Hellraiser (also known as Clive Barker's Hellraiser) is a 1987 British horror film based upon the novella The Hellbound Heart by Clive Barker, who also wrote the screenplay and directed the film. The film spawned a series of sequels. A remake was announced and might be presented in 3D.^[2] Hellraiser was number 19 on the cable channel Bravo's list of the 100 Scariest Movie Moments.^[3]

Plot [link]

Somewhere in Morocco, Frank Cotton (Sean Chapman) buys an antique puzzle box from a dealer. Back in the attic of his house in London, Frank solves the puzzle box, prompting hooked chains to emerge from it and tear deep into his flesh. Black robed, horribly mutilated humanoids appear and attack Frank with hooked chains, tearing him into pieces. Their leader (Doug Bradley), picks up the box and twists it back into its original state, taking Frank's dissected physical remnants back to their realm with them and restoring the room to normal.

Sometime later, Frank's brother Larry (Andrew Robinson) arrives at the house along with his second wife, Julia (Clare Higgins), who previously had an affair with Frank. The pair know Frank as an avowed hedonist and petty criminal, and, presuming that he is in jail in some exotic location, decide to move in. Larry's teenage daughter, Kirsty Cotton (Ashley Laurence), chooses not to live with her stepmother and moves into her own place. While moving into the house, Larry cuts his hand on a nail, and drips blood on the attic floor. The blood somehow reaches Frank in his prison in the humanoids' realm, partially restoring his body and allowing him to escape to the attic.

That night, Julia finds Frank (now portrayed by Oliver Smith) in the attic; still obsessed with him after their affair, she agrees to harvest blood for him so that he can fully restore his body and they can run away together. The next day, Julia begins picking up men in bars and bringing them back to the house, where she murders them with a hammer; Frank then consumes their blood and internal organs, progressively regenerating his own body. Once he has regained enough strength, Frank explains to Julia that he had exhausted all sensory experiences and sought out the puzzle box on the promise that it would open a portal to a realm of new carnal pleasures. Instead, it opened up a portal to the realm of the "Cenobites," who have since taken Frank as their prisoner and subjected him to extreme, sadomasochistic torture.

Meanwhile, Kirsty spies Julia bringing men to the house and, believing her to be having an affair, follows her to the attic one afternoon, where she interrupts a murder. Frank attacks her, but panics when Kirsty grabs the puzzle box. Kirsty throws the box out the window, proving enough of a distraction for her to escape. Outside the house, she retrieves the puzzle box and runs away, but collapses from exhaustion shortly thereafter. After being taken to the hospital, Kirsty solves the puzzle box, summoning the Cenobites. Their leader explains that while the Cenobites have been perceived as Angels and Demons, they are simply "explorers" of carnal experience, practicing a form of sadomasochism so extreme that it transcends the boundary between pain and pleasure. Although they initially attempt to force Kirsty to return with them to their realm, the Leader becomes indignant at the suggestion one of their "subjects" has escaped, and agrees to consider freeing Kirsty in exchange for taking them to Frank.

Kirsty returns home, where Larry tells her that he has confronted and killed Frank. Julia shows her a flayed corpse in the attic, and shortly after the Cenobites show up. Kirsty attempts to escape with Larry, but his language and mannerisms ultimately lead Kirsty to realize that Frank (now portrayed by Andrew Robinson) has in fact killed her father, and is wearing his skin. Frank pursues Kirsty through the house with a knife, inadvertently killing Julia in the process. He eventually corners Kirsty in the attic, where he brags about having killed his brother. The admission summons up the Cenobites, who ensnare him with chains and tear him to pieces. They then attempt to renege on their deal with Kirsty and take her back to their realm. Kirsty's boyfriend, Steve arrives and looks for Kirsty. Kirsty defeats the cenobites by reversing the motions needed to open the puzzle box, sending them back to their realm. Kirsty and Steve leave the house together.

Afterwards, Kirsty tries to burn the box in a garbage dump. A vagrant enters the flames and retrieves the box before transforming into a winged creature and flying away. The box ends back in the hands of the merchant who sold it to Frank, asking another prospective customer, "What's your pleasure, sir?".

Cast [link]

• Andrew Robinson as Larry Cotton / Frank Cotton (Disguised in Larry's skin)
• Clare Higgins as Julia Cotton
• Ashley Laurence as Kirsty Cotton
• Oliver Smith as "Skinless" Frank / Frank The Monster
• Robert Hines as Steve
• Sean Chapman as Frank Cotton
• Anthony Allen as Victim #1
• Leon Davis as Victim #2
• Michael Cassidy as Sykes (Victim #3)
• Frank Baker as Derelict
• Kenneth Nelson as Bill
• Gay Baynes as Evelyn
• Niall Buggy as Dinner Guest
• Dave Atkins as Moving Man #1
• Oliver Parker as Moving Man #2
• Pamela Sholto as Complaining Customer
• Doug Bradley as Lead Cenobite
• Nicholas Vince as Chattering Cenobite
• Simon Bamford as Butterball
• Grace Kirby as Female Cenobite
• Sharon Bower as Nurse
• Raul Newney as Doctor Joey Baxter
• Zach Duncan as Perverted Janitor

