Hellworld is the eighth Hellraiser film, released in 2005.
Group of fans of Hellraiser themed game Hellworld are invited into a party modeled after it by a mysterious host (Lance Henriksen), which turns out to be deadlier than expected.
This film marks the final appearance of Doug Bradley as Pinhead. It also features Henry Cavill, Katheryn Winnick and Khary Payton in early roles.
Hellworld has the examples of:
- Asshole Victim: The Host is a Hypocrite who tortures the protagonists in a fit of Misplaced Retribution. At the end of the movie, he learns that the Lament Configuration is real... when he opens a gate to Hell, and the real Pinhead and his Cenobites come for him.
- Buried Alive: Turns out that The Host has dosed the party-goers with a powerful hypnotic, and buried them in a row of coffins. He leaves them ventilation tubes so he can influence and listen in on their nightmarish hallucinations.
- Bury Your Disabled: Derek has very severe asthma, and dies when he wanders off alone to look for his inhaler after losing it. In the real world, he just had an attack and died from it.
- Clawing at Own Throat: A character is manipulated into killing herself this way.
- Doing In the Wizard and Doing in the Scientist: First one, then the other. See below, under Twist Ending.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: The film involves the fans of a cenobite-themed online group/game apparently also called "Hellraiser". This leads to lots of double entendre dialogue as, while the story still refers to the series' background as canon, there's also lots of talk about "Hellraiser fans" and whether Hellraiser is a healthy interest or something that should worry parents.
- Misplaced Retribution: The Host reveals that he's torturing the protagonists because he blames them for his "beloved" son's suicide. Chelsea points out that this makes absolutely no sense because they were his best friends who loved him dearly and did everything they could to help him. Plus, The Host is a hypocrite because he walked out on his family over 16 years ago and didn't even attend his son's funeral, so he has no right to claim he cares about his son. The Host ignores this and continues the torment.
- On top of that, the Twist Ending reveals his son didn't commit suicide as everyone believed, but actually opened a gate to Hell.
- Nasty Party: The Host's plan.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: The Host.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Pinhead acts more like a slasher who murders people for no discernible reason rather than his more principled self who approaches those that open the Lament Configuration and sadistically tortures them as part of his oath or to inflict punishment. It foreshadows that it isn't Pinhead at all. The real Pinhead acts like his usual self.
- Token Minority: Derek seems to be the only black member of the cast that goes to the party.
- Twist Ending: A double whammy: There's nothing supernatural going on at the party. The Host has drugged the protagonists so they'll have potent enough Hellworld-related hallucinations to kill them as ironic payback for his son's Hellworld-inspired suicide. Then, when the Host is idly playing with his son's homemade Lament Configuration, it works, and the real Pinhead explains his son simply opened a gate to Hell. The Host pays for doing the same.
- Welcome to Hell: Said by Pinhead at one point.
