Hellraiser: New World Pictures/ Cinemarque Entertainment BV
Rating: USA: R/ UK: 18/ France: -12/ Germany: 18/ Australia: R/ Sweden: 15/ Norway: 18/ Finland: K-16

After seeing the less than stellar onscreen results of UNDERWORLD (aka TRANSMUTATIONS) and RAWHEAD REX, horror author Clive Barker held out for the director's chair when making his 1987 film HELLRAISER--a move that would ultimately result in the creation of one the decade's better genre offerings.

Based on Barker's novella, THE HELLBOUND HEART, Hellraiser tells the story of the Cotton family. Frank (Sean Chapman: HELLRAISER 2, TRANSMUTATIONS), the bad-boy hedonist, purchases a weird looking puzzle box in some seedy looking Far East bazaar. He takes the box back to his London home, opening it in the attic...and summoning the Cenobites to this dimension. The Cenobites, who are explorers in the further regions of pain, give Frank the pain/pleasure that he's been seeking by ripping him apart with some large fish hooks attached to chains. As payment for this experience, the Cenobites get to take Frank's soul to Hell.

Soon after, Frank's brother Larry (Andrew Robinson: COBRA, DIRTY HARRY, CHILD' PLAY 3) and his wife Julia (Clare Higgins: HELLRAISER 2, FATHERLAND) move into the house. We learn that Julia and Frank had a pre-wedding affair, and that Julia's never really gotten over it. While moving in, Larry cuts his hand on a nail. While he bleeds profusely, some of his blood spatters on the attic floor, resurrecting Frank, who has eluded the Cenobites. In order to regain his full physical form, Frank needs to feed on other humans--which Julia provides for him. Eventually, Larry's daughter Kirsty (Ashley Laurence: HELLRAISER 2, WARLOCK 3) figures out what's going on and gets the box. She brings the Cenobites back to this dimension so that they can recapture Frank.

HELLRAISER stands out as one of the few 80's horror films to move beyond the slasher formula that was so popular for most of the decade. Instead of giving us a film populated with teens about to become spam, Barker gives us real characters and an intriguing story. The whole thing plays as a surrealist riff on the standard fairy tale storyline--innocent daughter must battle evil stepmother--with the Cenobites thrown in for added effect. It's a horror film for adults, full of philosophical ponderings on the nature of pleasure and pain, as well as an overt sexual tension throughout.

The performances are all credible, particularly those of Clare Higgins and Ashley Laurence. Higgins takes a perverse glee in her turn as the wicked stepmother/adulterous wife that makes her scenes fun to watch. Laurence brings a fresh-faced innocence (as well as a definite sense of sensuality) to the heroine role. Sean Chapman's Frank is equally impressive, especially when you consider that he spends the majority of the film as a fleshless corpse.

Those solid performances aside, the real show-stealers are the Cenobites themselves. Doug Bradley's (NIGHTBREED, HELLRAISER 2) Pinhead is perhaps the most interesting horror villain of the last 20 years. Eloquent, verbose, and intriguing, he stands in stark contrast to the unemotive slashers featured in films like Halloween and Friday the 13th. Equally impressive is Grace Kirby as the female Cenobite. Both Bradley and Kirby's performances make Barker's vision ring true--the Cenobites are both fear inspiring and seductive...often at the same time. Too much of one or the other and Barker's vision would've been compromised.

On the downside, the film suffers from a plodding pace. There are a lot of scenes in the film where nothing much happens. The Cenobites get relatively no screen time, as Barker chooses to keep them shrouded in mystery--which is a nice idea, but the only time the film really kicks into high-gear is when Pinhead is in front of the camera. Still, these are fairly minor quibbles--the film works for the most part.

HELLRAISER features some really gruesome special effects, despite the fact that they look decidedly low-budget. The best effects are the Cenobite make-up and Frank's skinless look, but the other sequences are quite good and fairly disturbing as well. There's more than enough here to satisfy the average gore fan.

HELLRAISER is a fine film from a first time director. Full of both weighty philosophical concepts and fun, over the top gore, it's got something guaranteed to please almost any genre fan. Check it out.




Recommended: Yes