article Related Topics:
Hellraiser_Series :: Hellraiser :: Hellraiser_-_Inferno :: Hellraiser_-_Bloodline :: Hellraiser_VI_-_Hellseeker :: Hellraiser_III_-_Hell_on_Earth
 

For the Motörhead song, see "Hellraiser"

Hellraiser is a 1987 British horror film exploring the themes of sadomasochism, the inversion between torture and pleasure, and morality under duress and fear. It is based on the critically acclaimed novella The Hellbound Heart by Clive Barker, who also wrote the screenplay and directed the film. It is also the first film in the Hellraiser series of films, having seven sequels as of 2006.

The original working title for the film was Sadomasochists From Beyond the Grave.

Summary

Directed by Clive Barker. Filmed in Technicolor. The UK title for the film is Clive Barker's Hellraiser.

Hellraiser stars Sean Chapman as Frank Cotton, Andrew Robinson as Larry Cotton, Clare Higgins as Julia Cotton, and Ashley Laurence as Kirsty Cotton. It also introduces an unnamed character dubbed Pinhead by fans, so called because his head is etched out in a grid of incisions with large pins inserted at the intersections. Pinhead is the lead Cenobite in the film and was played by Doug Bradley. A large part of the movie focuses upon the tensions and moral dilemmas raised as Frank attempts to use his previous relationship with Julia to persuade her to commit murder to release him from the hell he unwittingly entered. Julia deceives strangers, her husband, and ultimately herself in her attempts to release him.

The Cenobites are presented as distorted humanoid beings, "explorers of the further regions of experience; demons to some, angels to others," from a parallel existence where death either can be suspended indefinitely or simply does not occur. Their existence is an eternal exploration of all that the body and mind can experience. Their world is a realm of endless sensuous experience, though this takes the form of endless experiments in pleasure and pain without the possibility of death as a release. The Cenobites ministrations may seem like torture to those on the outside but they exist in a world beyond such opposing notions of pleasure and pain, where all sensation is indivisible. Of the Cenobites' mission, Pinhead famously states, "We will tear your soul apart".

The beginning of the film revolves around a legendary antique puzzle box rumored to be the key to a mystical realm of unimaginable sensual pleasure. The gilded box is in fact a gateway to the Cenobites' world. When the puzzle is solved it summons the Cenobites, who seize the opener of the box and remove him to their realm of endless experience.

Frank Cotton, an impulsive and violent man who has grown weary of the many pleasures available to him on Earth, searches for the legendary box, which he has heard can lead him to pleasure beyond any that Earth can provide. But too late, he realizes that the Cenobites' idea of sensuality may not be perfectly aligned with that of mortals, and that he has instead condemned himself to an eternity of torture. The only remnant of himself in the "real" world is the residue of his blood and flesh on the floorboards in his house.

Some time after Frank's disappearance, his brother Larry and his family move into Frank's abandoned house, and a drop of blood from an accident causes Frank's body to begin regenerating from the residue in the floor boards. His heart reforms and begins beating, and the bone and organs of his body return, but he lacks skin and flesh. Julia, who was once Frank's lover before marrying the mild-mannered Larry, takes pity on him and agrees to help restore him. Tempted by the promise of having her old lover again, she seduces men in bars, lures them up to the empty attic room where Frank hides, and kills them; thus providing the blood needed for his body to regenerate and his spirit to escape from the Cenobites. Frank consumes their bodies, regenerating more of his own flesh each time.

Julia's stepdaughter Kirsty discovers what is going on. She finds out about Frank and the Cenobites too late to save her father, whose skin Frank steals and wears. Kirsty offers to lead the Cenobites to Frank in exchange for her own life and they claim that "maybe" they will spare her if she does. In a final showdown with the murderous Frank and her duplicitous step-mother, Kirsty tricks Frank into stabbing Julia and he betrays her, draining her blood. Kirsty manages to deliver Frank into the clutches of the Cenobites, although not before Julia solves the box in an attempt to get revenge on him. As the hundreds of hooks from the Cenobites' torture devices pierce and rip Frank's skin once more, Frank's last words on Earth are "Jesus wept." The Cenobites seek to take Kirsty as well, their deal having only suggesting they might leave her. Frantically manipulating the box, she discovers she can use it to send them back to their own domain as well as summon them. The Cenobites exorcised from our world, Kirsty attempts to destroy the box by burning it, but in a final show of its mysterious nature it is taken from the fire by a flying skeletal figure that disappears into the night. We last see it innocuously in the hands of the merchant who sold it to Frank, as he haggles with a new customer over the price of the box.

