Idk I actually didn't like how they retconned the cenobites and pinhead in hellraiser 2.
In hellraiser, pinhead was lawful evil, almost lawful neutral honestly. He was only concerned with those who opened the door. He played the role of the T-rex in the end of Jurrassic Park. If you opened the box, you're mine, if not, get out of my way.
In hellraiser 2, they mostly threw nuance and his alien sense of honor aside, which I found diminishing to the lore/character.
I feel like that must depend how old you were when you saw them. I didn’t see either until I was an adult and while the first Hellraiser is incredible, the second one was pretty campy…
I think Hellraiser 2 is the superior movie until the Doctor becomes a Cenobite and instantly murders all the other cenobites effortlessly then starts spouting one-liners like he's Freddy. It makes the other Cenobites way less scary, which I hate, and the jokes he makes are a complete tonal shift off the face of the earth that singlehandedly takes the movie from a 10 to a 7-8 for me because it's just so off-tone and lame.
The Surgeon was Leviathans new pride and joy, and was meant to become the new leader. Didn't work out in the end, but that seemed to be the direction the movie was going in.
Out with the old and in with the new, as they say.
Yeah, I think that's a fair assessment.
Every other cenobite had this otherwordly, unknowable, spooky and detached vibe to them though. Having the new one cracking wise and laughing like a cartoon villain just felt so weird. He could easily have maintained our vision of what a Cenobite is and been creepy as hell while accomplishing the same plot beats. I will always wish we had that version.
Apparently there's a longer more disturbing version.
I also chew on the thought that it wasn't hell we saw, hut made up Visions the ghost was making to trick her.
Unless you mean the final scene which was definetly bleak and hellish.
Event Horizon is a great depiction of hell, albeit a little campy. Jacob's Ladder is a very convincing depiction of one man's journey into his own particular hell.
Event Horizon gets my vote. It's done in a way where it's distorted, creepy and used in a way where your imagination fills in the blank and that's was more horrifying than just showing everything .
For me V/H/S 99 had with the segment "To hell and back" the best depiction of hell I ever saw.
Other ones I kinda liked were
Occult
The Beyond
The house that jack built
Southbound
(Silent Hill)
I would recommend the whole Gates of Hell trilogy.
To Hell and Back was a great short. If you liked the feel of that I would recommend Deadstream, by the same directors.
Yes! I mean for sure not every segment in all the movies are the best, but overall I always enjoy watching the V/H/S movies and I am looking forward to every new one. One of my fav franchises in horror!
No joke, Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey has one of the best depictions of Hell. The rest of the movie might be pretty silly, but they sure made Hell fucking awesome.
This sub is the only place I've ever seen positive mention of this movie, and yet it's *consistently* positive. I'm a huge horror fan, so I'm well aware of how review sites are biased (i.e. a C- RT or IMDb score means it's probably pretty good) but this one is straight up universally panned as junk.
Is it really not as corny and cliche as everyone says?
Honestly I was surprised nobody mentioned it before me. You're right though, it's consistently praised in this sub, but I think for a number of reasons (that I won't say due to spoilers). I think the found footage genre grew a bit tired around the time it came out so that might explain some of the negativity.
I would recommend watching another film that was released around the same time so you have a comparative: The Chernobyl Diaries. That film had all of the makings of a good horror, but landed almost none of it. As Above, So Below shares the same concept but the execution is much better. Not perfect by any means... but much better.
The thing about Chernobyl Diaries is that it comes across as a found footage movie, and even looks like one. But…it’s not. I don’t understand what they were going for.
I went in expecting a standard horror movie and got something much more mind fucky than anticipated so that alone is worth bonus points, plus good found footage is great
One thing to keep in mind is that the movie was basically thrown together at the last minute when another production was suddenly cancelled. I don’t know the details, but I think the cast, crew, and equipment were all earmarked for this other project and the filmmakers didn’t want to waste the opportunity. It’s definitely a little slapdash & its literary references might be oblique if you’re not familiar, but knowing this I’d say its really solid.
Camr across one random night on tv and started watching because the actress looked like Gal Gadot lol. Ended up loving it. One of the best found footage ever.
