Hellraiser

In Morocco, Frank Cotton, a hedonist, buys a puzzle box said to open the door to a realm of otherworldly pleasure. At home in his bare attic, Frank solves the puzzle and hooked chains emerge, tearing him apart. A black-robed figure resets the puzzle and the room is restored back to normal.

Later, Frank's brother Larry moves into the same house. He intends to rebuild his relationship with his second wife, Julia. Larry is unaware that Julia had an affair with Frank before her marriage to him. When Larry accidentally cuts his hand moving furniture, his blood drips on the attic floor and resurrects Frank in a ghoulish form. Julia later finds Frank; still obsessed with him, she agrees to help restore his body, so they can run away together. Julia picks up men in bars and brings them back to the attic, where she mortally wounds them. Frank then drains their life, which regenerates his body. Frank explains to Julia that, having exhausted all sensory experiences, he sought out the puzzle box, which was supposed to provide access to a realm of new carnal pleasures. When the puzzle was solved, the "Cenobites" came to subject him to extreme sadomasochism.

Kirsty, Larry's teenage daughter, sees Julia bringing a man to the house and follows her to the attic, where she finds Frank. She evades Frank and escapes with the puzzle box, collapsing shortly after. Awakening in a hospital, Kirsty solves the box out of curiosity, and unknowingly summons the Cenobites and a monster called the Engineer, which she narrowly escapes from. The Cenobites' leader (referred to by fans as "Pinhead") explains that although they have been perceived as both angels and demons, they are simply "explorers" from another dimension seeking carnal experiences, and they can no longer differentiate between pain and pleasure. When they attempt to force Kirsty to return to their realm with them, she informs Pinhead that Frank has escaped them. The Cenobites agree to spare Kirsty and re-capture Frank instead, with the condition that Frank must confess to escaping them.

Kirsty returns home, where Frank has killed Larry and has taken on his identity by wearing his skin. Julia shows her what is purported to be Frank's flayed corpse in the attic. Kirsty then leaves the attic, locking the door behind her. The Cenobites appear and, not fooled by the deception, demand the man who "did this". Kirsty tries to escape, but is held by Julia and Frank. Frank reveals his true identity to Kirsty and, when his sexual advances are rejected, he decides to kill her to complete his rejuvenation. He accidentally stabs Julia instead and drains her without remorse. Frank chases Kirsty to the attic and, when he is about to kill her, the Cenobites appear after hearing him confess to killing her father. Now certain he is the one they are looking for, they ensnare him with chains with hooks and tear him to pieces. When the Cenobites double-cross Kirsty and attempt to take her, she grabs the puzzle box from Julia's dead hands and banishes them by reversing the motions needed to open the puzzle box. Kirsty's boyfriend Steve arrives and they both escape the collapsing house.

Afterward, Kirsty throws the puzzle box onto a burning pyre. A vagrant who has been stalking Kirsty walks into the fire and retrieves the box before transforming into a winged skeleton-like creature and flying away. The box ends up with the same merchant who sold it to Frank, where he offers it to another customer.

Cenobites are extra-dimensional beings who appear in the novella The Hellbound Heart, the sequels The Scarlet Gospels and Hellraiser: The Toll, and the eleven Hellraiser films. They are from a religious sect in Hell known as the Order of the Gash, describing themselves as "explorers in the further regions of experience", and granting sadomasochistic pleasures to those who call upon them. Author David McWilliam notes that the Cenobites are described in more explicitly sexual terms in the book compared with their depictions in the film adaptations.[8] Julia, played by Clare Higgins, was Barker's choice to carry the series as its main antagonist after Hellbound, reducing the Cenobites to a background role. However, fans rallied around Pinhead as the breakout character, and Higgins declined to return to the series.[9] In The Ashgate Encyclopedia of Literary and Cinematic Monsters, David McWilliam writes that the Cenobites "provide continuity across the series, as the stories become increasingly stand-alone in nature".[8]

Having been dismayed at prior cinematic adaptations of his work, Barker decided to attempt to direct a film himself.[10] Christopher Figg agreed to produce and New World Pictures agreed to fund the film for $900,000.[10]

Hellraiser was filmed at the end of 1986 and was set to be made in seven weeks, but was extended over a nine- to ten-week period by New World.[11] The film was originally made under the working title of Sadomasochists from Beyond the Grave.[11] Barker also wanted to call the film Hellbound but producer Christopher Figg suggested Hellraiser instead.[10] Barker spoke fondly in The Hellraiser Chronicles about the filming, stating that his memories of production were of "unalloyed fondness ... The cast treated my ineptitudes kindly, and the crew were no less forgiving". Barker admitted his own lack of knowledge on filmmaking, stating that he "didn't know the difference between a 10-millimetre lens and a 35-millimetre lens. If you'd shown me a plate of spaghetti and said that was a lens, I might have believed you".[11] After filming, New World convinced Barker to relocate the story to the United States which required overdubbing to remove some English accents.[10]

During production, Doug Bradley had trouble hitting his marks during his takes in make-up as he could not see through his black contact lenses and was afraid of tripping over Pinhead's skirts.[11] The special effects of the unnamed creature, known as "The Engineer" in the novels, proved challenging as the creature was difficult to manoeuvre.[12] Other issues included a rushed shoot of the Chinese restaurant scene with Kirsty and Larry, due to the lateness of the person responsible for letting the cast and crew into the establishment.[12] Numerous props of Lemarchand's box, constructed from wood and cut-out brass, were produced by special effects designer and maker Simon Sayce; due to the box's delicate construction, Sayce would lie on the floor under the Cenobites during some takes in case it was dropped, in order to save himself the eight hours it took to create another.[13]

