Directed by Gary Sherman

Fantastic resurrection flick – creepy, effective.

Directed by Clive Barker

Monday, April 20, 2009

Hellraiser is a classic horror movie indeed, and I can easily recommend it to real horror fans everywhere. It has been years since I’ve seen Hellraiser, and it was fun to watch again!

Hellraiser Basics

Hellraiser, the first film in the Hellraiser series, is a 1987 British horror film exploring the themes of sadomasochism, pain as a source of pleasure, and morality under duress and fear. Hellraiser and the main antagonist Pinhead are based on Clive Barker’s critically acclaimed novella, The Hellbound Heart; he also wrote the screenplay and directed the film. In the UK, the film was entitled Clive Barker’s Hellraiser. Seven Hellraiser sequels followed, and a remake of the original Hellraiser was announced in 2007. Hellraiser was number 19 on Bravo’s (a cable channel) list of the 100 Scariest Movie Moments. (Wikipedia)

DVD Cover

The Definitive Version of Clive Barker’s Masterpiece.
In a place between pleasure and pain, there is a sensual experience beyond limits. And in a world between paradise and purgatory, there is a horror that feeds the souls of evil. Welcome to the singular vision of Clive Barker and his landmark horror opus, Hellraiser.

Now for the first time ever, experience this horror classic in an all-new version, fully re-mastered in state-of-the-art Dolby Digital 5.1 supervised by THX and packed with extras personally compiled by writer/director Clive Barker, this is Hellraiser as you’ve never seen or heard it before. Now there truly are no limits.

Basic Plot

Clive Barker’s feature directing debut graphically depicts the tale of a man and wife who move into an old house and discover a hideous creature — the man’s half-brother, who is also the woman’s former lover–hiding upstairs. Having lost his earthly body to a trio of S&M demons called the Cenobites, he is brought back into existence by a drop of blood on the floor. He soon forces his former mistress to bring him human sacrifices to complete his body… but the Cenobites won’t be happy about this.

One of the best horror films of the 1980s, Hellraiser is based on Barker’s novel, The Hellbound Heart, and was followed by three sequels.

Watching the Movie (No Spoilers Here)

The movie at its simplest level is a retelling of a story that goes back to Goethe’s Doctor Faustus and beyond: when you sell your soul to evil forces, you will regret it. This time, the story is based primarily around the plight of four main characters: Frank Cotton, the last puzzle owner; his brother Larry and his wife Julia, and their lovely daughter Kirsty, played by Ashley Laurence in her motion picture debut.

Frank Cotton is a despicable, uncaring man who has grown bored with life’s most extreme pleasures. When he hears about a puzzle box which can open the door to a new world of perverse pleasures, he seeks it out.

Frank pays a street vendor thousands of dollars for this puzzle box; when he activates it at home, it opens a door to hell and releases the fury torturous wrath of the sadomasochistic Cenobites. Frank learns that one man’s pleasure is another man’s pain: hooks shoot from the puzzle box and literally pull Frank’s flesh apart. Enter Pinhead, one of the Cenobites, who sorts out some of the mess – arranging the four or five pieces of flesh which only moments before had been Frank’s face — and closes the puzzle box.

Later, while moving into the house, Larry cuts his hand and bleeds all over the place. When his brother’s blood is spilled onto the wooden floor in the “chamber of horrors,” Frank’s body begins to reform itself; however, his body can only regenerate so far, and Frank is now a zombie-like, skinless version of himself. More blood will be required to complete Frank’s transformation, however, so he convinces his brother’s wife Julia to procure the needed blood for him. Julia supplies it by picking up strangers at bars and bringing them home for Frank’s nourishment!

Why on earth would the prim and proper Julia be willing to not only lead men to their deaths, but to attack them with a hammer? Well, some years ago, shortly before her wedding to current husband Larry, Julia had had a forceful sexual encounter with Frank, Larry’s brother, and she enjoyed the erotic, exciting experience so much that she still fantasizes about it frequently. Julia is apparently willing to do damn near anything to get Frank fully restored again.

Along the way, Julia demands to know the full story, and here we see more flashbacks of Pinhead and the rending of Frank’s flesh as Frank relates his experiences to Julia. They plan to run away together soon. “They’ll never find us, not in the whole wide world,” says Julia.

Meanwhile, Larry encourages daughter Kirsty to drop by the house and try her best to befriend Julia, for whose mental health Larry fears. When Kirsty does swing by the old house, she watches in surprise as Julia leads a strange man – the third victim – inside for a hammering and feeding. Kirsty hears the victim’s screams coming from the attic, and of course, goes in to investigate.

That’s enough of my rambling – at least, if you would prefer to see the rest when you watch Hellraiser, which I definitely recommend to any true horror fan.

Possible Spoiler Time – Watch Out!

Julia’s relationship with Larry deteriorates, as all she does is think about Frank. She covers for Frank when Larry hears noises coming from the attic, all of which adds to the darkness of the story. The house is dark shelter during a loud thunderstorm as Larry decides to explore the attic after hearing a noise. After a short but tense exploiration of the attic, he proclaims, “It’s a rat, nothing to be afraid of.” We see Frank slinking in he background.

Kirsty, Larry’s beautiful daughter, seems to be having strange nightmares when she comes to visit. In the course of exploring the source of the screams after seeing her stepmother lead a strange man into the house, Kirsty discovers what is going on and manages to get her hands on the puzzle box. The fun truly begins at the hospital when Kirsty is introduced to the Cenobites!

Movie Reviews – Hellraiser (1987)

Rotten Tomatoes Reviews Hellraiser (52 critic/79 user)

Dread Central Reviews Hellraiser (5 of 5)

Bloody Disgusting Reviews Hellraiser (4 of 5)

Quipster Reviews Hellraiser (1.5 of 5)

MovieCynics.com Reviews Hellraiser (4.5 of 5)

Standard Movie Resources – Hellraiser (1987)

Amazon.com – Hellraiser

Wikipedia – Hellraiser

IMDb – Hellraiser

Credits

Directed by Clive Barker; Produced by Christopher Figg; Written by Clive Barker Starring Doug Bradley, Andrew Robinson, Clare Higgins, Sean Chapman, Oliver Smith, Ashley Laurence; Music by Christopher Young; Cinematography Robin Vidgeon; Editing by Richard Marden, Tony Randel; Distributed by New World Pictures; Release date(s) September 11, 1987; Running time 94 minutes; Country United Kingdom; Language English; Budget $1,000,000 (estimated)me; Gross revenue £763,412 (UK), $14,564,027 (USA); Followed by Hellbound: Hellraiser II