Let’s celebrate Halloween by looking at one of horror’s most successful franchises (that also happens to be one of horror’s most successful inspirations for 90’s Motorhead songs)!
Clive Barker wastes no time in Hellraiser getting to his unique brand of depraved surrealism. After a very curt opening scene where a man procures an obscure cube from a mysterious peddler, we cut immediately to the man, sitting shirtless in a blanket of sweat, surrounded by candles in the dark. It’s the Clive Barkeriest image you can think of. He is fiddling with his newly obtained Rubik’s Cube of pain, and when he solves it, chains shoot out and hook into his flesh. We are then transported into some horrific realm where we catch our first glimpse of the suffering/sex demons known as Cenobites, wandering around a torture chamber adorned with viscera and random body parts. It is a short sequence, but one that rival’s Susperia’s opening for the combination of sensory overload, terror and creativity. If you aren’t interested after that, then you might as well forgo the rest of the film. Barker even directs a little like Susperia’s Argento, and Hellraiser feels dream-like the whole way through, even though the plot is actually fairly straight-forward. He also has the DNA of many of his 80’s American contemporaries, and I scoped some Cronenberg in the sexual overtones and body horror, some Carpenter and Raimi in the creature designs, and some Gordon in the nearly fetishistic reverence for gore. Yet, I point these comparisons out to highlight familiar elements that I enjoyed within the picture, not to imply that this is some sort of pastiche. Barker has a unique vision that he succeeds in realizing to near perfection.
While Hellraiser brushes up against the ubiquitous slasher genre of the time, I don’t think you could make the argument that it belongs to the same. There is a string of murders, sure, and a final girl, but its structure is completely different. The protagonists are villains who are being antagonized by other villains, while the final girl and various victims are secondary and tertiary characters. It’s a tricky set up if you want to get your audience invested in the stakes, but Barker holds it together by crafting a compelling central relationship and holding the mystery of the Cenobites over our heads for most of the runtime. From the moment you see Pinhead, S&M Lady, Bitey and Blobby Ray Charles at the film’s outset, you can’t wait to find out more about them. The primary story is a bit of a slow burn, though never less than interesting, but its that promise of revisiting those demons that keeps you on the edge of your seat until their inevitable return in the third act. It is a remarkably successful approach that doesn’t overexpose Barker’s imaginative new boogeymen but also doesn’t deflate the audience with unmet promises. I don’t know if Clive had franchise aspirations at the time, but no doubt horror fans were clamoring for more content that explored the mythology of the Cenobites as soon as the credits rolled.
Hellraiser falls into the surprisingly crowded camp of movies that I assumed I had picked up somewhere along the way, but after further inspection realized I had ever actually seen it before. I know that I saw Hellraiser 2: Hellbound at a 5th grade sleepover, but that’s a story for next year’s countdown. If it’s not obvious by now, I really enjoyed this movie. The originality that makes Clive Barker’s Nightbreed a favorite of mine is fully evident in Hellraiser as well. I imagine that being a successful playwright and horror author in addition to a filmmaker gives him a broader array of storytelling tools to pull from, and that is an irresistible proposition for horror junkies like me who have seen the same types of plots repeated ad nauseum. I also appreciate the film’s edge, which is not necessarily present in the majority of my October movie watching. We are a pretty liberal family in regard to what scares we allow our children to be exposed to, but this is a decidedly adult film. Not in a gross, filled with porn stars and pointless nudity way like Verotika, but in terms of theme and graphic nature. There is no way I would let my children watch a film where one of the main characters spends the majority of the movie sans skin. I suspect that’s why I wasn’t able to get any sleep at that sleepover I mentioned and wonder if I haven’t been subconsciously avoiding this series ever since. If so, I’m glad I finally got around to it, and I can’t wait to continue the thrilling, disappointing, and ultimately soul-crushing journey of the Hellraiser franchise just like I did with Nightmare on Elm Street. Tune in next year to walk alongside me. Until then, happy Halloween, and stay away from those ancient puzzle boxes!
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