The film had two editors: Richard Marden[10] and an uncredited Tony Randel.[12]

Clive Barker had to make some cuts on the film after the MPAA originally gave it an X rating.[10] Two and a half shots were excised from the first hammer murder, including a closeup of the hammer lodged in the victim's head. In the scene where Julia murders another man, the actor playing the victim felt that it made sense for him to do so naked. The nude murder scene was shot but, ultimately, replaced with a semi-clothed version. Close-ups of Kirsty sticking her hand into Frank's stomach, exposing his guts, a longer version of the scene where Frank is being torn into pieces, and the final shot where his head explodes were also cut.[14]

In an interview for Samhain magazine in July 1987, Barker mentioned some problems that censors had with more erotic scenes in the film:

Well, we did have a slight problem with the eroticism. I shot a much hotter flashback sequence than they would allow us to cut in.... Mine was more explicit and less violent. They wanted to substitute one kind of undertow for another. I had a much more explicit sexual encounter between Frank and Julia, but they said no, let's take out the sodomy and put in the flick knife.

Barker also said that the seduction scene between Julia and Frank was initially a lot more explicit: "We did a version of this scene which had some spanking in it and the MPAA was not very appreciative of that. Lord knows where the spanking footage is. Somebody has it somewhere ... The MPAA told me I was allowed two consecutive buttock thrusts from Frank but three is deemed obscene!"[14]

Barker originally wanted the electronic music group Coil to perform the music for the film, but that notion was rejected by New World.[12] Editor Tony Randel then suggested Christopher Young as a replacement for Coil for the film's score.[12] Young had previously composed scores for other horror films such as the 1985 slasher A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge and the 1986 Tobe Hooper film Invaders from Mars.[12]

The score for Hellraiser was released in 1987.[16] AllMusic stated that the score proved that Christopher Young "hadn't used up all of his ideas for the horror genre" and that Young had matched "Barker's stylish look with a gothic score that mixed in exciting synthesizer effects".[16] The music that Coil had recorded as a demo for their version of the score was later released as The Unreleased Themes for Hellraiser.

Hellraiser had its first public showing at the Prince Charles Cinema on 10 September 1987.[17] The film was released in the United States and Canada on 18 September;[18] it grossed $14,564,000 in the United States and Canada.[4][5] It made £763,412 in the UK.[19]

Hellraiser was initially banned in Ontario by the Ontario Film and Video Review Board.[20][21] By a 3-2 majority vote, the film was deemed "not approved in its entirety as it contravenes community standards". It was banned because of its "brutal, graphic violence with blood-letting throughout, horror, degradation and torture".[21] In August 1987, Hellraiser was passed by the Ontario Film Review Board, but only after several cuts were made to the film. New World Mutual Pictures of Canada cut about 40 seconds to get the film passed with an R rating. Thirty-five seconds of an extended torture scene featuring hooks pulling apart a body and face were removed, as well as a scene of squirming rats nailed to a wall.[22]

In North America, Hellraiser has been released by Anchor Bay Entertainment three times, all of which are the original 93-minute version of the film (this is the only version to ever be released on DVD). The original DVD release was a "barebones" release and is now out of print. It was reissued in 2000 with a new 5.1 mix mastered in THX. Finally, it was packaged along with Hellbound: Hellraiser II in a Limited Edition tin case which included a 48-page colour booklet and a reproduction theatrical poster for both films. Anchor Bay released the film on Blu-ray in 2009. This version retains all of the special features found on the 20th anniversary special edition DVD. In 2011, the film was re-released on Blu-ray by Image Entertainment under the "Midnight Madness" series label. This version contains no special features. However, various Blu-ray releases have since emerged with a highly variable selection of special features, although most of these are recycled from previous DVD releases.[32][33]

In October 2015, Arrow Films released the film on Blu-ray in the UK along with Hellbound: Hellraiser II and Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth in a Scarlet Box edition featuring new 2K restorations and extensive list of bonus features including feature-length documentaries on the first 2 films and a bonus disc containing additional content such as 2 short films by Clive Barker.[34] The Scarlet Box is now out of print in the UK and replaced by a 3-film edition of the set without the bonus disc.[35]

A US version of the Scarlet Box (with the same material) was released by Arrow on 20 December 2016.[36]

Concept art by Gary Tunnicliffe for Pinhead from Patrick Lussier's defunct Hellraiser reboot. Several ideas and concepts were developed for the project, with William Fichtner at one point considered for the role of the Hell Priest.[39][40]

Hellraiser was followed by nine sequels, the first seven of which featured Doug Bradley reprising his role as Pinhead. Clive Barker has stated that he signed away the story and character rights to the production company prior to the release of the first film, not realizing the critical and financial success it would be.[41]

Plans for a Hellraiser remake were publicized in October 2007, when Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury were reported to be directing, with Barker producing and Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton writing the script.[42] After Maury and Bustillo left the project, Todd Farmer and Patrick Lussier were attached, with production slated for an early 2012 release. However, following the release of Hellraiser: Revelations (2011) to secure continuing rights, Farmer and Lussier were no longer involved.[43][39] By 2018, after the critical and commercial success of Halloween, Miramax Films had confirmed plans for new Hellraiser installments.[44] The film was green-lit in early 2019, with David Bruckner directing from a script written by Ben Collins and Luke Piotrowski.[45][46] It was released on Hulu in October 2022. A Hellraiser television series is in development at HBO.[47]

• List of British films of 1987
• List of horror films of 1987

Wikiquote has quotations related to Hellraiser (film).

• Hellraiser at IMDb
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