Editor’s Note: Wow! This is huge, everyone. We were recently contacted by a pretty noteworthy fan of the show, the star of HELLRAISER, Frank Cotton!  It turns out that Frank somehow survived the events of  HELLRAISER  and HELLRAISER 2 (He did not explain how),  and has returned to our realm to become a major cinephile. Frank reached out to us and asked if we would be willing to post his thoughts on some of 2017’s biggest releases. Well, we certainly weren’t going to turn him down, I mean, this is FRANK COTTON. So, here you go. Here are Frank’s unedited thoughts on some of this year’s films.

Cinema is pleasure. Cinema is pain. Cinema is the human psyche projected on the screen in front of us; take my hand and journey with me inside of mine.

THE BLACKCOAT’S DAUGHTER – From the twisted mind of Oz Perkins, THE BLACKCOAT’S DAUGHTER tells the tale of two young women facing a sinister threat from an unseen force at an isolated prep school.

I remember my first time away from home at University. University can be a time of learning, both in the classroom and out. I took many lovers during my time at University, as I believe that one’s time there should be a time of experimentation, both mentally and physically. How I long for that freedom once again; but perhaps that freedom was not meant to last. We must be careful of the results of our experimentations. That lesson is one that I have learned over many years of personal discovery, yet it is a lesson that can be traced back to my six years at the University of Northern Iowa. I have accrued and inflicted many wounds over my lifetime, both external and internal. Those wounds run deep, especially those that are wounds of the human heart, and sometimes those wounds can cause us to realize that the most sinister threat may be inside of us the whole time. THE BLACKCOAT’S DAUGHTER RATING: THREE STARS

THE BYE BYE MAN – A supernatural thriller based on a short story from the twisted mind of Mr. Robert Damon Schneck, THE BYE BYE MAN tells the tale of three Wisconsin teenagers who find themselves hunted by a supernatural entity who will possess you if you say, or speak, his name.

Ahh, Wisconsin. A state I have many fond memories of. Its lush green trees fill my thoughts to this day. But there is one city in particular that I can never shake from my mind, and that is the sensual city of Milwaukee. My time in Milwaukee was filled with long days and even longer nights. I recall one night in particular after a grueling day as a sales associate for Sherwin Williams, a companion and I went out to unwind in the frigid Milwaukee night. The club was nameless. The outside of it was cold and unremarkable, but the inside was anything but. The atmosphere was something straight out of the Roman empire under Caligula’s rule. Some may call it excess, but I call it humanity.  I cannot recall the specifics, but I will never be able to shake the sound of the hallways echoing with the cacophony of guttural moans, and the feeling of limbs unknown writhing in pleasure. Pleasure, and pain, are the true core of our memories after all. THE BYE BYE MAN RATING: TWO STARS

THE DEVIL’S CANDY – From the twisted mind of Sean Byrne comes this terrifying tale of a struggling painter who becomes possessed by a force from a realm not of our own.

I’ve always believed that my art is taken from my insides. If you were to cut me open, my insides would spill out onto the canvas and create the same images you see in my own books and paintings. I believe that art is pain, and that pain has a face, and it is my job as an artist to show you the face of that pain. But pain can be pleasurable as well. Much of my art is about deriving pleasure from pain. Or even transporting myself to a dimension in which pain and pleasure are one in the same. One of my most vivid memories comes from my travels through the Split Oak Forest in Florida. My companions and I were hiking through the dense fog of Orlando when, suddenly, I broke away. I remember the voice as it intensely called to me.

“To me, Frank. Come to me,” It beckoned.

“Who?” I replied, as I scanned the woods for the distant voice.

“Follow the pain inside your heart, Frank. There you will find me,” The voice answered.

“Who? Who are you? Where are you?”

“I am the learning tree and I shall teach you.”

My heart ached. I walked forward, as if my body was not my own. As I approached, my temples throbbed, sweat seeped through my pores, until finally I reached my destination. An ancient oak, split down its middle, deep and alone in the forest. The branches of the tree began to stir. They SHOT forward toward me, wrapping my body inside of them like a womb. The ends of the branches pierced my skin.

“Ow, that hurt,” I exclaimed, to no avail.

The branches continued their journey through my skin and then deeper into my body– through my pulsing muscles and into my soul. It was in that moment that I was transported to another dimension for the first time. A dimension where I first became unable to distinguish pain from pleasure. The learning tree was the artist, and that day, I was its masterwork. THE DEVILS CANDY RATING: THREE STARS

THE FATE OF THE FURIOUS – From the twisted mind of F. Gary Gray comes the latest installment in the blockbuster FAST AND FURIOUS series, and WHAM! BAM! CRASH! The FAST series is still running on DIESEL POWER. While some may think the addition of Charlize Theron and Helen Mirren is LUDACRIS, I say it ROCKS! This is one FATE that won’t make you FURIOUS. FATE OF THE FURIOUS RATING: FOUR STARS