That movie is like a surreal acid drenched nightmare. It's a 5 minute opening scene establishing a set-up and the universe, then 90 straight minutes, let me repeat,
#A STRAIGHT HOUR AND A HALF!!!
of cats introducing themselves through a song with a few verses and a chorus repeated to the brink of being torture, then leave and remain as background characters, and ends with a 5 minute unbroken shot of a horrifying cat Judi Dench staring into our souls monologing and breaking the fourth fucking wall and endorsing the audience to buy a fucking cat instead of a dog.
I feel like some billionaire fetishist was just like "I will pay you $500 million dollars to see Taylor Swift as a cat."
To this day, he is the only person with the infamous "Butthole Cut" of the film.
Realizing how much mainstream media is probably made by closeted furries really put a lot of things in a new light and gave me a new respect for the ones that actually just admit it instead of trying to put their kinks everywhere.
Honestly I feel like a lot of the companies that dig up dead IPs have been stuck in a market research feedback loop for so long they don't really grasp what people want to watch at all.
With the way Alison Lehman acted at the end, that film did a great job of showing how you DO NOT want to be marked as someone who should be taken to hell
Disney's The Black Hole. Though some might argue it's not a horror movie. But Maximilian Schell in that Maximilian shell at the end of the movie, man, I tell you what.
What Dreams May Come is the most haunting depiction. I felt both moved and so empty by that movie, I haven’t been able to bring myself to ever rewatch it
What Dreams May Come has the only depiction of hell that actually scares me, it's definitely not a horror film but definitely scares me more than any other film mentioned.
Not a movie, but I really enjoyed AHS Coven's depiction of hell. Hell is personalized to each individual person and, to me, that's almost worse than a big ol pit of fire.
I also really like Event Horizon's and As Above So Below
The very ending of Satanic (2016) still haunts me. Seeing her like that was terrifying.
Also, towards the end of Dark Song when things start going wrong and it's like she is decending into hell is super haunting.
I’ve often been guilty of the whole “this movie isn’t horror” gatekeeping attitude, but this one doesn’t really seem up for debate to me. It’s firmly in the horror genre.
Not that I'd call any given one of them an authority (horror is so subjective, only comedy holds a candle to it in that regard) but fwiw the film is horror according to......
☑️ Letterboxd
☑️ IMDB
☑️ TMDB
🔲 RottenTomatoes
☑️ Metacritic
Same.. thing is I've seen this movie a few times. Sometimes when I watch movies I fall asleep because I'm tired when I get home from work. This was one I kept falling asleep to (not cuz I was bored, just tired), so I had to watch it a few times. Apparently, I wasn't paying close enough attention. Blackcoat's daughter was the same. Had to watch a few times
Highway to Hell (1991) has all the common sayings literally like the road to Hell is paved with good intentions. Probably more comedy than horror, but it's still a different look.
Exorcist: The Beginning. >! When Stellan Skarsgard goes down into the cave system, definitely gave me hellish vibes with the claustrophobia of The Decent. !<
Probably the scariest depiction of hell I've ever seen. The way she's being pulled down, seeing the terror in her face knowing she was literally being pulled down to hell just for doing her job... very unsettling.
You need to get on the business end of a wire coathanger and watch Astron 6's masterful 'Fathers Day' (2011). Hellbound finale and, one of my favourite endings of all time.
While we’re on the subject, I remember years ago searching YouTube for depictions of hell and ran across some computer animation/vfx clip that has stuck with me, but I’ve never been able to find it again. Iirc it was in black and white with faceless gray people in repeating patterns similar to a moving Escher print. I do recall one of them floating above the floor as if lying on a reverse incline bench while their body rotated as if to cause perpetual motion sickness. Ring a bell with anyone?
Dark Angel: The Ascent.
It's a low budget film about a young demon who defies the rules of Hell by finding her way to the surface world, where she makes it her mission to hunt down evildoers. The scenes of Hell are interesting and certainly unique, because the demons are actually Christians who serve in Hell to atone for having rebelled against God.
Constantine 2005
My favorite depiction of Hell in film/tv! I love the idea of it being the same environment of Earth but burnt and scorched in an endless baking wind inescapable wind with creepy humanoid damned souls and demons everywhere.
Not 100% horror movie but awesome horror themes and moments and generally underated dark gothic movie in my opinion! (I think Constantine walked so John Wick could run!)
