TedStixon

Question: I haven't been able to find a proper answer elsewhere, so I figured I'd give it a go here: The Arrow Video Blu-Ray version of "Hellbound: Hellraiser II" is getting a re-release in the US soon. (It's the same disc from the 2013/2014-era "Scarlet Box" Blu-Ray set.) Does anyone know if the version of the film on that particular release is the unrated cut? Amazon only says "Rated R" in the description... but at the same time, Amazon also isn't always super-reliable with its information. I'm very interested in picking up the disc since I don't own the film on Blu-Ray, but only want to buy it if it includes the proper unrated cut.

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Trivia: Part of what made the Coen Brothers agree to make the film for Netflix was that the traditional studio system just isn't funding films like "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs" the way they used to. Studios are instead focusing much more on big-budget comic-book movies and reboots, or super low-budget ventures like horror films. The Coens found Netflix to be one of the only companies that seemed to understand the project and be willing to fund it. Although co-director Joel Coen did lament that he wishes the film had a traditional theatrical release, as he feels audiences respond to and respect movies in a different way on the big screen.

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Trivia: This movie represents several firsts for the Coen Brothers. Including this being the first Coen Brothers' film to be shot digitally instead of on film, and their first movie to be made primarily for the streaming market instead of theaters. It is also their longest film, coming in at 132 minutes.

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Trivia: The ghoulish, child-like creature "Sam" is named after "Samhain" - an ancient Gaelic festival marking the end of harvest season. Samhain eventually ended up becoming the holiday now known as "Halloween."

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Trivia: The movie was originally scheduled to be released in theaters in October, 2007. Its trailer was even attached to several films. However, the studio pulled its release at the last moment with no explanation. It was finally released direct-to-video with little advertisements or notice two years later. Ironically, despite being dumped onto home-video with little fanfare, the film garnered excellent reviews and won several awards, and built enough of an audience through word-of-mouth alone that director Michael Dougherty confirmed a sequel will be made.

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Trivia: The only entry in the series not given a wide release. Instead, the film was a bit of an experiment for the studio - they struck a deal to release the film for a brief period exclusively in AMC theaters, then immediately follow it up with a digital and Video-On-Demand release. This was because the studio felt certain films performed better on home-video and digitally than in theaters, and because the previous film, "The Marked Ones" grossed significantly less than its predecessors. As a result, "The Ghost Dimension" was only released on about half the screens of the previous five films, and was the lowest grossing film of the franchise. (Albeit, it was still a box office success due to its low production costs).

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Trivia: The only "Paranormal Activity" film shot and released in 3D. As a result, it was also the most expensive entry in the series.

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Trivia: Was filmed in 2007, but not released until 2009.

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Trivia: As part of a marketing gimmick, the film wasn't going to receive a traditional release. Instead, audiences could click a button online to "demand" their local theaters get a copy, and once an area got enough "demands," a copy would be shipped there. This was done because the studio was worried they wouldn't make enough money if they did a wide release. So many people ended up "demanding" the film, that the studio eventually caved and gave it a wide release. It became a massive hit.

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Trivia: At one point before the film was widely released, the studio was interested in remaking the film with a larger budget and more well-known actors, and including the original version of the film as a DVD "special feature." Thankfully, this idea was eventually shot down, and the original version of the film was released in theaters.

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Trivia: When the movie was being shopped around for a distributor, Steven Spielberg was given a copy. He loved the film and found it absolutely terrifying, and agreed to distribute it through Dreamworks/Paramount. He also made one major contribution to the film - the theatrical ending, which differs greatly from the original director's cut ending. He felt the original ending was too closed off, and that a more open ending would not only be appropriate, but also leave the door open for potential sequels. Director Oren Peli shot the new ending at his suggestion, and the rest is history.

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Trivia: The film was written to be a spin-off the "Paranormal Activity" series aimed primarily at a Latino market. Hence, it was not called "Paranormal Activity 5."

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Trivia: The only film in the series not to feature "Nights." (Ex. "Night 1," "Night 2," etc).

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Trivia: The only "Paranormal Activity" film not released in October. Its production ran long, so it was instead released in January.

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Trivia: Strangely enough, despite being the fourth film, "Paranormal Activity 4" is actually the first proper sequel in the series. Both the second and third films were prequels to the original.

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Trivia: The actors who play Alex's parents were actually married in real life. Tragically, the actor playing her father (Stephen Dunham) had a heart-attack and passed away less than a month before the film hit theaters.

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Trivia: The movie takes place in the 80's, and is supposedly being filmed on an old VHS camcorder. In actuality, it was filmed on modern-day HD camcorders, and digitally "aged" to look like old VHS footage.

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Trivia: Reportedly, so much footage was shot during production, the producers suggested that they could construct an entire second movie out of the leftover deleted and unused scenes.

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Trivia: Spoilers: An alternate ending in which Katie kills baby Hunter instead of kidnapping him was filmed, but never shown due to it being too bleak. It was also decided that Katie kidnapping the child was far scarier, so the new theatrical ending was shot to take its place.

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Trivia: Notably, the previews for this film (and several other sequels in the series) contained footage not seen in the finished movie. The previews were often made primarily of footage from alternate and deleted scenes. The producers and directors hinted that this was done to help keep the story secret, despite being a bit shady on their part.

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