early CG stuff – it’s clear the budget was larger here, and none of it jars too badly. And of course, the gore is truly gorey. As far as pure horror delight goes, this one certainly takes the cake of the first three movies.

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