It's hard to believe that a documentary can have a run time of minutes under 8hrs, one single documentary!Now when they did the Friday 13th documentary (Crystal Lake Memories: The Complete History of Friday the 13th (2013)) it covered 12 different films and was around 6hrs long. This is 8hrs and covers 2 films, 2!Nobody can dispute that the documentary is thorough and is arguably a must watch for fans of the first two Hellraiser movies but 8hrs is far far too long.As you can imagine the documentary goes over old ground several times, it's interviews are decent but the number of people interviewed is far less than you'd imagine especially the absence of Ashley Laurence (Not as if she was the lead or anything)I liked Hellraiser and considered the second film a watchable affair but this was seven shades of overkill and damaged my enjoyment. This really should have been edited down to 2hrs, 3 at the most.The Good:Very thoroughSome decent interviewsThe Bad:Too few people interviewedHow can you do this without the lead? Seriously?Far too longBit repititiousThings I Learnt From This Movie:I have far too much time on my hands

I read a lot of negative reviews about this hard-to-find fan documentary, which looks at both Hellraiser and its sequel at great length. In total, you're looking at about 7 hours of interviews with the people who made and starred in the films. The first part focuses on Hellraiser and a good hour of this film focuses on Clive Barker's beginnings as a playwrite. Yes, its true, pretty much everyone describes him as a genius, a phrase that seems to lose all meaning due to its overuse, but once you get past the introductions, you begin to hear stories of how certain scenes were created, and those interested in the special effects side of the movie will not be disappointed by the contributions from those responsible. The second part (Hellbound) is more to-the-point, without needing to set the scene. Pretty much every apsect of the film, its script, its effects, its casting and its controversial changes are explored in detail too.The film doesn't shy away from questions that have bugged fans for years - such as where exactly is hellraiser set, why didn't actors from the first film reprise their roles, why didn't Barker direct the sequel etc.I really can't understand what the fans are complaining about in their other reviews. There is a great deal of insight here if you're patient enough to watch the entire documentary. This is very much a fan film, made by fans for fans.Someone described this film as being a collection of unedited interviews - I'm not sure what they watched, but that is not the case here. The interview subjects seem to follow the chronological order of the film, rather than the production order, which was a nice touch.I was impressed by how many people involved with the film took part in this project and how young so many of them were at the time.This is the only in-depth look at the two movies you'll get and it didn't disappoint.

"Leviathan: The Story of Hellraiser and Hellbound: Hellraiser II" is a feature length documentary uncovering the history and the making of Clive Barker's "Hellraiser" and "Hellbound: Hellraiser II" films.First of all, the opening credits are a bit drawn out and I wish that wasn't the case. But the rest of the film makes up for that. In fact, the Arrow Video release is very extensive, and (as I understand it) was expanded to the point that it had to be turned into two documentaries. (The first half is 90 minutes and I assume the second half is similar.) Where this documentary excels is where it goes into great detail about the makeup and special effects, because this is what really makes "Hellraiser" stand out. Also, the coverage of the Coil music is awesome, because I don't know how many people know their work or knew they had anything to do with the film. (The Arrow set goes into much more detail on the Coil-Barker connection.)

I am just a viewer of this genre of horror, as a kid I was introduced to hellraiser and the clive barker world by my mother, read his books and then eventually his films, this documentary was fascinating to watch from the joe public view, I was very interested in the special effects moments in the hellbound film how it all came together, the interviews of the cast and crew who knew clive from childhood was sweet to listen too, I would of liked to of seen clive himself but I guess I was being greedy, even better that this was independently funded for us die hard fans too makes it more personnel. Well done to all involved I am glad I have my copy to add to the ever growing collection of all things horror.