Sam Panico One of my interns at work asked me the other day, "You watch all of these horror movies. Don't they scare you?" No, they really don't. Not anymore. Some of them disturb me, like the cannibal films. But only one still kind of scares me. And that would be Hellraiser.There was a time, before the eight sequels to the film and BDSM became well-known fodder on shows like Law and Order that Hellraiser seemed like it came from some alien land more than its true origins. The monsters of the piece, the Cenobites, looked like nothing we'd never seen before, all leather, blood and open festering wounds. The idea that sex and pain could be united wasn't trite back in 1987, so it's difficult to convey the power and fear this film had. It feels wrong. It feels dirty. It feels evil.How this movie was made for $900,000 blows my mind. It looks lush and gauzy at times and at others, like when we see Frank's heart and veins being formed, positively nightmarish. It shouldn't be this good - it was Clive Barker's directorial debut after seeing two of his stories, Underworld and Rawhead Rex, get made into films he didn't agree with. What kind of deal with the devil did this guy make to turn out something so perfect on his first try?The misconception that many people have of this film is that the Cenobites are the villains or the horrific part of the film. If we go to the poster for proof, it says "Demon to some. Angel to others." Pinhead and his gang are there to move the story forward and certainly look frightening, but they are bound by the rules of Hell and the Lament Configuration, the puzzle box that sets the events of the film in motion. Matter of factly, these rules aren't truly defined yet - is Pinhead a tortured soul stuck in the wheels of some hellish bureaucracy? Who created these boxes? None of this matters - "You solved the box. We came." Yes, it can be that simple. You don't need to know all of those answers right now. When Frank buys the box and Morocco and solves it, he gets the answer to limitless pleasure and the drug of all drugs - as Frank says, "I thought I'd gone to the limits. I hadn't. The Cenobites gave me an experience beyond limits. Pain and pleasure, indivisible."That's one of the real horrors of this film: people will do anything to chase a high. That high may be drugs. It may be pain. It may be a sexual experience that makes the mundane life you're stuck in - like Julia, bored with a suburban life with a husband she never really wanted in the first place. The chance to be with Frank again, no matter if she has to seduce and kill for him, is everything. Notice that as he gains more muscle and skin with each drop of blood, she becomes more and more attractive, her skin gaining new color.The main horrors of this film are family and other people. The Cotton family had issues before the Cenobites took one step out of Hell. The most horrific part of the film comes when Frank wearing Larry's skin, stares at his niece in a moment of sexual longing and says, "Come to daddy." Sure, there are horror film trappings, but this type of morally bankrupt behavior isn't something confined to the cinema. So much of the betrayal and madness of Frank and Julia could happen. It happens every day.Hellraiser exists on the border of reality. It's fantastic, but it feels like it could happen. It's the dangerous fiction that could overwhelm your truth if you go too far. In that it's quite similar to Barker's Candyman, which posits that saying the name of its titular character three times in a mirror is all it takes for him to come for you. That seems too unrealistic, but do you want to take the chance? And much like the black leather garbed creatures in this film, Candyman must adhere to a dream logic that only comes into our reality when you allow the genie from the bottle.

The Movie Diorama I've seen some weird films, particularly of the horror genre, but this is definitely up there. A couple move into rundown house but unbeknown to them there is an evil presence beneath the floor boards that seeks human flesh. But why? How? That's where the lovingly kind (don't forget fashionable) Pinhead comes on screen with his fellow Cenobites. Ohhh what a sight they are, can only imagine its what I look like after a night out and crawling through a bush. The plot is pretty much Sweeney Todd but with chains, leather and plenty of blood. Much like a sex dungeon right? (...just mine then). The inclusion of the puzzle cube and the Cenobites are what makes the story interesting and ominous. I'm sure there is thick lore behind this puzzle cube which I can only presume is explored further in the sequels. I admired the ambiguity and imagination that the plot conveys. The pace was inconsistent, I found the second act to be too slow and the constant flashbacks of the first act did confuse me at times. Typically there's an indication that we're watching a flashback, but in this it kept switching back and forth instantly with no transitions. Slightly jarring. The main star is the make up. Absolutely authentic and the real use of prosthetics and effects just heightens the originality. Clive Barker doesn't dream, he just conceives nightmarish visions and graciously puts his ideas on screen. Skin being pulled by chains or a pool of blood suddenly growing into a raw fleshy human thing (totally trademark that), it's strangely beautiful to watch and the technical aspects are admirable. The acting is as you would expect, nothing fantastic but gets the job done. The final scene with the homeless man was somewhat unexpectedly weird, wasn't too sure what to think about it. Also, I wanted more Cenobite action! Not nearly enough screen time! However, as 80's horror films go this is a strong addition to the genre and completely memorable. Particularly Pinhead...who will tear your soul aparrrrrrt!

christopher-underwood It is not perfect. It is a little uneven and some of the acting seeming flat. The late decision to insist (stupidly) on switching the film from England to US means some locations make little sense and that there are inevitable problems with accents and dubbing. Having said all that, this is Clive Barker's first film, he had very limited budget and yet produces the most original of horror films. The struggles with sex, religion and violent tendencies are omnipresent despite the various censors' connivance at keeping the lid on and the diabolic creations are sublime. From the very first indication that things might be very wrong indeed, when the drops of blood are drawn from the floor, this wondrous creation doesn't stop. No CGI so all praise indeed and if some of the effects are better than others, the figures from beyond are about as iconic as you can get. Awesome is a word I do not use but here seems most appropriate.

soldier-81367 "I have seen the future of horror, and his name is Clive Barker." High praise indeed from the grand master Stephen King.With the Cenobites — and Doug Bradley's Pinhead in particular — Clive Barker created a unique horror movie presence."They're like sado-masochists from beyond the grave," Barker once said of the Cenobites. (In fact, Barker has joked that at one point he wanted to call the film "Sado-Masochists From Beyond The Grave" adding that "Hellraiser turned out to be far weirder that I expected.") Pinhead was revealed (in Hellhound: Hellraiser II) to be Captain Eliot Spenser, a World War II veteran who had discovered a devilish box known as the Lament Configuration and found in it his own portal into Hell. By detailing his character in the manner he did, Barker made him instantly accessible to his audience, using the "war is hell" metaphor in its most literal sense.Hellraiser Set a New Horror Movie Standard with outstanding effects, Frank the monster and PINHEAD! make this film a must-see. But what about that Chatterer cenobite? Well, I don't know about him, but from the beginning I am going to say that Clive Barker's Hellraiser is fantastic!With Hellraiser, Clive Barker created one of the most genuinely disturbing movies of the last 30 years.