Hellraiser: The Scarlet Box Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		5.0
Overall		4.5

Hellraiser: The Scarlet Box Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman January 31, 2017

There have been any number of iconic and often gruesome creatures who have haunted the annals of horror films. Most folks would probably put Jack Pierce’s astonishing work on the Frankenstein monster at the top of this list, but there are a number of other horrifying entities that retain their angst producing abilities to this day. Lon Chaney’s amazing disfigurement as The Phantom of the Opera probably continues to populate various nightmares (and it’s interesting to note that subsequent remakes of the film seemed to realize they couldn’t top Chaney’s own makeup approach, meaning “later” Phantoms rarely had the same viscerally disquieting appearance). The original version of The Mummy certainly had at least a few unsettling looks at the bandaged phenomenon, and as patently silly as the transformation scenes typically were (due to old style optical dissolves), Lon Chaney, Jr.’s The Wolf Man probably earns a permanent place in this admittedly odd category. Ironically, Universal’s “other” big horror character, Dracula, relied on more subliminal creepiness rather than a ghastly appearance to create his version of night sweats. More modern horror films have introduced a number of variously unkempt creatures to scare the pants off audience members, but there’s probably no more frightening entity than Pinhead (one whose suave manner was reportedly based at least in part on Count Dracula), an individual from another dimension whose cranium has a rather unorthodox array of “piercings” (given Universal's legendary makeup maven's name, maybe "Pierce"-ings would be more appropriate), and who has given the Hellraiser franchise an instantly recognizable glyph of the horrors the series offers its viewers. Many of the Hellraiser films have already had various Blu-ray release, but Arrow has now assembled the first three films in a really beautifully packaged new set that also provides a wealth of new supplementary material.

For reviews of the films in this set, please click on the following links (some of which have further links to pre-existing reviews for plot content):

Hellraiser Blu-ray review

Hellbound: Hellraiser II Blu-ray review

Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth Blu-ray review

Hellraiser: The Scarlet Box Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Video quality for each film is assessed in the above linked reviews. Screenshots 1-6 accompanying this review are from the various Hellraiser films. The other screenshots are from the supplementary materials included on the bonus disc detailed below.

Hellraiser: The Scarlet Box Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Audio quality of each film is assessed in the above linked reviews.

Hellraiser: The Scarlet Box Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Supplementary material for each film is detailed in the appropriate reviews, linked above. However, this deluxe set comes with a fourth bonus disc as well as additional swag.

Bonus Disc: The Clive Barker Legacy

• Clive Barker Short Films

  Salome (1080p; 19:24*) contains an optional Introduction (1080p; 9:20*).

  The Forbidden (1080p; 42:56*) contains an optional Introduction (1080p; 7:09*)

  *The short films and their introductions are authored together, so timings are approximate.

• Books of Blood and Beyond (1080p; 19:25) is a good tour through Clive Barker's literary endeavors by author David Gatward.


• Hellraiser: Evolutions (1080p; 48:17) is an interesting overview of the franchise which probably inevitably covers at least some of the same material as is covered in the Leviathan supplements included on Hellraiser and Hellbound: Hellraiser II, as well as the Hell on Earth documentary included on Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth, but which offers some decent talking head segments and which also gets into some of the subsequent sequels.


• The Hellraiser Chronicles: A Question of Faith (1080p; 31:40) is a short film that was kind of a quasi-pilot for a proposed television series. This contains an optional commentary by director R.N. Millward.

Non disc supplements are quite impressive as well, including a hardback book stuffed with background information and lots of pictures. A separate cardboard sleeve houses collector cards and a mini-poster. Everything comes housed in a deluxe box meant to evoke the puzzle boxes that are such an iconic part of the franchise.

Hellraiser: The Scarlet Box Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Arrow continues to offer some really fantastically beautifully packaged releases, and Hellraiser: The Scarlet Box certainly qualifies as among the most handsome the label has yet attempted. While there are framing discrepancies in the third film, something that could conceivably put the kibosh on some consumer's wishes to own the set, otherwise this is a stellar effort with solid technical merits and truly astounding supply of supplements, both on disc and non-disc. Highly recommended.