Soundtrack [link]

Clive Barker originally commissioned a soundtrack for Hellraiser from the industrial band Coil. The music they supplied was rejected, and Christopher Young provided a more traditional orchestral score for the finished movie. Coil's score, which was apparently described by Barker in a complimentary manner as being "bowel churning",^[4] has been released in isolation as The Unreleased Themes for Hellraiser and as part of the compilation Unnatural History II (CD) (1995).

Coil's original theme was later covered by the Italian black metal band Aborym on their debut album Kali Yuga Bizarre.

Christopher Young went on to contribute the soundtrack to the first sequel, Hellbound: Hellraiser II, for which he won a Saturn Award for Best Music. Subsequent movies in the series used music by different composers.

The Swedish death metal band Entombed recorded a cover version of Young's score (along with sample quotes from the film) and released it on their EP Hollowman.

UK black metal band Anaal Nathrakh sampled Frank Cotton's final words and used in the track "Tractatus Alogico Misanthropicus". Canadian band Skinny Puppy also sampled "Jesus Wept" in the track "Fascist Jock Itch", as did Belgian Industrial act Suicide Commando for their track "Jesus Wept" on their Mindstrip album. More recently, the EBM group Project Rotten sampled Pinhead's line "Oh, no tears please, it's a waste of good suffering!" in their track "Confessions of a Killer".

Various extreme metal bands have also taken parts of the film to use as samples, as introductions to songs. The most common part of the film sampled is Pinhead's famous line "We'll tear your soul apart"

Track listing^[5]

1. "Hellraiser" – 1:43
2. "Resurrection" – 2:32
3. "Hellbound Heart" – 5:05
4. "The Lament Configuration" – 3:31
5. "Reunion" – 3:11
6. "A Quick Death" – 1:16
7. "Seduction and Pursuit" – 3:01
8. "In Love's Name" – 2:56
9. "The Cenobites" – 4:13
10. "The Rat Race Slice Quartet" – 3:15
11. "Re-Resurrection" – 2:34
12. "Uncle Frank" – 2:59
13. "Brought on by Night" – 2:18
14. "Another Puzzle" – 4:06

Total length: 42:40

Reception [link]

Released in the United Kingdom and United States in September 1987.^{[citation needed]} It grossed $14,564,000 the United States and Canada.^{[citation needed]} Critically, the film received mixed to positive reviews. The UK press championed the picture upon its release.^{[examples needed]} Stephen King hailed Barker, and is quoted as saying "I have seen the future of horror and his name is Clive Barker."^{[citation needed]}

However, critic Roger Ebert was less than enthusiastic, commenting "This is a movie without wit, style or reason, and the true horror is that actors were made to portray, and technicians to realize, its bankruptcy of imagination. Maybe Stephen King was thinking of a different Clive Barker."^[6]

As of November 2011, Hellraiser holds a 63% "Fresh" rating on review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes based on 32 reviews.^[7]

Home Media releases [link]

In North America, Hellraiser has been released by Anchor Bay three times, all of which are the original 93 minute version of the film (this is the only version to ever be released on DVD). The original DVD release was a "bare-bones" release and is now out of print. It was re-issued in 2000 with a new 5.1 mix mastered in THX. Finally, it was packaged along with Hellbound: Hellraiser II in a Limited Edition tin case which included a 48-page colour booklet and a reproduction theatrical poster for both films. Anchor bay released the film on Blu-Ray in 2009. This version retains all of the special features found on the 20th anniversary special edition DVD. In 2011, the film was re-released on Blu-Ray under the "Midnight Madness" series label. This version contains no special features.^[8][9]

Remake [link]

Dimension Films' remake of Hellraiser was announced in November 2006.^[10] On October 20, 2010, it was officially announced that Patrick Lussier and Todd Farmer will be directing and writing, respectively, the reboot of the Hellraiser franchise. The film's story will differ from the original film, as Lussier and Farmer did not want to retell the original story out of respect for Clive Barker's work. The film will instead focus on the world and function of the puzzle box. Production will begin in either late 2011 or sometime in 2012 with a 2013 release date. Clive Barker will serve as producer on the project.^[11] Recently, Farmer confirmed that both he and Lussier are no longer attached to the project.^[12][13]

Comic books [link]

The Hellraiser franchise was adapted to comic book form in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Three volumes are available digitally exclusively through Devil's Due Digital.^[14]

References [link]

External links [link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Hellraiser (film)

• Hellraiser at the Internet Movie Database
• Hellraiser at AllRovi
• Hellraiser at Rotten Tomatoes