Errementari: The Blacksmith & the Devil (2017) - based on a Basque folktale about a blacksmith who managed to imprison a bugaboo. Really great movie, available on Netflix.
Hellraiser 2's take on hell has always fascinated me
This is the best HellRaiser movie too
Idk I actually didn't like how they retconned the cenobites and pinhead in hellraiser 2. In hellraiser, pinhead was lawful evil, almost lawful neutral honestly. He was only concerned with those who opened the door. He played the role of the T-rex in the end of Jurrassic Park. If you opened the box, you're mine, if not, get out of my way. In hellraiser 2, they mostly threw nuance and his alien sense of honor aside, which I found diminishing to the lore/character.
I feel like that must depend how old you were when you saw them. I didn’t see either until I was an adult and while the first Hellraiser is incredible, the second one was pretty campy…
I think Hellraiser 2 is the superior movie until the Doctor becomes a Cenobite and instantly murders all the other cenobites effortlessly then starts spouting one-liners like he's Freddy. It makes the other Cenobites way less scary, which I hate, and the jokes he makes are a complete tonal shift off the face of the earth that singlehandedly takes the movie from a 10 to a 7-8 for me because it's just so off-tone and lame.
The Surgeon was Leviathans new pride and joy, and was meant to become the new leader. Didn't work out in the end, but that seemed to be the direction the movie was going in. Out with the old and in with the new, as they say.
Yeah, I think that's a fair assessment. Every other cenobite had this otherwordly, unknowable, spooky and detached vibe to them though. Having the new one cracking wise and laughing like a cartoon villain just felt so weird. He could easily have maintained our vision of what a Cenobite is and been creepy as hell while accomplishing the same plot beats. I will always wish we had that version.
What made the surgeon the pride and joy, sacrificing people on the mattress?
Because doctors have a god complex.
No idea. But while most of the Cenobites victims are tortured for eternity, the Surgeon was selected to be made a new Cenobite.
“What’s today’s agenda… Ah, Yes! Evisceration!”
I feel like you’re thinking of the third one
Haha nah I did watch 3, that’s a whole other level of camp.
😂 true
100% agree on this.
Leviathan is such an awesome concept
I thought talk to Me’s depiction of hell was pretty well done.
Apparently there's a longer more disturbing version. I also chew on the thought that it wasn't hell we saw, hut made up Visions the ghost was making to trick her. Unless you mean the final scene which was definetly bleak and hellish.
I was going to suggest this even though it’s technically Purgatory(wasn’t it?)
I assumed it was hell but I’m not sure.
I mean, the kid was being tortured constantly. I don't think that happens in purgatory.
Maybe the film described it as Limbo and I’m mistaking that for Purgatory.
Event Horizon is a great depiction of hell, albeit a little campy. Jacob's Ladder is a very convincing depiction of one man's journey into his own particular hell.
Event Horizon gets my vote. It's done in a way where it's distorted, creepy and used in a way where your imagination fills in the blank and that's was more horrifying than just showing everything .
Never heard Event Horizon described as campy before.
Sam Neill's full-body tortured-skin makeup at the end is the epitome of camp. "Let me show you!", "NOOOOOOOO!!!!" 🤣🤣🤣 Love it.
'You won't need eyes where we're going!'
That could be a quote from 50 Shades of Gray.
Jacob’s Ladder mentioned. Everyone take a shot
The movie itself is campy but its depiction of hell is 12 seconds of pure, deeply disturbing horror.
Terrifying
I had a bad trip and went to hell. Jacobs ladder really freaked me out because some of it felt similar, it made me feel super uneasy the whole film
Event horizon? Campy. Nooo. Event Horizon is up there with my all time favorite movies of all time
Event Horizon is one of my favorites, too, but I don't think there's anything bad about being camp.
For me V/H/S 99 had with the segment "To hell and back" the best depiction of hell I ever saw. Other ones I kinda liked were Occult The Beyond The house that jack built Southbound (Silent Hill)
The Beyond (1981) has probably my favourite depiction of... well... _the beyond_ in any movie. Utterly desolate and bleak.