Soundtrack

Clive Barker originally commissioned a soundtrack for Hellraiser from the industrial band Coil. However 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 complementary manner as being "bowel churning",http://undergroundmusiclibrary.blogspot.com/2005/11/coil-interview.html has been released in isolation as The Unreleased Themes For Hellraiser and as part of the compilation Unnatural History II (CD) (1995).

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

Film Series

As of 2006, there have been eight feature-length movies produced in the Hellraiser series, plus several fan-produced short films (see below). Clive Barker directed the first feature himself, though he also had executive producer credits for the second, third and fourth films. He was only credited as character creator for the remaining films in the series.

Fan Films

There is an expanding base of Hellraiser-themed fan films that are either complete or in various stages of production.

  • No More Souls was the first completed fan film, written and directed by makeup effects guru Gary J. Tunnicliffe. It was released as a hidden feature on the commercial DVD release of Deader. More information can be found on the Internet Movie Database. *

  • The Hellraiser Chronicles: A Question of Faith is a British short film that was completed in 2004. Directed by R.N. Millward (Cherry Orchard), this film was designed to recapture as much of the mood and atmosphere of the original as possible. This film is currently in DVD mastering. More information can be found on the Internet Movie Database.*

  • Skankobite is a Hellraiser parody fan film, made by David Lindabury in 2005. The film's runtime is 8 minutes and is available on DVD. More information can be found on the Internet Movie Database.*

  • Hellraiser: Prophecy is a crossover fan film, combining the themes from Hellraiser and the 1995 Christopher Walken film The Prophecy. This film was completed in March, 2006, and premiered on 24 March 2006 at I-CON XXV. The total runtime is 22 minutes. A teaser trailer is available at the official website. A 20 minute review (containing spoilers) was put forth in episode 11 of the Reel Horror Podcast, around 50 minutes into the episode. More information can be found on the Internet Movie Database.*

  • Hellraiser: Early Grave is a four-minute short depicting a lone military officer's run-in with the forces of Leviathan. This film is currently in production. A trailer is available online.

Quotes from Hellraiser

  • The mysterious person who sells the box, to Frank: "It's yours," and sotto voce once Frank has left: "It always was..."
  • Frank Cotton, in Larry's skin, to Kirsty: "Come to Daddy."
  • Kirsty Cotton, when she is told she will get help (Hellbound HR 2): "You got a ticket to hell?"
  • Joseph Thorne *: "Hunt for the engineer ... and the engineer will hunt you."
  • Pinhead, on what Cenobites are: "Explorers in the further regions of experience. Demons to some. Angels to others."
  • Pinhead, on what Cenobites do: "We'll tear your soul apart."
  • Pinhead: "We have such sights to show you." almost word-for-word by the apparition of the main character's wife in Event Horizon.
  • Pinhead: "To Black Miracles - To Dark Wonders. Another life of Unknown Pleasures. And It's yours Terri. Complete the Pattern, Solve the Puzzle. Turn the Key."
  • Pinhead: "No tears, please. It's a waste of good suffering."
  • Pinhead: "I... am... pain."
  • Pinhead: "Do I look like someone who cares what God thinks?"
  • Pinhead: "Hell is the sound of razors going through flesh. I'm just here to turn up the volume."
  • NY capped guy: "Are you alright?"
  • Pinhead, as Kristy threatens him with the Lament Configuration: "How can it send us back child? We are already here, and so are you."
  • Pinhead, to Kirsty: "But trick us again, child, and your suffering will be legendary ... even in Hell."
  • Pinhead: "We have eternity to know your flesh."
  • Daphne Sharp, to Joseph Thorne: "Whatever you want, as many times as you want it."
  • Pinhead, to Winter: "You should have stayed in the family business."
  • Frank: "Jesus wept."
  • Dr. Channard: "And to think, I hesitated."

DVD Releases

According to Amazon.com, there are two releases of Hellraiser. A 118 minute version released in 1998, and a 94 minute version relased in 2000. The one from 1998 has 2.0 audio, while the 2000 has 5.1 and mastered in THX.

References

External links

1987 films | Horror films | Hellraiser | Films based on horror books | Wisconsin films

Hellraiser | Hellraiser | Hellraiser | Восставший из ада (фильм) | Hellraiser

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Hellraiser".

Home Page • arts • business • computers • games • health • hospitals • home • kids & teens • news • physicians • recreation• reference • regional • science • shopping • society • sports • world