Hellraiser:
This film was so popular, it spawned a Pinhead comic book from Marvel, a comic book series from Image. Why? Well, let's see. A devious, perverted, evil man named Frank opens a puzzle box he bought from a Chinese man in a bar, and opens it, opening a portal to a hellish dimension of both torture and pleasures. He is torn to pieces and trapped in their domain forever. But, his remains remain under the floorboards. Months later, his nice guy brother Larry, his niece Kirsty, and his bro's wife Julia (who had sex with Frank before their marriage) move into Frank's house. When Larry cuts his hand, his blood drips underneath the floorboards and resurrects Frank. Frank, now a meaty corpse, asks for Julia's help, to seduce men, bring them back, and let Frank suck their blood. Why? So he can regenerate and be with Julia. Meanwhile, his niece Kirsty stumbles upon the puzzle box, and accidentally unleashes the Cenobites, the extadimensional rulers of the hellish, S&M dimension. To avoid capture, she makes a deal, to return Frank in exchange for her freedom. But, can she get Frank and get away from the devious demons??????? Well, I don't know what to say about this movie. It's hard to say anything about it without including "fucked up", "strange", "surreal", "terrifying", and "utterly original and fantastic". Barker brings S&M, grotesque sexuality, and fetishes to horror. The film is very graphic and disturbing, being a work of Barker. The book, Hellbound Heart, prompted Stephen King to say "I have seen the future of horror fiction, and it's name is Clive Barker." This redefined surreal horror. Hell, it redefined horror itself. The cast are great. Andrew Robinson plays the bland, everyday man as Larry, he is completely oblivious of the happenings around him until the very end. It's funny to think about. Clare Higgins is great as the bitchy and evil Julia. She's a bithc to her husband and stepdaughter, and goes to great lengths to bring Frank back from the the dead. She is even horrified by what he's done. Ashley Laurence plays Kirsty, a sweet, nice girl who begins to become wary of the strange happenings around her. Sean Chapman and Oliver Smith play Frank, both in skin and out. They play him like he is: a perverse, evil fucked-up scumbag. There's reference to weird sex fetishes, his bad home life, his strange religous beliefs, his obsession with trying all sexual perversion, possibly molesting Kirsty as a teen. This guy's just bad news, and you want the Cenobites to fuck him up bad. Speaking of those guys, Doug Bradley, Nicholas Vince, Simon Bamford and Grace Kirby do great jobs as Pinhead, Chatterer, Butterball, and the Female. They're not in the forefront, but they have a freakishimage and creepy presence that just haunts you. Pinhead isn't even called that, he's called Leader Cenobite, but Bradley stuck with that guy though all the films, good and bad. The music is really good too, strange and distubing, especially the music box tune during the scene with Kirsty and the puzzle box. Barker directed this film, and wrote it, and his gruesome style shows. It's full of surreal monets, from dream scenes, to the cricket-eating demon hobo, it's definitely not for everyone. Hellraiser will give you a severe mind-fuck, so don't take it as a fun thrill ride, it's a gruesome, shocking film that will haunt you for life. 4/5 stars.
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