10.20.2009

31 Days of Horror: Hellraiser

Hellraiser (1987)

There are some movies that despite their age - never stop being nasty pieces of work. After several failed adaptations of his stories into film - Clive Barker decided to adapted his own novella The Hellbound Heart into this film which he also directed.

Frank Cotton (Sean Chapman) is a sick and twisted fellow who finds and opens up the Lament Configuration - a puzzle box that links this world with another dimension filled with demons called Cenobites whose specialty is pleasure and pain. Your pain - their pleasure. Frank's skin is ripped off with chains and he is torn apart as a result of opening the box.

Later Frank's brother Larry (Andrew Robinson) and his new wife Julia (Clare Higgins) move into Frank's house. Larry's daughter Kirsty (Ashley Laurence) dislikes Julia. When blood is spilled on where Frank died - it brings him back - well mostly. Julia who has had an affair with Frank finds him and helps him. Frank needs blood to become whole. A lot of blood. And then Kirsty discovers what Frank and Julia have been up to along with finding the box.

Hellraiser is just one nasty gory movie. It's great to watch it with a large group of people who are all squeamish. As bad as all the chains and all the hooks and all the skin removing -that doesn't seem nearly as bad as when Julia whips out a simple hammer and goes to town on a victim for Frank.

Like all popular horror movies - this film spawned eight sequels. Part two wasn't bad but the rest are all a waste of film. And now there is rumours of a remake. It's to be expected I suppose but why bother when there's a perfect film right here that will tough to top. You can't really make it any more suspenseful, more terrifying and more gorier than it already is.


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