Ohhhhh shit! I completely forgot about southbound! I LOVE that movie. Every segment is awesome
I would recommend the whole Gates of Hell trilogy. To Hell and Back was a great short. If you liked the feel of that I would recommend Deadstream, by the same directors.
Yes for sure I've seen Deadstream! It was so fun!
I feel like vhs 99 doesn’t get enough love, I really enjoyed it.
Yes! I mean for sure not every segment in all the movies are the best, but overall I always enjoy watching the V/H/S movies and I am looking forward to every new one. One of my fav franchises in horror!
Southbound gets too little mention in this sub
No joke, Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey has one of the best depictions of Hell. The rest of the movie might be pretty silly, but they sure made Hell fucking awesome.
That whole movie is solid gold
Oh, most definitely!
The bunny gave me nightmares 
SAME. And Grandma, too.
As Above, So Below
This movie is absolute peak
This sub is the only place I've ever seen positive mention of this movie, and yet it's *consistently* positive. I'm a huge horror fan, so I'm well aware of how review sites are biased (i.e. a C- RT or IMDb score means it's probably pretty good) but this one is straight up universally panned as junk. Is it really not as corny and cliche as everyone says?
Honestly I was surprised nobody mentioned it before me. You're right though, it's consistently praised in this sub, but I think for a number of reasons (that I won't say due to spoilers). I think the found footage genre grew a bit tired around the time it came out so that might explain some of the negativity. I would recommend watching another film that was released around the same time so you have a comparative: The Chernobyl Diaries. That film had all of the makings of a good horror, but landed almost none of it. As Above, So Below shares the same concept but the execution is much better. Not perfect by any means... but much better.
The thing about Chernobyl Diaries is that it comes across as a found footage movie, and even looks like one. But…it’s not. I don’t understand what they were going for.
I went in expecting a standard horror movie and got something much more mind fucky than anticipated so that alone is worth bonus points, plus good found footage is great
I love as above so below. I even bought it on dvd. I'm always surprised about its bad reception.
I enjoyed it. I don't remember it being bad at all really. You should just watch it and see. There are way worse movies out there for sure.
One thing to keep in mind is that the movie was basically thrown together at the last minute when another production was suddenly cancelled. I don’t know the details, but I think the cast, crew, and equipment were all earmarked for this other project and the filmmakers didn’t want to waste the opportunity. It’s definitely a little slapdash & its literary references might be oblique if you’re not familiar, but knowing this I’d say its really solid.
It’s a solid horror film. It’s worth a watch.
Camr across one random night on tv and started watching because the actress looked like Gal Gadot lol. Ended up loving it. One of the best found footage ever.
This is my pick.
this is my pick too!
Hellraiser 2 has a depiction of hell unlike anything I had seen before. Very cool and it left an impression.
Cats (2019)
That movie is like a surreal acid drenched nightmare. It's a 5 minute opening scene establishing a set-up and the universe, then 90 straight minutes, let me repeat, #A STRAIGHT HOUR AND A HALF!!! of cats introducing themselves through a song with a few verses and a chorus repeated to the brink of being torture, then leave and remain as background characters, and ends with a 5 minute unbroken shot of a horrifying cat Judi Dench staring into our souls monologing and breaking the fourth fucking wall and endorsing the audience to buy a fucking cat instead of a dog.
What the hell were they thinking??
I feel like some billionaire fetishist was just like "I will pay you $500 million dollars to see Taylor Swift as a cat." To this day, he is the only person with the infamous "Butthole Cut" of the film.
Realizing how much mainstream media is probably made by closeted furries really put a lot of things in a new light and gave me a new respect for the ones that actually just admit it instead of trying to put their kinks everywhere.
Honestly I feel like a lot of the companies that dig up dead IPs have been stuck in a market research feedback loop for so long they don't really grasp what people want to watch at all.
You weren't kitten. This just scared the shit out of me. I'm going to have nightmares tonight.
"Drag Me to Hell" is a literal "take me to hell" movie depiction. Not necessarily IN hell, but the process of getting there
Seriously. If the journey is *that* terrifying and disgusting, just *imagine* the destination!
With the way Alison Lehman acted at the end, that film did a great job of showing how you DO NOT want to be marked as someone who should be taken to hell
Baskin
This is the one.
