Well before his work became the basis for a wide range of horror properties, one of Clive Barker’s first adaptions for the screen was that of Hellraiser, which he handled himself by being the writer and director of the film. The movie’s success not only helped put Barker further on the map beyond the literary world, with nine sequels being produced following the original, as well as a reboot being produced in 2022 by 20th Century Studios from director David Bruckner and the Candyman franchise.
Hellraiser
8/10
- Release Date
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September 18, 1987
The first Hellraiser movie, which is based on Barker’s horror novella The Hellbound Heart, centers on Larry and Julia Cotton, a married couple who move into the house of the former’s missing brother, Frank, in the hopes of rebuilding their relationship while his daughter, Kirsty, lives nearby to attend school. After an accident inadvertently brings back Frank from a hellish dimension, Julia begins killing men for him to feed on and regenerate. When Kirsty discovers this, she races not only to warn her father but also to find out the truth behind Frank’s supernatural resurrection.
Hellraiser’s Plot Is Tightly-Paced (Much To The Dismay Of Character Development)
Certain Nuances From The Book Just Don’t Translate For The Screen
With a plot that essentially revolves around a mysterious puzzle box, which unlocks the door to a realm of unspeakable evil, many future filmmakers did what Barker was smart not to do — attempt to find a balance between exploring the lore of its world and delivering a string of shocking kills. As is evidenced by the poor reception to nearly every subsequent installment, save for the 2022 reboot, it’s arguably better for the movies to have instead kept a more reined-in focus.
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It will be interesting to see if this Hellraiser, an improvement though it is as a storytelling exercise, can match the original’s cultural footprint.
This couldn’t be more true for Hellraiser in that the film’s plot is really only populated by four characters. However, the disappointment here is that where most movies would look to utilize their smaller casts to offer a deeper sense of character development, Barker instead loses some of the nuances that his 186-page novella offered for his characters, namely that of Julia.
The film’s attempts to explore her ongoing obsession with Frank after a pre-wedding affair with him fail to translate too well onscreen, leaving us to wonder why she chooses to help him. Additionally, Hellraiser‘s Kirsty is clearly meant to be a strong female character, but her lack of chemistry with her boyfriend and the lack of any actual development in the story, further evidenced by her return in Hellbound: Hellraiser II, leaves every character feeling like they’re being motivated by little more than lust.
That said, it’s still Hellraiser‘s relative simplicity that makes the movie such a gripping affair. Seemingly inspired by the works of H.P. Lovecraft, Barker strikes a fine balance between exploring the rules and lore of the Cenobites, while also leaving just enough to the imagination that we’re left disturbed by the unimaginable. Though some elements, like the mysterious vagrant stalking Kirsty throughout the film turning into a winged skeleton creature at the end, could have used more explanation, it still nicely avoids getting buried in exposition.
The Movie’s Cast Only Do So Much To Elevate Their Characters
Our Heroine Is Sadly One Of The Least Interesting Of The Bunch
In addition to the underwhelming character development, one of the biggest issues plaguing Barker’s Hellraiser is the lack of an engaging cast behind said characters, with one of the most disappointing of the bunch being Ashley Laurence as Kirsty. In an era in which we were given Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley in the Alien movies and Jamie Lee Curtis’ Laurie in Halloween, the late ’70s and ’80s saw several iconic heroines in the horror genre. Yet, Kirsty doesn’t hold a candle to any of them.
That’s not to say the entire Hellraiser cast is unimpressive. Even while Oliver Smith may primarily play the character physically throughout the film, Sean Chapman, through his voice alone, is delectably evil as Frank. But, of course, the standout of the movie remains Doug Bradley as the then-unnamed Pinhead, who expertly made use of his minimal screentime to be a truly haunting presence, showcasing why he was the perfect figure to become the face of the series.
Barker’s Visuals Are Appropriately Chilling
The Director Finds The Right Balance Between Grotesque & Generally Horrific
One of the other major areas where Barker’s Hellraiser soars is his visual approach to the film. Despite being his feature directorial debut, the author shows a remarkable grip on the visual language of filmmaking, namely in how he goes about depicting the movie’s violence. Where future sequels would aim to deliver scares via gore, Barker struck a good balance between delivering some twisted visuals — namely those involving the Cenobites’ torture of their victims — and generally unnerving ones, like the various creatures that come from the hellish dimension the Cenobites reside in.
Regardless of some of its narrative flaws, it is still impressive that Hellraiser remains a largely thrilling time some 37 years after it first hit theaters. While his other attempts to adapt his work may not have reached the same enjoyable heights, and the only other filmmaker to have struck the right chord in the franchise’s formula was Bruckner with the 2022 reboot, Barker’s directorial debut remains a chilling, stylish and bizarrely horny ride from start to finish.
Hellraiser re-released in theaters on February 5 and is also being available to stream on Shudder and Prime Video.