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Hellraiser

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For the Motörhead song, see "Hellraiser"
Hellraiser
File:Hellraiser DVD.jpg
Hellraiser DVD
Directed byClive Barker
Written byClive Barker
Produced byChristopher Figg
StarringAndrew Robinson
Clare Higgins
Ashley Laurence
CinematographyRobin Vidgeon
Edited byRichard Marden
Tony Randel
Music byChristopher Young
Distributed byNew World Pictures
Release dates
September 11, 1987
Running time
94 min.
LanguageEnglish
Budget$1,000,000 (estimated)

Hellraiser is a 1987 British horror film exploring the themes of sadomasochism, pain as a source of pleasure, and morality under duress and fear. It is based on the critically acclaimed novella The Hellbound Heart by Clive Barker, who also wrote the screenplay and directed the film. It is also the first film in the Hellraiser series of films, having seven sequels as of 2006. This movie was number 19 on the cable channel Bravo's list of the "100 Scariest Movie Moments".

Summary

Directed by Clive Barker. Filmed in Technicolor. The UK title for the film is Clive Barker's Hellraiser.

Template:Spoiler

Hellraiser stars Sean Chapman as Frank Cotton, Andrew Robinson as Larry Cotton, Clare Higgins as Julia Cotton, and Ashley Laurence as Kirsty Cotton. It also introduces an unnamed character dubbed Pinhead by fans, so called because his head is etched out in a grid of incisions with large pins inserted at the intersections. Pinhead is the lead Cenobite in the film and was played by Doug Bradley. A large part of the movie focuses upon the tensions and moral dilemmas raised as Frank attempts to use his previous relationship with Julia to persuade her to commit murder to release him from the hell he unwittingly entered. Julia deceives strangers, her husband, and ultimately herself in her attempts to release him.

The Cenobites are presented as distorted humanoid beings, "explorers of the further regions of experience; demons to some, angels to others," from a parallel existence where death either can be suspended indefinitely or simply does not occur. Their existence is an eternal exploration of all that the body and mind can experience. Their world is a realm of endless sensuous experience, though this takes the form of endless experiments in pleasure and pain without the possibility of death as a release. The Cenobites ministrations may seem like torture to those on the outside but they exist in a world beyond such opposing notions of pleasure and pain, where all sensation is indivisible. Of the Cenobites' mission, Pinhead famously states, "We will tear your soul apart".

The beginning of the film revolves around a legendary antique puzzle box (otherwise known as the Lament Configuration) rumored to be the key to a mystical realm of unimaginable sensual pleasure. The gilded box is in fact a gateway to the Cenobites' world. When the puzzle is solved it summons the Cenobites, who seize the opener of the box and remove him to their realm of endless experience.

Frank Cotton, an impulsive and violent man who has grown weary of the many pleasures available to him on Earth, searches for the legendary box, which he has heard can lead him to pleasure beyond any that Earth can provide. But too late, he realizes that the Cenobites' idea of sensuality may not be perfectly aligned with that of mortals, and that he has instead condemned himself to an eternity of torture. The only remnant of himself in the "real" world is the residue of his blood and flesh on the floorboards in his parent's house (which he took over).

Some time after Frank's disappearance, his brother Larry and his family move into his parent's old abandoned house, and a drop of blood from an accident causes Frank's body to begin regenerating from the residue in the floor boards. His heart reforms and begins beating, and the bone and organs of his body return, but he lacks skin and flesh. Julia, who became Frank's lover while engaged to the mild-mannered Larry, takes pity on him and agrees to help restore him. Tempted by the promise of having her old lover again, she seduces men in bars, lures them up to the empty attic room where Frank hides, and kills them; thus providing the blood needed for his body to regenerate and his spirit to escape from the Cenobites. Frank consumes their bodies, regenerating more of his own flesh each time.

Julia's stepdaughter Kirsty discovers what is going on. She finds out about Frank and the Cenobites too late to save her father, whose skin Frank steals and wears. Kirsty offers to lead the Cenobites to Frank in exchange for her own life and they claim that "maybe" they will spare her if she does. In a final showdown with the murderous Frank and her duplicitous step-mother, Kirsty tricks Frank into stabbing Julia and he betrays her, draining her blood. Kirsty manages to deliver Frank into the clutches of the Cenobites, although not before Julia solves the box in an attempt to get revenge on him. As the hundreds of hooks from the Cenobites' torture devices pierce and rip Frank's skin once more, Frank's last words on Earth are "Jesus wept." The Cenobites seek to take Kirsty as well, their deal having only suggesting they might leave her. Frantically manipulating the box, she discovers she can use it to send them back to their own domain as well as summon them. The Cenobites exorcised from our world, Kirsty attempts to destroy the box by burning it, but in a final show of its mysterious nature it is taken from the fire by a flying skeletal figure that disappears into the night. We last see it innocuously in the hands of the merchant who sold it to Frank, as he haggles with a new customer over the price of the box, asking "What's your pleasure?".

