Post by tav7623 on Oct 19, 2010 11:30:57 GMT -5
“We have such sights to show you!”- Pinhead
This line spoken by Hellraiser’s lead cenobite Pinhead in the second half of the movie is a perfect description of what Clive Barker and company have in store for those who dare watch this horrific cinematic masterpiece. Hellraiser which was released theatrically on September 18th 1987 and grossed over 14 million dollars at the box office was writer/director Clive Barker’s first feature film and is based on his own novella “The Hellbound Heart”. Hellraiser tells the story of the Cotton family and how the outlaw Brother/Uncle, Frank (Sean Chapman/ Oliver Smith), while in Asia comes across a puzzle box that is literally a gateway to hell. Upon returning to his deceased mothers house Frank manages to solve the puzzle box, opening the gate which allows a group of demons called the Cenobites led by Pinhead (Doug Bradley) to come through. The demons literally tears Frank's body apart with hooked chains and then take the pieces of Frank with them back to hell. Unbeknownst to the Cenobites, they miss one small piece of his body which allows Frank to escape when his do-good er brother Larry (Andrew Robinson) who has now moved into the house along with his wife Julia (Claire Higgins) badly cuts his hand and drips blood all over the room where Frank had summoned the Cenobites, landing on the missed body part causing his body to slowly reform. Frank is eventually discovered by Larry’s wife Julia who once had an affair with Frank and still harbor’s feelings for him. Julia agrees to help Frank regain his full body by luring/seducing and then incapacitating various men, allowing Frank to drain them of their blood. Enter Kristy (Ashley Laurence), Larry’s daughter from another marriage, who has moved into the area and is living in an apartment despite an offer instead to live in her father’s house, mainly because of Kristy’s dislike for her step-mother Julia. Kristy shortly after moving to the area comes to suspect that her step-mother is having an affair and decides to check in on her. Kristy spies Julia enter her father’s house with another man while her father is at work and goes in to confront her, not knowing about the horror that is unfolding up in the house’s attic, not to mention the horrors she would soon have to endure.
Pros: Hellraiser is a well made horror movie that is loaded with lots of bloody and gory special effects, memorable lines, soaring classical musical score, and well composed shots/scenes.
Cons: The only bad thing about Hellraiser is the editing which is done in a way that tends to imply a lot of things instead of showing them. Which for some people can lead to some confusion in regards to certain character connections and certain plot elements such as how a few drops of blood on a piece of wood could resurrect Frank let alone who could Frank suck the blood through the floor boards.
Overall I give Hellraiser an 8 out of 10 because of its superb blending of music, story, and special effects which creates a gloriously gruesome portrait of the darker corners of humanity, the pleasure they derive from the suffering of others, and how far they are willing to go in order to once again feel that kind of pleasure. I would recommend this movie if you enjoy your horror movies with messy practical special effects, if you’ve never seen a Hellraiser movie before (if you haven’t then there is something wrong with you, and you need head over to Netflix and put it in your queue pronto), for those of you who are already acquainted with and enjoy this movie or the subsequent sequels then I would recommend ya’ll check out next year’s upcoming documentary “Unearthed: The Hellraiser Saga which will focus on every movie in the series up until next year’s Hellraiser remake/reboot and will have Clive Barker's participating not only in interviews but also with new exclusive artwork that will show the evolution of the creation of a Cenobite.
Well I hope you enjoyed this review, and as always please feel free to tell me what you think about the review below. I hope that you will check out the Day 2 review of the 2009 direct to DVD Survival of the Dead and that you will head over to the general board thread RESULTS: 13 Days of Halloween to vote for the final two movies which will end at Midnight on October 24th.