Hellraiser: A horror masterpiece that is much more than violence, gore and sadomasochism on display

Release Date: 11/09/1987
Cast: Andrew Robinson, Clare Higgins, Ashley Laurence, Sean Chapman
Director: Clive Barker

Hellraiser is one of the most iconic horror films ever made. While it may not be in the same league as Halloween, Exorcist, or Omen, it has its own niche of ardent fans who swear by it. What Hellraiser has is an antagonist that makes it instantly recognizable. The picture of Pinhead (Doug Bradley) on the VHS, DVD, and Blu-ray cover of the film forced generation after generation of horror aficionados to pick up the cassettes and discs. The picture of Pinhead on its posters made generation after generation of moviegoers walk into theaters just to understand what this weird creature was. That was the power of the special makeup effects and creature design of Bob Keen. It was only after you had been hooked with the said design that you realize that it was a film that went far deeper than the imaginative characters and was about a whole lot of other things than just torture and sadomasochism.

Frank (Sean Chapman), a reclusive and brash seeker of pleasure lays his hands on a mystical puzzle box that promises perverse, sadistic, and prohibited pleasures for the one who is able to solve it. Frank busts the box open only to realize that the pleasures it promises are not pleasures but the macabre and unthinkable desecration of flesh meted out in hell and delivered by creatures known only as the Cenobites. These creatures are summoned by the opening of the box. Frank’s mortal form is ripped apart and he languishes in the same house for days without a shape to call his own. Interestingly, Frank is able to regain his human form when his brother and his feisty wife come to live in the same house. His brother’s spilled blood reforms Frank’s body to a certain extent. Frank reaches out to his sister-in-law, Julia (Clare Higgins) with whom he had shared a passionate extramarital affair, and seduces her again to deliver new bodies whose blood he could consume to continue to reform into human form. What happens next is what the film is all about.