Hellraiser (1987)

it's like we'd been asleep the previous 50 years...

I swear, new ground is so seldom broke in horror, but I guess the same can be said in any genre. The thing is that the horror genre NEEDS new ground CONSTANTLY - especially these days, we've gone with but - what? TWO groundbreaking horror films (THE EXORCIST and this film...) within 30 years? And it's so easy to get jaded when you're sane enough to keep from killing people 'cause you DON'T know it's not just a film...horror requires something groundbreaking AT LEAST once every decade, but I haven't seen or even heard of anything all that inventive since this film came out. Sure, there's been GOOD horror films, films of very high caliber, but nothing groundbreaking.
Why am I saying all of this? I say all of this because this film deserves to be projected onto the masses by the biggest advertising firms hired by a much bigger company than Anchor Bay. I say this 'cause it's hard to imagine how the world came out of comas from watching the original FRANKENSTEIN (with Boris Karloff) and the world only paid mild attention to this gem.
Sure this film's reputation has grown to mythic proportions (after all, it's almost a sort of mythical film in itself, right?), and the DVD has made a lot of profit since its release, but...I still feel this film has been shortchanged.
What I like most about this film is how it manages to provide very convincing and very effective special effects along with a very complex system of character involvement. It seems like most everyone would say the bad guys are the "cenobites" (see front box cover art for an idea of what that term means if you haven't seen this film;), but the real bad guy in this film is the male leads' brother Frank. I actually thought he really loved Julia...hard to believe he even HAD a soul to tear apart...
The plot itself is intriguing, yet a little bit simplistic. The last two scenes are quite interesting, but the scene prior to those two where Kirsty (sp?), the daughter of the male leads' character, gets rid of the cenobites was a little too tidy and went on for a tad bit longer than it should have, but I think the film would have been unsatisfying somehow had EVERYBODY died at the hands of the strange twist of events depicted in this film. The writer (Clive Barker) really had no other choice, IMO. June 21, 2008

Great Movie

Being new to the Hellraiser movies I recently watched this. Being a huge fan of Horror movies I have to say, this movie is in the top 3 of my favorite horror movies of all time. I highly recommend it. June 14, 2008

Angels to some, demons to others!

One of the greatest horror movies with the greatest villains; the Cenobites. Pinhead (Doug Bradley) leads the Cenobites to unsuspecting victims who opens the box which is also known as the Lament Configuration. The story about the box is detailed in Hellraiser: Bloodlines. If you "solve" the box, the cenobites bring pain in the lines of sharp hooks attached to chains. Some believe the box will bring them pleasure.

* This was in a time period when horror movies were really horror movies aimed at scareing the audience with blood, gore, skin ripping, dismemberment, zombies, and evil characters.*

In the first installment of this series, Andrew Robinson (the zodiac killer from Dirty Harry) is Larry Cotton who is the half brother of Frank Cotton (Sean Chapman). Frank opened the box and was thrown into a S&M Hell. He escapes and is chased by the Cenobites lead by Pinhead who was alerted to Frank's escape by Larry's daughter Kristy when she inadvernently opened the box. Thinking it was strange, played with it and was drawn into the boxes chimes and movements. She didn't realize that there was a price to pay if you opened (solved) the box. Anyway we are lead to Frank and Larry's new wife, Julia, having a fling and it rekindles when Frank returns as a fleshy zombie who needs the blood of others to return completely to human form (complete with skin, nerves, and muscles). Larry's daughter Kristy (Ashley Laurence), stumbles onto Frank and Julia's plan while "accidently" solving the box. Kristy runs into the Cenobites and makes a deal with Pinhead to sub Frank instead of taking her. Will Kristy get her wish? Will Julia and Frank succeed?

Great special effects for the 80's and even for today. The movie is gory and while it's not as scary as it was when it first came out, it's still a great movie to watch. After Pinhead, my favorite Cenobite is Chatterer. Pinhead rules!

Hellraiser 1,2,3 and 4 (Bloodlines) were good, then it just wasn't that appealing anymore. April 15, 2008

First time viewer here!!

I love horror, and finally saw Hellraiser last night. I had put it off for so many years because I thought it would be more sci-fi than horror, which I don't care for. After watching Bravo's scariest movie moments, I decided to take a chance and rent it. To my total surprise, I loved it! The story line was great, as was the acting, as were the scares. Shame on me for not seeing this years ago. I saw where so many future movies were influenced by this and was amazed. Someday, when someone puts out a list of things you must see to call yourself a fan of the horror genre, this had better on it. Not everyone will like it, but everyone should see it. April 13, 2008

BEWARE: The DVD release of HELLRAISER is edited!

WARNING: Both the old DVD and the 20th Anniversary DVD of HELLRAISER are cut!

It is a shame because HELLRAISER (1987) uncut is a wonderful film that borders on art, with a huge cult following.

I remember how shocked I was when I first saw it in the theater. DO NOT BUY Hellraiser ON DVD! MORE THAN ONE MINUTE IS MISSING! THE EDITING IS CHOPPY! THE EFFECT IS SPOILED! The uncut version is readily available on VHS on the secondary market:

Try HellraiserVHS, and HellraiserVHS.

I recommend that everyone boycott the DVD until Anchor Bay gets the message and releases the original theatrical HELLRAISER!
March 15, 2008

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