I'll be the first person to say that taking any horror film and bringing the characters and story into the future is a horse shit idea. A prime example is the embarrassingly bad Jason X which (thankfully) was cast aside when writing the script for Freddy Vs. Jason. Think of it, they would've had to transport Freddy into the future in a shitty little spacecraft and have him land on whatever the fuck Jason landed on at the end of Jason X. Was that Earth 2? Whatever it was, that movie was horse shit. But for some reason, Hellraiser 4: Bloodline actually pulled it off! I was surprised as Hell!
         What needs to be made clear is that the film doesn't just take place in the future. We are taken on a journey through 500 years, learning about the creation of the mysterious puzzle box, it's creator and his lineage. Learning about the beginnings of the box was a clever idea and was pulled off well. The only aspect that could've been improved upon was the initial "gates of Hell" that are opened when the puzzle box is cursed. I would've expected there to be a massive set of iron gates which would be red hot from the fires of Hell and surrounded by assorted burnt body parts. Apparently the filmmakers decided that it would simply be a hole in the corner of the room with cobwebs and piercing white light. White light? From the bowels of Hell? Hmmm...
         I'm sure 99% of people would assume that Pinhead would've been the first Cenobite to pop his head out of Hell. Correct? Wrong. The first cenobite we're introduced to is Angelique, a foxy bitch with an urge to kill the man who created the puzzle box after he witnessed her arrival. He is attempting to create another box to close the gates of Hell in which he helped open. Angelique doesn't look like the cenobites we're used to. She looks like a regular human with big tits and a sexy ass. Until, that is, Pinhead arrives in 1996. He ultimately takes over the show and forces Angelique to revert back to her more grotesque appearance. (Which includes the badass leather and a split scalp.)
         Unfortunately, there are only three new cenobites besides Angelique. A cenobite dog that seems to be the incarnation of Chatterer and a pair of twins who are brutally attached by the head. Not nearly enough new cenobites if you ask me, but the dog nearly makes up for it.
         I would give Hellraiser 4: Bloodline 3/5 stars. Which is about 2 stars more than I expected to give it. The fact that it pulls off each of the three time periods in the script is worthy of 2 stars alone. A complete surprise!