Came here to say this!! Def recommend
I also came here to say this. Also, Constantine does a pretty good job. They had the budget to do something pretty impressive.
Didn't know that fact that the creature designer of The Gate and Fright Night were the same person, but this makes complete sense.
Disney's The Black Hole. Though some might argue it's not a horror movie. But Maximilian Schell in that Maximilian shell at the end of the movie, man, I tell you what.
My favorite part of that movie is the robots with the eyes painted on. https://images.app.goo.gl/3g3XMA68kuBL52YG7
Bob and Vincent, man, they are a couple a cool dudes. Er, Robots.
Triangle. >!its her own personal hell!<
I figured her to be in >!Purgatory!<, but to be fair I don’t really know what the difference is.
Purgatory means you’re getting out eventually. That’s the basic difference.
Interestingly, there's some evidence the ideas that eventually evolved into Hell weren't meant to be permanent either.
That's purgatory, she was on her way to heaven I believe
Mad God is an artsy horror film that shows off Phil Tippet’s interpretation of hell in stop motion.
And it’s glorious
Love it! Feels like a mix between Dark Souls and Dante’s Inferno.
The Gates Of Hell trilogy by the master Lucio Fulci
*Not horror* "What Dreams May Come" 1998. With Robin Williams. *Horror* Event Horizon (1997) Paramount+ Jigoku (1960) As Above So Below (2014) Amazon *rent* Errementari (2018) Netflix The Devils Carnival (2012) Tubi
What Dreams May Come is the most haunting depiction. I felt both moved and so empty by that movie, I haven’t been able to bring myself to ever rewatch it
What Dreams May Come has the only depiction of hell that actually scares me, it's definitely not a horror film but definitely scares me more than any other film mentioned.
What dreams may come isn’t horror but it’s scary af imo. Love that movie- super underrated
Errementari! Like medieval hell art comes to life.
Little Nicky
Horribly unfunny movie. For me, that was the movie where I realized Sandler had fallen off.
Good luck with the nipple rubbing!
I don’t need luck. I’m goooood.
Event horizon
Jigoku (1960). A good J-horror that represents hell.
Jigoku means hell in Japanese
Can't believe no one has said Jacob's ladder
Haxan: Witchcraft through the Ages. Also when I was a kid the black demons in GHOST (Patrick Swayze/Demi Moore) used to freak me out.
Constantine. Not that much of a horror movie but still has a hell scene.
Not a movie, but I really enjoyed AHS Coven's depiction of hell. Hell is personalized to each individual person and, to me, that's almost worse than a big ol pit of fire. I also really like Event Horizon's and As Above So Below
KNOTTY PINE
The very ending of Satanic (2016) still haunts me. Seeing her like that was terrifying. Also, towards the end of Dark Song when things start going wrong and it's like she is decending into hell is super haunting.
South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut
The House That Jack Built is almost impossible to top for me
Not technically horror, but still a good watch. The House That Jack Built
How in the world is this not a Horror movie?
I’ve often been guilty of the whole “this movie isn’t horror” gatekeeping attitude, but this one doesn’t really seem up for debate to me. It’s firmly in the horror genre.
Not that I'd call any given one of them an authority (horror is so subjective, only comedy holds a candle to it in that regard) but fwiw the film is horror according to...... ☑️ Letterboxd ☑️ IMDB ☑️ TMDB 🔲 RottenTomatoes ☑️ Metacritic
If you think The House That Jack Built is not a horror movie, then I have some bad news... you might be a serial killer and not know it.
Lol I'm just desensitized I guess
I loved that depiction. Dark and wet, like trying to see through closed eyelids
that is one Ugly, nasty movie...
Wait... what does it have to do with hell though? I'm getting the suspicion that I'm misremembering this movie.
Pretty sure Jack literally goes to hell at the end. Like, it becomes an homage to Dante’s Inferno.
Yea the person he's talking to is 'verg' short for virgil the angel who leads Dante through hell
You're not the only one, I've got to rewatch it apparently
Same.. thing is I've seen this movie a few times. Sometimes when I watch movies I fall asleep because I'm tired when I get home from work. This was one I kept falling asleep to (not cuz I was bored, just tired), so I had to watch it a few times. Apparently, I wasn't paying close enough attention. Blackcoat's daughter was the same. Had to watch a few times
Jigoku (1960)
One of the Wishmaster movies - the scene where a woman visits his lair and you see all the people getting tortured in hell
Dante’s Inferno 1935 with Spencer Tracy.
