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The Heiress [2021]
Hell House LLC [2015] Hell House LLC II: The Abaddon Hotel [2018] Hell House LLC III: Lake of Fire [2019]
Hellbender [2021] Hellboy [2004] Hellboy [2019]
Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008) Hellgate [2011] Hellraiser [1987]
Hellraiser [2022] Hellraiser II: Hellbound [1988] Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth [1992]
Hellraiser IV: Bloodline [1996] Hellraiser V: Inferno [2000] Hellraiser VI: Hellseeker [2002]
Hellraiser VII: Deader [2005] Hellraiser VIII: Hellworld [2005] Hellraiser IX: Revelations [2011]
Hellraiser X: Judgment [2018] Helmut Newton: The Bad and the Beautiful [2020] Her [2013]
Herbert West: Re-Animator [2017] Here Alone [2016] Here Comes the Devil [2012]
Hereditary [2018] Hero [2002] Herschell Gordon Lewis: Godfather... [2010]
Hellbender [2021]

            
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A witch's coming-of-age story centered around a mother and daughter who live isolated in the woods. A slow burn that centers almost exclusively on the dynamics of their relationship; the teen daughter learning her powers and the mother trying desperately to curtail the destruction that may bring. Honestly portrayed, you fully understand each of their positions and the love they have for each other despite the coming apocalypse. Con: I know music's subjective but I'm glad it had subtitles and I had a mute button. Phew! I liked it quite a bit, though.
Hero [2002]
aka Ying xiong
         
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This is one of those films where I do not agree with the general consensus at all. Take out the fight scenes and this would have taken 10 mins. A conversation between an assassin and an emperor had to be interrupted every couple of lines to present us with a protracted, incredulous fight scene, like a visual aid, that defied all known laws of physics, like they have superpowers, making the fights just silly. And the story kept changing ...oh, we made that fight up. Here's the real fight. Oops, fooled you again. Ha, ha. Yeah, I'm lost. Beautifully photographed, though.
Hell House LLC [2015]

            
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A mockumentary surrounding a tragic event at a haunted house attraction that left several people dead. Told through a series of 'found footage' tapes, we witness the activities or our crew setting up the house for opening day. I found the crew to be rather obtuse and irritating at times but I held my judgment in hopes of a stupendous climax which they were going out of their way to promise ...as well as provide us with a few good scares in the process. Was the climax worth it? Sorta. It's hard to see what's happening but I was OK with it. Pretty good spookfest.
Hell House LLC II: The Abaddon Hotel [2018]

            
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8 years after the Hell Night incident depicted in the first movie, as well as a lot of disappearances, a film crew tries to unravel the mystery of what's going on at The Abaddon Hotel ...with predictable results. Things play out exactly as you'd expect with a whole lot of miscasting and bad acting that made me really want to turn it off a couple times but I stuck with it. No surprises or twist endings and nothing new to the story. The reason I gave a mediocre score as it did have some genuinely good creepy moments and a few jump scares that were quite shocking.
Hell House LLC III: Lake of Fire [2019]

            
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9 years after the events of the last film, we're back to the usual shenanigans at the Abaddon Hotel. I was ready to up my rating on this one as there's a sequence where one of the crew goes into the place alone on a dare. That was a truly anxiety inducing excursion that had me terrified. Beyond that, however, it was just more of the same. Camera doesn't appear to be as shaky in this one, which was nice, and the ending had a good twist that was a bit of a surprise. If you like the other films, you'll like this one. If you didn't, this one isn't going to convert you. This is fine.
Hellboy [2004]

            
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Details the origins of our demon hero Hellboy and his fight against Rasputin, who intends to open a portal to release horrific cosmic beings into the world. Unlike most, I'm not a big fan of Guillermo del Toro. However, his writing and direction shines in the Hellboy series. Ron Perlman's portrayal of the wisecracking 'Big Red', and his love for cats, is spot on and everyone else plays their characters to perfection. The action is exciting and kept on a humorous level, the creatures are appropriately slimy and the spec fx are eye boggling. Great stuff!
Hellboy II: The Golden Army [2008]

            

An elven prince is on a quest to find the pieces of a crown that will allow him to destroy mankind by controlling an indestructible army. This one didn't grab me as much as the first film ...or even the reboot. Visually it's just as stunning (there's a troll marketplace that puts the Cantina scene in Star Wars to shame) and the action is fine, although not as stunning as expected. There seems to be a lot of padding in this one with a lot of character interaction that does little to progress the story. The humor wasn't very witty, as well. It was good, just not great.
Hellraiser [1987]

