Hellraiser

 

Director - Clive Barker (Nightbreed)
Starring - Andrew Robinson (Pumpkinhead II: Blood Wings), Clare Higgins (Hellbound: Hellraiser II), and Ashley Laurence (Hellbound: Hellraiser II & Lightning Bug)
Release Date - 1987
Genre - Horror
Tagline - "Demon to some. Angel to others." "It will tear your soul apart" "There are no limits" "Satan's done waitin" and "We have such sights to show you"
Format - DVD (Personal Collection)

Rating (out of 5):

     There are some films that do not need to be reviewed.  The point of a review is to warn or inform a potential viewer of a film they have never seen before.  Every horror fan and their mother has seen this film and if you have not then stop sniffing your grandma's panties and go watch it.  When I started writing reviews I swore I would never write reviews for movies everyone has seen, but instead, the movies they have never heard of or possibly forgot about.   That being said, I rarely hear any horror fans mention the sequels to Hellraiser after part III.  Therefore, I will review the entire series over time.  I assume the reason they are never mentioned is because they suck ass...but I will find that out for myself.  I watched this movie a few times when I was younger and did not like it as much as the film's two sequels.  Don't get me wrong, it was a good movie but for a child it is kind of boring.  I grabbed the Echo Bridge set last year and threw it on my shelf and never watched them.  After debating with myself for a few days I decided it was time to see what it is no one is talking about.

     The film follows the Cotton family as they move in to their new home.  Frank, Larry Cotton's brother, squatted in the home recently and left the home in a disgusting manner.  Frank is completely different than his brother and is often searching for the next level of pleasure.  Frank found a puzzle box, that when opened, demons from another world are able to cross over.  These demons, Cenobites, derive joy from the "sins of the flesh."  After they torture Frank, they rip him apart and take his pieces back to their world.  Larry, his new wife, and his daughter are unaware that Frank is dead.  Larry's wife Julia (Higgins) had an affair with Frank and is infatuated with him.  While moving furniture in to the new house Larry snags his hand on a nail and the blood brings Frank back...but not in one piece.  Frank has to suck the life out of the living in order to retain his body.  Julia, still in love with Frank, lures men looking for a little tail back to her house for Frank.  Kirsty (Laurence), Larry's daughter, catches Julia sneaking a man in to her home and finds a skinless Frank killing him.  She flees taking with her the puzzle box before collapsing on the street.  She awakens in the hospital with the puzzle box.  Like any curious youngster, she solves the puzzle box bringing forth the cenobites.  Their goal is to take her back to their realm so they can explore her flesh but change their minds when they discover Frank has escaped.  When Kirsty arrives at her father's home, she finds a skinless body in the room where she found Frank.  Her father tells her that he killed Frank and will try to explain the entire situation to the police in hopes they understand.  The cenobites arrive and want the man responsible for the dead man in the room.  Kirsty panics and tries to save her father before figuring out that Frank had killed her father and stole his skin.  Kirsty then tricks Frank in to entering the room with the cenobites and they rip him apart...again.  The cenobites now want to take Kirsty back with them but she uses the puzzle box to send them back.  Kirsty tries to burn the box but a homeless man she has encountered on multiple occasions enters the flames to retrieve it before turning in to a skeleton with wings and flies off.

     No matter how many times you watch this movie it will blow your damn mind. I like this movie more now than I did when I was younger.  I can now understand and appreciate it a little more.  The acting in this one is great.  The entire cast pulled off their role perfectly and gave that movie a great and entertaining atmosphere.  I also want to point out that Ashley Laurence is very nice to look at.  The special effects are superb.  This film set the standards for late 80's practical effects.  Those "purist" horrorhounds often compare this film to every other flick they see and I can understand why.  The story is mind blowing.  That was something I never did wrap my head around in my youth, however, now I do and I love it.  The story is a little more complex than your standard horror films.  Barker is a genius and is an amazing writer.  A lot of time and thought was placed behind the story and the book this was based on.  I also really like how each cenobite has their very own back story.  I am a sucker for back stories.  The game series Twisted Metal is great at delivering this very same thing.  There is a downside to this film, at least for me there is.  The film has a lot of slow scenes that seem to drag on.  A few of the scenes are actually pointless and just add more time to the films running time.  Overall, this is a true horror classic that needs to be seen.