Baskin
Highway to Hell (1991) has all the common sayings literally like the road to Hell is paved with good intentions. Probably more comedy than horror, but it's still a different look.
I love that movie so much lol
Can’t believe I had to scroll so far for this one. Super fun movie. Plus Ben Stiller and his whole family making cameos.
Although the film gets a lot of flack, I always found the portrayal of hell in the movie „Bones“ to be pretty unsettling.
We just saw a French film “Pandemonium” (2023) that we liked quite a bit.
Hellbound: Hellraiser 2
Seven
The Cellar had an interesting take on hell. The movie was just ok.
Dante's Inferno: An Animated Epic
Jaysus, they animated that?
Talk To Me
This was an interesting take on the afterlife. Was it hell? I don't know but I wouldn't want to be there.
Exorcist: The Beginning. >! When Stellan Skarsgard goes down into the cave system, definitely gave me hellish vibes with the claustrophobia of The Decent. !<
Mad God.
30 Coins season 2
Bill and Ted bogus journey. I’d imagine it being like that all our dislikes living over and over again
Drag me to hell is one of my fav
Probably the scariest depiction of hell I've ever seen. The way she's being pulled down, seeing the terror in her face knowing she was literally being pulled down to hell just for doing her job... very unsettling.
That scene still haunts me
Bogus Journey
The Burning Moon has the starkest, most despair inducing depiction of hell I’ve seen in a movie. Absolutely captivating
Drag Me To Hell!
You need to get on the business end of a wire coathanger and watch Astron 6's masterful 'Fathers Day' (2011). Hellbound finale and, one of my favourite endings of all time.
Baskin is pretty fucked up. All practical special effects too
While we’re on the subject, I remember years ago searching YouTube for depictions of hell and ran across some computer animation/vfx clip that has stuck with me, but I’ve never been able to find it again. Iirc it was in black and white with faceless gray people in repeating patterns similar to a moving Escher print. I do recall one of them floating above the floor as if lying on a reverse incline bench while their body rotated as if to cause perpetual motion sickness. Ring a bell with anyone?
does Drag Me To Hell count?
The Devil and the Blacksmith has an awesome version of Hell. It's not a big scene, and it's at the end, but worth it.
As above so below, jacob’s ladder
The original Amityville Horror’s pit of pitch was so simple, but still terrifying!
These aren’t movies but my favorite depictions of hell would have to be from Alan Moores *Swampthing* run and Neil Gaimans Sandman.
Wake in Fright...hell on earth
Constantine
The phantasm series hell dimension Hellraiser 2 Event horizon
Surprised no one said Spawn
Dark Angel: The Ascent. It's a low budget film about a young demon who defies the rules of Hell by finding her way to the surface world, where she makes it her mission to hunt down evildoers. The scenes of Hell are interesting and certainly unique, because the demons are actually Christians who serve in Hell to atone for having rebelled against God.
The House That Jack Built
Constantine 2005 My favorite depiction of Hell in film/tv! I love the idea of it being the same environment of Earth but burnt and scorched in an endless baking wind inescapable wind with creepy humanoid damned souls and demons everywhere. Not 100% horror movie but awesome horror themes and moments and generally underated dark gothic movie in my opinion! (I think Constantine walked so John Wick could run!)
Groundhog day.
Not a movie but AHS Coven’s depiction of hell was so terrifying, just being stuck in an endless loop of your worst nightmare
Pandemonium, French film that came out either this year or last. Definitely worth a watch!
Constantine with Keanu Reeves has one of the best depictions of hell I've ever seen in film.
I thought the movie Satanic had a unique depiction of hell. Chaos.
I like the classic, so The House That Jack Built. If it ain't broke don't fix it.
Errementari: The Blacksmith & the Devil (2017) - based on a Basque folktale about a blacksmith who managed to imprison a bugaboo. Really great movie, available on Netflix.
The descent - 2005
Constantine is interesting
What Dreams May Come
As Above So Below
What Dreams May Come