            
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Frank opens the box and gives in to the ultimate experiences of pain and pleasure incurring the wrath of the Cenobites. With just a bit of blood, Frank is trying to come back ...and the Cenobites don't like that. With 10 movies in the franchise, and counting, this is still by far the best with Hellraiser II a close second. Main reason being Clive Barker (writer/director) established that this had little to do with hell and far more to do with the primal and grotesque instinct in some of us to experience it all, despite consequences worse than death. Brilliant film!
Hellraiser II: Hellbound [1988]

            
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Directly following the events in the first film, a doctor has an obsessive need to resurrect Julia and enter into the world of the Cenobites ...a place of horrors unimagined. Christy just wants to find her father. Not quite as good as the first but only because the first is more grounded in our reality. This one spends much of its time in another world that is somewhat cheap looking and lacking in authenticity but psychologically twisted enough to be quite surreal and disturbing. Gorier than the first one, by far.
Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth [1992]

            

Not as profoundly or psychologically horrific as the first two as this one centers around Pinhead's attempt to make the whole world suffer and a reporter's attempt to stop him. Unfortunately, it makes the blasphemous mistake of changing the Cenobites from extra-dimensional beings of extreme experience into simply demons from hell and sort of forgot the whole Hellraiser mythos. Still rather grisly and perverse in it's own special way with parts of it sliding a bit over into the silly side. Not bad, though.
Hellraiser IV: Bloodline [1996]

            

This is an odd one. In 2127, a direct descendant of the original puzzle box maker has now developed a space craft to trap Pinhead and friends and close the door to hell permanently. Several different time periods are covered and I liked how everything played out. It was also nice to get back to the roots of what the Cenobites were rather than just demons to run away from. Acting wasn't great but then the series has never been known for award winning performances. Yeah, I liked it.
Here Comes the Devil [2012]
aka Ahi va el diablo
            
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Two kids go missing on a family outing only to show up the next morning ...or is it really them? Nothing much happens in this film. It's certainly not scary or threatening and the characters are ho hum, at best. The biggest problem with this film, though, is that it's really only half a story stretched out over an hour and a half. What was going to happen was obvious and I was expecting to see what would happen next. Well, nothing ...the film ended.
Hellraiser V: Inferno [2000]

            

This one centers around an incredibly smart but unethical policeman who discovers a puzzle box at a horrific crime scene. Of course, he opens it and encounters pretty much what you'd expect. Not a bad entry in the series ...although it may be somewhat confusing at the end. Just keep in mind that once someone opens the box, anything can happen. Some good scares and interesting twists and, as you can see from the picture here, a couple of really "fresh" new cenobites.
Hellraiser VI: Hellseeker [2002]

            

The first time I saw this, I thought it was a rather lame addition to the Hellraiser universe. Upon revisiting it, my opinion has changed dramatically. I think my dislike of it the first time around was because it's basically one nightmare sequence after another without rhyme or reason. But on the second viewing, I've realized that once you know that the box has already been opened, it makes far more sense and the ending was appropriate. Not bad but it will probably need two viewings to get it and you probably won't want to sit through it twice.
Hellgate [2011]
aka Shadows
         
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After losing his wife and son in an auto accident, a man wakes up after 5 weeks in a coma, from said accident, and finds that he can now see dead people and malicious demons / dwarves / nasty little red things. The beginning caught my interest, prompting me to see where this goes, and the pacing was good, increasingly nightmarish scenarios leading to a climax. However, that climax was mediocre at best and rather silly rendering the whole film rather ho hum. Heavy reliance on the demon dwarves and little else got old.
Hereditary [2018]

         
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The family matriarch, who was heavily into the occult, passes away causing a subtle slow burn of destruction within the family. The performances were amazing all around and it's rare to see a film that reaches this level of psychological destruction through guilt and grief. Conjure something up that's best left alone and you've got a terrifying ride. Despite how well constructed and effective this film is, though, it is about a half hour too long and in the end, I didn't feel completely satisfied. Not sure why.
Hellboy [2019]

            

Hellboy must stop the resurrection of the witch Nimue the Blood Queen before she lays waste to the world. This can't compare to the Guillermo del Toro / Ron Perlman, Hellboy we all know and love. But, it's not bad. In fact, it's damn good. The CGI has it's weak moments and it gets a bit cheesy in places but the characters are likable, the dialogue had a certain wit to it that kept me amused throughout and the Lovecraftian creatures lying waste to London in the climax were awesome! It's not the original but it's still good fun. Just don't try to compare it to something else.
Her [2013]

            

In the near future, a man and a new self-aware operating system fall in love. I was getting increasingly frustrated about an hour into it as it seemed to be spending far too much time on the physical and sexual aspect of this bizarre relationship. But once it got past that, it become an extremely personal, emotional, and philosophical view of true love and demonstrated clearly that a relationship with an OS can be just as wonderful and complicated as one with a human being. Quite a thought provoking film.
Here Alone [2016]