Soundtrack

Clive Barker originally commissioned a soundtrack for Hellraiser from the industrial band Coil. However the music they supplied was rejected, and Christopher Young provided a more traditional orchestral score for the finished movie. Coil's score, which was apparently described by Barker in a complimentary manner as being "bowel churning",[1] has been released in isolation as The Unreleased Themes For Hellraiser and as part of the compilation Unnatural History II (CD) (1995).

Christopher Young went on to contribute the soundtrack to the first sequel, Hellbound: Hellraiser II, for which he won a Saturn Award for Best Music. Subsequent movies in the series had music by different composers.

The Swedish death metal band Entombed recorded a cover version of Young's score (along with sample quotes from the film) and released it on their EP Hollowman.

Film series

As of 2006, there have been eight feature-length movies produced in the Hellraiser series, plus several fan-produced short films (see below). Clive Barker directed the first feature himself, though he also had executive producer credits for the second, third and fourth films. He was only credited as character creator for the remaining films in the series.

Fan films

There is an expanding base of Hellraiser-themed fan films that are either complete or in various stages of production.

  • No More Souls was the first completed fan film, written and directed by makeup effects guru Gary J. Tunnicliffe. It was released as a hidden feature on the commercial DVD release of Hellraiser: Deader.[2]
  • The Hellraiser Chronicles: A Question of Faith[3] is a British short film that was completed in 2004. Directed by R.N. Millward (Cherry Orchard), this film was designed to recapture as much of the mood and atmosphere of the original as possible. This film is currently in DVD mastering.[4]
  • Skankobite[5] is a Hellraiser parody fan film, made by David Lindabury in 2005. The film's runtime is 8 minutes and is available on DVD.[6]
  • Hellraiser: Prophecy[7] is a crossover fan film, combining the themes from Hellraiser and the 1995 Christopher Walken film The Prophecy. This film was completed in March, 2006, and premiered on 24 March 2006 at I-CON XXV[8]. The total runtime is 22 minutes. Two teaser trailers are available at the official website [9]. The film has been reviewed by the Reel Horror Podcast[10] and The Horror Podcast[11]. The fan film was released on the Internet via YouTube in two parts[12][13] on October 31, 2006. [14].[15]
  • Hellraiser: Apocalypse is a web-only parody.[16]
  • Hellraiser: Early Grave is a four-minute short depicting a lone military officer's run-in with the forces of Leviathan[17] . This film is currently in production. A trailer is available online.[18]
  • The Hellraiser Chronicles: Life-bringer is a project from the creator of two fan films, Obsession (abandoned) and Game of Chance.[19] The film is in post-production.

DVD releases

According to Amazon.com, there are two releases of Hellraiser. A 118 minute version released in 1998, and a 94 minute version released in 2000. The one from 1998 has 2.0 audio, while the 2000 has 5.1 and mastered in THX.

Remake

On October 20, 2006, Clive Barker announced via his official website that he would be writing the remake to the original Hellraiser. He will not be directing the remake, but he hopes to join as a producer along with Bob Weinstein. [20]

References

  1. ^ http://undergroundmusiclibrary.blogspot.com/2005/11/coil-interview.html
  2. ^ http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0436636/combined
  3. ^ http://www.cenobite.com/forum/showthread.php3?s=&threadid=2333
  4. ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0496614/
  5. ^ http://www.skankobite.com/
  6. ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0479156/
  7. ^ http://www.hellraiserprophecy.com/hrp/
  8. ^ http://www.iconsf.org/
  9. ^ http://www.hellraiserprophecy.com/hrp/
  10. ^ http://media.libsyn.com/media/vidhack/reel_horror-ep11-03272006.mp3
  11. ^ http://www.allaboutmedia.co.uk/horror/hps02ep01_121006.mp3
  12. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPXscvNm3Xc
  13. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QuL9tMhvEwg
  14. ^ http://www.youtube.com/
  15. ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0805545/
  16. ^ http://www.shitmovies.net/movies/web-exclusive-shit/hellraiser_apocalypse.php
  17. ^ http://www.cenobite.com/forum/showthread.php3?s=&postid=134256
  18. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgeQKGSs_2M
  19. ^ http://www.cenobite.com/forum/showthread.php3?s=&postid=134348
  20. ^ http://www.clivebarker.info/intsrevel15.html
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