Flesh Of The Unforgiven

There are those who believe there is no heaven up there, that when we die we end up on the other side where we will face something else than God. Some believe we may face demons, while some believe that we will face something even more sinister such as evil spirits full of so much hate. I personally want to believe that we who are good people will end up in heaven, at least that´s what im hoping to do. But what if you could open a portal to another dimension into a world that we believe is known as Hell, would you do it? That is exactly what happened in the 1987 British cult horror classic movie known as Hellraiser from director Clive Barker, a film that is still today considered to be one of the best British horror films of all time. The original film begins in Marocco, where a hedonist named Frank Cotton ( Sean Chapman ), buys a puzzle box said to open the door to a realm of outerworldly pleasures. At home in his bare attic, Frank solves the puzzle and hooked chains emerge, tearing him apart. Frank´s brother Larry Cotton ( Andrew Robinson ) moves into the same house hoping to rebuild his relationship with his second wife Julia Cotton ( Clare Higgins ). Larry is unaware that Julia had an affair with her brother Frank before her marriage to him. When Larry accidently cuts his hand moving furniture, his blood drips on the attic floor and ressurect Frank in a ghoulish form. To fully become himself again Frank needs fresh human bodies to drain them. Hellraiser really is a very unique film and it´s mostly because of the character Pinhead ( brilliant played by Doug Bradley ). I love the design of the Cenobites that lives in Hell and feed of human souls and the puzzle box looks really cool as well from a design perspective. I do enjoy some of the Hellraiser films in this franchise, for example the 2018 horror film Hellraiser: Judgement turned out to be a positive surprise. Considering the low budget of this film they did a good job capturing the look of the Hellraiser universe. I highly reccomend you pick up a physical copy of Hellraiser: Judgement and see if you agree with me. During later summer this year i heard about an independent horror film called Flesh Of The Unforgiven, that clearly seemed inspired by films such as Clive Barker´s Hellraiser. I have not seen the work of director Joe Hollow before so i thought this would be a interesting first introduction to hiw work as a director by watching Flesh Of The Unforgiven. Is this a horror film that may actually find an audience outside of the Hellraiser fan community or is this film not what i expected at all?

Jack Russo ( Joe Hollow ) is working desperately to find inspiration to a brand new novel and he only have a couple of days to finish it or his publisher will drop him completely. His marriage to his wife Sienna Russo ( Debbie Ruchon ) is clearly struggling and especially after she cheated with one of her husband´s friends. While trying to find ideas to write a new story, Jack recieve a strange VHS tape that will open a whole new world for Jack that he never expected to visit.....

While i was watching Flesh Of The Unforgiven i was reminded of another film than just Hellraiser and that film is called Secret Window by director David Koepp. In the film Secret Window we follow a struggling writer named Mort Rainey ( played well by actor Johnny Depp ) who is trying to write his latest book alone in a cabin after finding out his wife had an affair with a friend. There are some big differences between Secret Window and Flesh Of The Unforgiven, but you can get a feeling that the author character Jack Russo ( played by actor Joe Hollow ) could be inspired by similar characters such as Mort Rainey, I do feel that it´s interesting seeing the progress of writing once Mort find inspiration to write, especially when things begin to fall out of control completely and Mort find himself in a completely different mental state. The best part of this film is when we finally get to see the most gory disturbing scenes done with practical make up effects, where you get a sense of the inspiration from the Hellraiser franchise. The more disturbing it gets the more i feel fascinated in the storyline. The struggling writer Mort is of course the center of this story and actor Joe Hollow tries to capture a character in his most vulnerable situation. I like the chemistry between actor Joe Hollow and actress Debbie Rochon ( playing his wife Sienna Russo ) as you can clearly see they are struggling through marriage. How do you move on in life when you lost that spark that you used to have together? The character Death Dealer ( Joe Hollow ) clearly have inspiration from Hellraiser characters such as Cenobites without being grotesque. Flesh Of The Unforgiven is a horror film that tries to show how demonic powers can transform individuals, while also bring out dark thoughts that they never would have imagined seeing within themselves. Especially when it comes to sexual fantasies and the pleasures of torture combined, there is something very deeply disturbing and yet fascinating about this combination where you can tell the BDSM influences are very clear in this film. Director Joe Hollow deliver a fascinating horror film that´s not for the sensitive audience that will be appreciated if you enjoy the Hellraiser franchise, with a little bit of influences from A Nightmare On Elm Street as well. A film for those who love disturbing twists and dark sexual fantasies, if this sounds fascinating then by all means give this film a chance.

Rating: DDD