Director: Clive Barker
Writer: Clive Barker
Starring: Ashley Laurence and Doug Bradley
Body Count: 6
Review: There's a famous Stephen King quote that can be found on just about everything Clive Barker publishes, and it goes something like, "I have seen the future of horror and it is Clive Barker." Now, King claims that he never said that exact sentence, but he does agree with the sentiment behind it. And he does so with good reason.
Clive Barker is the future of horror--or, at least, he was in 1987 when he released Hellraiser. The Hellraiser movies took the slasher genre to an entirely new level, and they truly did bridge the gap between the late 70s/early 80s slasher era and the post-slasher 90s era. All of the slasher ingredients are present, but in addition, the Hellraiser series takes the viewer to an entirely different place. There's much more complexity to the story of Hellraiser than most slasher films. In addition to modernizing the genre, the Hellraiser series also served as a prime introduction for two of the 90s' top horror directors: Tony Randel (who directed Hellbound: Hellraiser II) and Anthony Hickox (who directed Hellraiser III: Hell On Earth).
The Hellraiser saga begins with Frank, a curious and disgusting man who obssess over an ancient puzzle box. When he solves the box, Frank opens the gate to Hell and suffers the consequences by losing his flesh and dying. Some time later, Frank's brother Larry and his wife and daughter move into the house Frank once occupied. But Frank, truly, never left. For when Larry accidentally spills a drop of his blood on the attic floor, Frank escapes from Hell, still in desperate need of skin. He teams up with Larry's wife Julia, with whom he once had an affair. Julia is still very much attracted to Frank, and agrees to help him by luring victims to the house so that Frank can kill them and absorb their essence, thereby strengthing himself. All seems fine, until Julia's daughter Kirsty (the beautiful Ashley Laurence) discovers the puzzle box and opens it, bringing into the world Pinhead (Bradley) and his trio of Cenobites (demons). They make a deal with her. If she brings Frank back to them, she can live.
The deal works fine...but not before Kirsty's father Larry is killed by Frank and Julia. Frank takes Larry's skin, and then betrays Julia and kills her to make himself even stronger. He puts his attention on Kirsty, but before he can take her flesh, he is ripped apart by the Cenobites.
Hellraiser is smart, clever, bloody as hell, and, in short, just a totally kick-ass horror film. It's also one of the best slasher films ever made. A true classic.
Trivia: Barker adapted the story of Hellraiser from his own short novel, The Hellbound Heart. The novel is still in print, and is definitely worth reading.
