TheRetroCritic

I love the Hellraiser movies. After sitting through Hellraiser III , which was certainly a big step down from both previous films, and learning the next movie was directed by Alan Smithee... I was expecting something exceptionally bad. Hilariously bad, even. Like Leprechaun IV: In Space type nonsense. Weirdly, Hellraiser IV: Bloodline got my attention very quickly and held it all the way until the end. It actually starts in space which... I did not really expect. But then we're told what happened ages ago with the inventor of the infamous box and how the bloodline led to Pinhead actually trying to take over the world! It's crazy stuff but it's fun. The acting throughout is pretty bad but not distractingly so, Hellraiser movies were never known for their Oscar-nominated performances anyway. It's an ambitious sequel to say the least but it handles its goofy ideas surprisingly well, althewhile peppering the whole thing with the occasional bloody lols. And Hellra

I have to say after all this talk of Hitchcock this and Hitchcock that I was expecting more than a "guy-in-a-box" concept movie. To give the film credit, for a film set in a coffin it does a good job keeping you entertained throughout. Loved the opening titles...and that's all I can say really. Overall Buried was pretty...pedestrian in its writing, acting and overall storytelling. Didn't think Ryan Reynolds was particularly convincing and a lot of his panting, screaming and heavy breathing felt forced and strangely comical at times. I also felt that the whole Irak setting and terrorist plot was obvious, clumsy and clichéd. Sure the film is a metaphor of the war etc. but it really didn't need to be. It should have just been about a guy in a box, with no recollection of how he got in, trying to call for help only to, at the end, get out and find that he's somewhere he never expected. Like a good episode of the Twilight Zone ! The bad guy on the phone felt s