“Oh, No Tears, Please. It’s a Waste of Good Suffering!” – Pinhead

Written, directed and based on the novella; The Hellbound Heart by Clive Barker (Nightbreed, Lord of Illusions), 1987’s Hellraiser is truly a fiendishly unique vision. Offering a discomfiting and sadistically smart alternative to mindless gore, this classic horror rarely has a tiresome moment, utilising its outstanding practical effects and onslaught of intriguing ideas to great effect, to the point where the film sequentially became a victim of its own success, becoming so influential that it not only spawned a decades’ worth of poor imitations, but even its own series of continuously disappointing sequels. Nevertheless, it can’t be denied that the original Hellraiser is an unforgettable excursion into a netherworld of monsters, murder and disloyalty.

Plot Summary: When Kirsty’s father, Larry, and stepmother, Julia, move into Larry’s childhood home, Julia discovers the newly resurrected, partially-formed body of her brother-in-law, Frank, a sexual deviant who lost his physical form after solving a supernatural puzzle box which summons a group of multi-dimensional demon sadists known as the Cenobites. Now, to reclaim his body, Frank convinces Julia, his one-time lover, to lure unsuspecting men back to the house so he can use their blood to revitalise himself and escape the clutches of the demonic beings pursuing him…

One of the central concepts of the Hellraiser franchise; a seemingly innocuous puzzle box that is, in reality, a gateway to Hell, has its basis in the urban legend of The Devil’s Toy Box, which concerns a six-sided cube constructed of inward-facing mirrors. According to the legend, individuals who enter the structure will undergo disturbing phenomena that will simultaneously grant them a revelatory experience while permanently warping their minds. This story has heavy ties to the idea of insanity, which is certainly prevalent throughout Hellraiser, as the film, similar to the rest of Clive Barker’s work, is very surreal in nature. However, unlike the rest of Barker’s work, the budget for Hellraiser was astonishingly low at around £730,000. Whilst this was most likely due to Barker’s lack of filmmaking experience (only having directed two short films at the time), Hellraiser quickly earned over £14 million, immediately cementing Barker as a promising writer and director in addition to establishing Hellraiser as a series we’d still see years down the line.

The superb cast of Andrew Robinson, Clare Higgins, Sean Chapman and Ashley Laurence all effectively serve their purpose within the narrative, as Hellraiser admirably values its characters more than many other horror films, developing each of the family members, so they feel both genuine and distinct from one another, ensuring the pivotal plot threads of adultery and Julia’s subsequent guilt remain riveting. Then, of course, there is Doug Bradley as the film’s icon, Pinhead, who, despite being kept in the background for a majority of the runtime, gives a solid performance, especially considering Pinhead, like the rest of the Cenobites, has very limited dialogue and screen-time.

Speaking of iconography, while Hellraiser no doubt has its fair share of recognisable shots, much of this iconic imagery isn’t due to the cinematography by Robin Vidgeon, but more so because of the film’s masterful creature, costume and prop design. As the camerawork itself, although dynamic, often just falls back on conventional close-ups and mid-shots, with the occasional zoom or tilt thrown in to further magnify the effects on-screen.

For the original score, Clive Barker originally wanted the experimental electronic music group, Coil, to compose music for the film. But, when that notion was rejected, the film’s editor Tony Randel, suggested composer Christopher Young as a replacement. And truthfully, I feel this was for the better, as Young’s score perfectly lends itself to the dreamlike, otherwordly tone of the film, with the opening theme; Hellraiser, standing as a grand orchestral piece with a dark, fairy tale-like undertone, whilst tracks like Resurrection and The Lament Configuration have an unnerving, almost gothic quality to them.

Yet, it’s undoubtedly the artful designs of Hellraiser that make the film so unique, with the grotesque and somewhat fetishistic designs of Pinhead and the other Cenobites being particularly striking as Barker drew inspiration for their diverse looks from punk fashion, catholicism and visits he took to S&M clubs in New York and Amsterdam. Interestingly, in spite of the character’s reputation, in the novella, Pinhead is present but is not the lead Cenobite. The Female Cenobite, the Chatterer and the Engineer, all have more prominent roles, but as a result of the visually impressive yet extremely restrictive prosthetic make-up for the respective characters, Pinhead took point on account of Doug Bradley’s prosthetics allowing for the most facial movement, promptly resulting in Pinhead becoming the face of the horror franchise.

In summary, Hellraiser is truly one of the most gruesome, captivating and indelible horror films of the 1980s, even though it’ll no longer leave audiences chilled to the bone, just as it did way back when. Despite rarely receiving the attention it deserves, Hellraiser is not only an exceptionally eerie slice of ’80s pop culture, but an important entry in the history of cinema, as not only did the film force ostentatious critics to accept that the horror genre could have artistic weight, but it also pushed the boundaries of practical effects, with many of its costumes, animatronics and prosthetic make-up effects even outshining today’s CG efforts. Rating: 8/10.