Exploring Pain with Hellraiser (1987)

Today I decided to finally experience one of the last big iconic horror movies: Hellraiser. If I'm honest with myself, I really wasn't in the mood for yet another horror movie. I've really been starting to feel the weight of almost only horror movies all month long. But there's only a few days left that I can actually pick what I'm going to watch, and I wanted to make sure I had this one under my belt before it was all over. I figured it would be yet another slasher movie, with a demonic twist, maybe something like Nightmare on Elm Street. Turns out that's really not what it was like at all. Hit the jump for the full scoop!


This is possibly another movie that many people have seen, but I'll just detail the story for those who haven't. The movie starts off with Larry (Andrew Robinson) and Julia (Clare Higgins) as they move into an big old house that has been in the family for generations. Larry's brother Frank (Sean Champman) used to live there, but he's gone missing. Little do they know that he bought a strange puzzle box that, when solved, summoned hooked chains from glowing walls. He was torn apart just before it all vanished, Frank along with it. What they also don't know, is that Julia cheated on her husband Larry, with Frank. Even more importantly, he's not really dead!

Frank soon comes back to life when Larry cuts his hand and blood is absorbed into the floor

First thing that I noticed was the GREAT special effects in the film. The way the walls started to glow, and how the chains shot out of them was cool. How Frank resurrects, almost materializing out of just slime and goo that oozes out of the old floor boards; it was just amazing! Then eventually you meet the Cenobites, which is the group of hellish, alien beings that the famous Pinhead is the leader of. Possibly my favorite Cenobite was the Chattering Cenobite, whose mouth is permanently pulled back so his teeth are always showing and he can only "chatter" them together. But there were plenty of effects and gruesome props on display throughout the whole movie, and almost all of them impressed me in some way or another.

The attractive Kristy has a vision that her father Larry is in danger

The acting was decent, which surprised me a little. Also, all the characters got fairly equal screen time so it's hard to point at one and say they are the main character. The only really good ones (as in good guys) though are Kristy (Ashley Laurence) and Larry. While Kristy did do a pretty good job, it was the actor who played Larry that I recognized as the guy who played Garak the Cardassian in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. He was always a pretty over-the-top actor in that show, and you can see that coming through here, although he does take a bit of a back stage until the end. The famous Pinhead character is played by Doug Bradley. He was really cool and creepy in the way he was so often eerily calm. He gave off an air of confidence about him, as if he knows that the Cenobites are unstoppable as a fact, not opinion. I certainly believed it.

Unfortunately, the Cenobites really aren't in the film all that much. Most of the conflict comes from the Julia and Frank characters, as they try to secretly supply Frank with enough blood to help revive him. The more blood he gets, the more his body regenerates. He's this really creepy gooey skeleton thing at the start, but he gradually grows more muscle and tissue. Each form equally as gross as the last in it's own new horrific way.

Cenobites Chatter, Pinhead, and Butterball (from right to left)

I thought going in that it was just going to be another mindless 80s horror monster movie. Instead it has these themes of pain vs pleasure, Heaven vs Hell, and beauty vs ugliness, and there's probably more I'm just missing. One of the most awesome lines in the movie comes from Pinhead when he attempts to explain who the Cenobites are, but he leaves me with more questions than answers. "Explorers... in the further reaches of experience. Demons to some. Angels to others." To the Cenobites, pain is a beautiful thing, and they want to share it with whoever can solve the puzzle box. When Kristy starts to cry, Pinhead calmly responds "Oooh, no tears, please. It's a waste of good suffering."

Hellraiser took me by complete surprise. It was far better than I ever imagined it would be, although some of the human characters my prove forgettable because they didn't have much character development. The Cenobites, though, are unforgettable and totally awesome! I definitely really want to check out Hellraiser 2 as I've actually read that some people think that it's even better, although I've heard beyond that it falls pretty fast. If you like horror movies, aren't put off by a little blood, and haven't seen Hellraiser, I would easily recommend it!