            
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They shot for heart rending but ended up with an ultra boring story of 3 people trying to survive in the wild as a virus turns the earth's population into zombies. But can they survive each other? I guess the message here is, even in a fight for survival, a stupid teenager's hormones trumps all ..I think. It's hard to figure out what would motivate anyone to do what they did. I just don't get it.
Herschell Gordon Lewis: The Godfather of Gore [2010]

         

H.G. Lewis began making nudie cutie movies in the late '50's and later went on to create the over-the-top gore sub-genre. This excellent and extensive documentary chronicles his rise to prominence as a man who makes terrible movies that became classics. As one person noted when asked whether Lewis' films were good or bad, they said, "There are good movies, there are bad movies, and then there are Hershell Gordon Lewis movies". Be forewarned ...this documentary (and trailer) are just as gory as his films.
Hellraiser VII: Deader [2005]

            

A reporter goes to Romania to investigate a group called the Deaders as their leader appears to be able to bring his subjects back to life after killing them. During her investigation, she opens a puzzle box and... well... a bunch of stuff happens. And that's the problem. The film is such that you're supposed to understand what's happening but it's inadequately explained so, in the end, you're left going, "Huh?". It had it's moments but it's a pretty weak entry in the franchise. Even Pinhead was sans good lines in this one.
Hellraiser VIII: Hellworld [2005]

            

A boy kills himself playing a game called Hellworld, based on the Hellraiser movies, as he took it a bit too seriously. 2 years later, 5 of his friends and fellow players get a private invitation to a Hellworld party where nothing is as it seems. This is not even a Hellraiser movie until about the last 2 minutes. Rather it just pretends to be one making the whole thing, and the characters in it, totally ridiculous. It would be nice if they stopped turning external stories into Hellraiser stories and actually tried to make a real Hellraiser movie again.
Hellraiser IX: Revelations [2011]

         
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Going back to it's roots, a friend attempts to bring back someone (who opened the box) from the Cenobites by bringing him bodies to devour. The make-up was excellent but that's to be expected since the make-up artist wrote it. Everything else is an abomination to the whole Hellraiser franchise. The acting, writing, directing are deplorable. And to bring in someone else to play as iconic a character as Pinhead, you better make sure they're up to the task. This one couldn't deliver a proper Pinhead line if his life depended on it.
Hellraiser X: Judgment [2018]

            
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While hunting down a serial killer, a detective unwittingly crosses paths with the Cenobites. At last, a good Hellraiser movie! First I should point out that the cringe meter runs very high on this one so you've been warned. Gary J. Tunnicliffe, the make-up artist in many of the previous films, is the engine behind this one. Writer, director, make-up artist and actor as The Auditor, Gary did an excellent job of taking the Hellraiser mythos in a slightly new direction, giving us a decent Pinhead, and a good surprise ending. It's simple but acted well and effective. Bravo!
Hellraiser [2022]

         

A slightly adjusted re-imaging of the Hellraiser mythos giving the puzzle box a more intricate and important role in how to deal with the cenobites. First the cons: Although it's not slow or dull, it really didn't need over 2 hours to tell this story. Also, it's annoyingly dark ...even watching it in a dark room, it was difficult to see. It is the best film since Hellbound, though. Jamie Clayton did an excellent job as the new Pinhead and the other cenobites were appropriately gnarly. The new puzzle box ideas worked really well and certainly opens it up to future story ideas.
Helmut Newton: The Bad and the Beautiful [2020]

         
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A interesting biographical documentary on the work of photographer Helmut Newton who's work has been described from a unique vision of the female form to misogynistic trash ...and he couldn't care less. Kudos to this film for finding the perfect balance between biography and showing us a good deal of his art and vision, which I found intriguing and fascinating. Despite the sometimes risque subjects of his photos, everyone loved modeling for him stating that his wit, charm and vision never made them feel uncomfortable or vulgar. Remarkable artist.
The Heiress [2021]

            
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After the death of Nana, a woman, who has epilepsy issues, begins seeing ghosts ...and no one believes her. I'm not a big fan of the "someone experiences supernatural events and no one believes them" gimmick unless it's resolved quickly or the story progresses. But, in this case, they took that old horror trope and ran with it for over an hour; woman's haunted, no one believes her, the same repetitive unresolved arguments, repeat until we get to the climax ...which was only marginally explained or resolved. Nothing scary to speak of. Acting was good.
Herbert West: Re-Animator [2017]

         
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A doctor goes mad trying to come up with a formula to bring his daughter back to life. Instead he begins to break down the boundaries between reality and ...somewhere else. When it started, I thought that it was going to be really hokey. But the more I watched the more I realized that this film was sacrificing a comprehensible story for a vision that is hauntingly fantastic and surrealistically disturbing and beautiful. Besides November, this is the most bizarre film I've seen this year. What a fascinating vision!
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