Hellraiser (1987)

CLIVE BARKER

HELLRAISER

UK, 1987

8/10

"I thought I'd gone to the limits. I hadn't. The Cenobites gave me an experience beyond limits... pain and pleasure, indivisible."

After writing a novel, THE HELLBOUND HEART, Clive Barker wrote and directed an film adaptation of his novel, the cult classic HELLRAISER (1987). Barker wrote the novel with the intention of turning it into a film, so the transition is quite nice, though there are a few differences.

The film opens with this weird-ass guy Frank buying a mysterious puzzle box, and solving it, bringing in some weird-ass monsters named the Cenobites, who torture him. Eventually, his brother Larry and unfaithful wife Julia move in to the house. When Larry bleeds on the floor, Frank is revived (without skin, which is pretty disgusting yet I couldn't bring myself to look away) in front of Julia, and convinces her to lure horny men into the attic so he can kill them to grow his skin back.

Of course, one of the things this film does masterfully is blur the line between pain and pleasure. I have not read THE HELLBOUND HEART, although I plan to, and I have heard that during one of the torture scenes, Frank is masturbating, and his semen is on the spot in the attic in which he is revived. Of course, this was cut out, as that would probably be difficult to get into a movie today, let alone 1987. If I remember correctly, the scene in which Larry accidentally cuts his hand on a nail is interwoven with a flashback scene of Frank and Julia having sex. As the quote above states, the Cenobites gave pain, and within that, deeper pleasure.

Even if you've never seen HELLRAISER, you've no doubt heard of it, and have most likely formed a connection in your mind to this movie and the Cenobites, namely Pinhead, the most known and infamous of the Cenobites (seen on the poster above). However, this film, unlike the sequels, is not about the Cenobites. Sure, Frank wants Julia to get as many men as possible so he can grow his skin back quickly and escape the Cenobites, but they really only exist to advance the plot and emphasize the pain/pleasure parallel. In fact, HELLRAISER is a very character-driven horror film, more so than others. Almost every consequence comes as a result because of a character's actions, not some unseen supernatural force, whereas the sequels threw this out the window to focus on Pinhead and other Cenobites. I understand that the Cenobites eventually had to take on a larger role because it's much easier to market these films with Pinhead as the center of focus, but I honestly do believe that's why all of the sequels were generally disappointing.

Incredibly gory and disturbing, though some of the effects have not aged as well as others, HELLRAISER is a film that, quite honestly, must be seen by anyone who claims to be a fan of horror. While the franchise quickly went downhill, the original is still worth watching. It is probably one of the most unique films in the entire genre, I have had difficulty finding any film that is similar to it. While it definitely will not appeal to everyone, it is still a great film. It will, as Pinhead says in one of the most iconic lines in horror history, tear your soul apart.