Series Overview
These films are based on the book The Hellbound Heart by British horror writer Clive Barker.
The infamous series Hellraiser is the perfect archetypal example of the body horror genre, and it has set the standard for the entire future of the subgenre. Body horror is the style of horror that derives its gasps, shocks, and cringes from our intrinsic disgust and apprehension to the notion of drastic body dismorphic transformations or injuries to our frail human frames.
The basic premise of this film series is that there exists a universe divergent, yet parallel, to our own where certain human beings who have transcended their physical forms due to various forms of extreme self-inflicted sadomasochism called the Cenobites control a realm. Within this realm they capture thousands of humans who seek knowledge, experience, and truth through a plethora of crude vices and sin. They then torture these individuals for millennia through vicious emotionless experiments in the sadomasochistic pleasure through pain. The films mostly deal with the Cenobites (primarily their leader Pinhead), and how they interact with individuals in the mortal world through the means of a mysterious ancient puzzle box.
First Film
The first and original Hellraiser film was written and directed by the original novelist Clive Barker. It is a British film released in 1987, and based on Clive’s novella The Hellbound Heart. The basic premise is that a hedonistic man named Frank buys an ancient puzzle box in an exotic land during his search for new pleasures, thinking it will grant him supernatural means of delight. When Frank solves the puzzle box to summon the Cenobites he is sucked into their realm by flesh-tearing hooks (Pinhead’s signature form of torture) and disappears, leaving the house empty.
Later his brother Larry, his new wife Julia (who it is revealed had an affair with Frank the day she married Larry and has lusted for him alone while staying married to Larry for his money), and Larry’s daughter Kirsty, move into the abandoned home, believing Frank is dead or simply missing. However, after Larry accidentally cuts himself and drips blood on the spot Frank disappeared he is resurrected from the Cenobite realm as a mutilated skinless version of himself. Julia soon discovers this monstrous version of Frank, and agrees to bring him victims so that he may resurrect himself and escape from the horrific tortures of the Cenobites, and he promises to renew their love affair if she helps him. She then becomes a femme-fatale, seducing men and luring them to the house so she can kill them for Frank. As Frank absorbs the bodies he gradually starts to return to his normal self, yet is caught mid-way through a feeding by Kirsty who then escapes with the puzzle box. She then solves the box and summons the Cenobites, but before they take her she tells them about the escaped Frank, and they agree to trade back her freedom in exchange for Frank. Meanwhile Frank kills his brother Larry so that he may steal his skin as a disguise. When she return to find her father killed, Frank tries to kill her. He then accidentally kills Julia in the process and consumes her without a second thought in order to complete himself.
The Cenobites then come to claim him back, and ensnare him in hooks once more. They then try and take Kirsty as well but she sends them back by solving the puzzle box in reverse. She then tries to destroy thepuzzle box in a fire but after she leaves a decrepit vagrant steals the box before becoming a winged creature and flying off to return the box to the man who sold it to Frank.
Hellraiser II: Hellbound
The second installment in the series Hellraiser II: Hellbound (along with the third movie) are the only truly classic Pinhead films. This film still has Clive Barker writing the original story for the film as well as acting as an executive producer on the project as opposed to a director. The film starts off with Kirsty now in a psychiatric hospital due to people not believing her delusions about the events of the first film. She shares her information with her doctor (Dr. Channard) as well as the police and begs them to destroy the mattress Julia died on in the first film so she cannot be resurrected.
However, as we find out, Dr. Channard is obsessed with the ancient puzzle box that summons the Cenobites and has been searching for a means to the Cenobites realm for some time. He obtains Julia’s mattress and revives her purposefully by manipulating one of his insane patients to cut himself with a razor on the mattress. Once summoned Julia follows Frank’s pattern from the last film by manipulating the doctor into providing more of his patients for her to ingest.
Unbeknownst to them, Channard’s assistant witnesses this all and tells Kirsty, who asserts they must return to the house to save her dad, as she had a vision where her dead father begs her to save him from Hell. When they enter the house Kirsty’s companion is killed and used as the last piece of Julia’s restoration. While Kirsty is knocked unconscious by Julia, her and Channard utilize a young girl patient of the hospital who doesn’t speak to solve the puzzle box for them so they aren’t subjected to the Cenobites torture. Although when the Cenobites arrive they instead take Dr. Channard, informing him that they know that it was his desires that caused the box to open.
Once the doctor is taken he is transformed into a Cenobite himself and in a lust for power he kills Pinhead and his minions so he can control their realm. When, Kirsty wakes up she enters the Cenobite realm as well, and encounters Frank, who tells her that he lured her here pretending to be her father so that he can use her for his own pleasures, however, after a scuffle, Julia appears and kills Frank for what he did to her in the first film. Kirsty then kills Julia and takes her skin in order to trick the new Cenobite Dr. Channard. This gives the patient that originally opened the box time to close it and end the horror.
After the confrontation Kirsty and the young patient are returned to the mortal world where they leave the hospital. But in the end, sinister implications show that the Cenobites will return.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfE74l55WDI
Future of The Series
After the 3rd film the series takes a serious nosedive, as films 4 through 9(yes six films) simply suffered from a lack of original writer Clive Barker’s involvement, production effort, well used budget, and the prostitution of a successful character by Hollywood. One of the few things that redeem the films is the performance of the lead antagonist Pinhead, by actor Doug Bradley, who portrays the series flagship character for the entirety of the first 8 films as well as also playing a human version of the character in 2 of them. All in all, these films have received quite bad reviews from critics, and many fans (including me) agree. On the plus side, the future may possibly look bright for the franchise with the next scheduled film, named Hellraiser: Judgment , set for release sometime in 2017. What will supposedly differentiate this film from its predecessors is that the director and writer are the same person, and he is a fan of the series, as well as someone who has spent much time seeking a Hellraiser sequel opportunity. He has a lot of passion to offer the project. Our hopes are with you Gary J. Tunnicliffe, make us proud, as we have been disappointed for awhile.
