Hellraiser
Director: Clive Barker
Writer: Clive Barker
Based on: his own novella The Hellbound Heart
Cast: Andrew Robinson, Clare Higgins, Ashley Laurence, Sean Chapman, Oliver Smith, Doug Bradley
Seen on: 1.11.2024

Plot:
Frank (Sean Chapman) is always looking for new ways to find pleasure, no matter the ethics. When he hears about a puzzle box that opens a realm of untold sensations, he tracks it down, opens it and finds himself taken by the Cenobites. But the deal is not exactly what he was expecting. When quite by chance he is resurrected through his brother Larry (Andrew Robinson), he convinces Larry’s wife Julia (Clare Higgins), who is in love with him, to help him return to his old form. But the Cenobites are not done yet.

As a horror film fan, the Hellraiser movies have been long on my radar, but I had never actually seen even one of them, so I decided to finally rectify that situation. And while I can’t say that I loved this film, I can definitely see why it has rightfully become a classic of the genre.

The outstanding part about Hellraiser is the one thing everybody knows: Pinhead (Doug Bradley) or rather the Cenobites in general. The character design, make-up and costume are quite literally out of this world and like nothing we have seen before, I think. It’s suggestive, atmospheric and impressive. It is no surprise that they stuck around in the collective imagination.

In general, I have to say, the special effects are really fantastic, especially given that the film is almost 40 years old. They are not flawless, but they hold up for the most part, working well enough even for a contemporary audience.

I probably shouldn’t have been surprised by the overt sexuality of the film, but I was (I knew practically nothing about the story going in). It makes me curious about the more recent installments in the franchise. I somehow doubt that they were allowed to be so obviously kinky. I mean, the kink is not subtext here. It’s the point. I was equally surprised by how well I could understand that Julia was drawn to Frank at first – not so much in his half-dead monster form – because damn he is hot. More often than not when men try to make bad boys attractive for women, the results are almost hysterically bad. Here, it works.

The movie does have some pacing issues, and sometimes I felt like I was missing points of the story that might have been explained in the novella (which I haven’t read). I also would have liked to see the angelic side of the Cenobites a little more (as the tagline – Demons to some. Angels to others. – promises), their seductive side if you will or why anybody would make a deal with them at all. But I am intrigued enough to continue on with the series, I think.

Summarizing: absolutely a classic for a reason.