Hellraiser (1987) - #1

Hellraiser

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

(Really Liked It)

Netflix Synopsis:  A couple move into an old house and soon discover a hideous creature -- the husband's half-brother (and his wife"s former lover) -- hiding upstairs.

The Peeps:  Clive Barker (writer; director), Clare Higgins, Andrew Robinson, Ashley Lawrence

Quick Run Down: Very Imaginative, Awesome Effects and Make-Up, Tense and Atmospheric

Worth the Watch?:  Hell Yeah!

Hellraiser joins us with Julia (Clare Higgins) and her husband, Larry (Andrew Robinson), as they move into an old house belonging to Larry's family.  Frank, Larry's brother, had apparently been been "squatting" there, as his things are scattered everywhere, though he's nowhere to be found.  We find out that Frank is a pretty strange bird, really into the pushing the boundaries of pain and pleasure and often mixing the two, which is largely highlighted in the opening film of the scene, where Frank buys a strange little box (called the Lament Configuration) from a strange little Asian man and opens it to unleash God knows what to do Christ knows what.  Back to Larry and Julia, Julia had an intimate experience with Frank, and she's still hung up on it, often fantasizing about it while breathing heavy and softly rubbing her neck.  When blood is accidentally spilled in the top room of the house that Frank was apparently tortured in by the things he unleashed (they are unique human-like creatures called Cenobites), Frank emerges from the floorboards (literally) a mess of tendons and flesh and begs a shocked and appalled Julia to help him build his body again.  Blood needs to be spilled for this to be accomplished, and Julia, still reminiscing on the hot and steamy night she had with Frank, agrees, and BAM - we gotta ourselves a horror movie, Folks!

Hellraiser is the first of only three feature films from horror acclaimed novelist and filmmaker (among other things) Clive Barker. Based on his novella, The Hellbound Heart, Barker helms the pen and the camera on Hellraiser, and he does an awesome job. The film is immensely creative and has some great, great special effects and make-up.  I mean Stan Winston The Thing great.  The Cenobites are a particular pleasure to see because they are very uniquely thought of and incredibly grotesque.  Pinhead is the iconic face of Hellraiser and is probably one of the mostly widely recognized faces in horror.  I've never read The Hellbound Heart, but I'm sure even more Cenobites abound in the story and it would be really interesting to see how Barker describes them in his stories.  I've only read a few of his works, all short stories, but I know he has a very keen eye for capturing grotesque imagery.  What he does in his stories, though, Barker is pretty good at doing in this film, also.  The rise of Frank from the floorboards after his first taste of blood is AWESOME!  Hideously grotesque and sharply original, I think it would capture audience's interest on the big screen even today.  Couple that with the other awesome make-up and special effects in the film and Barker's surprisingly dynamic and tension creating camera work, and you've got a really good film in your midst.  The plot is interesting, but it's mostly just a vehicle for Barker to show off his creative chutzpah.  When the film was made, he was quickly climbing the ladder of success in writing with his innumerable fiction pieces and a few scripts, and, even though Hellraiser wasn't received well critically, it was a pretty big commercial success.  Still, Barker sold the rights to it after making the first one, moving back to fiction again.  He would later regret this, saying he had no idea a franchise would emerge from such a cult film.  Eight more films would follow the first Hellraiser, giving the series a total of 9 installments (all of which are on Netflix and all of which I will subsequently review!), and Dimension, the current owners of the rights, is planning a reboot soon.  That sounds intriguing as hell to me, as long as they keep the effects real and not CG.  There's a lot that could be done with a quality reboot of a film like this.  All that being said, I've only seen the original.  That'll change here soon, though!

Again, the story is mediocre, but the elements involved aren't.  In addition to the awesome make-up, the soundtrack is noteworthy.  Christopher Young put together some really good music.  Barker originally had the band Coil produce and perform music for the film, but the studio didn't like it.  So, Young was put to work.  As for the acting, Andrew Robinson's role is mostly perfunctory, until the end, and Clare Higgins has a very intense 'deep in thought' look that really gives her character the depth needed to sell the audience on her decisions.  Ashley Laurence, who plays Kirsty, Larry's daughter, is very attractive and a decent actress, but she really fails it at the end.  It may have just been her terrible dialogue, but she starts to give the film a very cheesy feel as it wraps up.  Still, the movie works really well, and it's a good watch.

So, if you wanna watch a horror film that focuses on the grotesque and macabre with some incredible special effects, awesome imagination, and pretty thorough tension, check out Hellraiser.  It's on Netflix*!

"No tears, please.  It's a waste of good suffering."

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