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Hellraiser (1987)
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Overview
User Rating:
Release Date:
18 September 1987 (USA) moreTagline:
Still Raising Hell [20th Anniversary Re-Issue] morePlot:
An unfaithful wife encounters the zombie of her dead lover, who's being chased by demons after he escaped from their sado-masochistic Hell. full summary | full synopsisAwards:
2 wins & 4 nominations moreNewsDesk:
(193 articles)
‘An American Werewolf In London’ Remake In the Works? (From The Flickcast. 29 June 2009, 7:30 AM, PDT)
Fangoria Celebrates Fathers Day Aka- “Oh look, another tie! Now I have to kill you.”
(From Fangoria. 20 June 2009, 9:16 PM, PDT)
User Comments:
Hellraising Horror moreCast
(Cast overview, first billed only)| Andrew Robinson | ... | Larry | |
| Clare Higgins | ... | Julia | |
| Ashley Laurence | ... | Kirsty | |
| Sean Chapman | ... | Frank | |
| Oliver Smith | ... | Frank the Monster | |
| Robert Hines | ... | Steve | |
| Anthony Allen | ... | 1st Victim | |
| Leon Davis | ... | 2nd Victim | |
| Michael Cassidy | ... | 3rd Victim | |
| Frank Baker | ... | Derelict | |
| Kenneth Nelson | ... | Bill | |
| Gay Baynes | ... | Evelyn | |
| Niall Buggy | ... | Dinner Guest | |
| Dave Atkins | ... | Moving Man 1 | |
| Oliver Parker | ... | Moving Man 2 |
Additional Details
Also Known As:
Clive Barker's Hellraiser (UK) (complete title)Sadomasochists from Beyond the Grave (USA) (working title)
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Parents Guide:
View content advisory for parentsRuntime:
94 min | Sweden:89 min (cut version) | Finland:86 min (cut)Country:
UKLanguage:
EnglishColour:
Colour (Technicolor)Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 moreSound Mix:
DolbyCertification:
Finland:K-18 | West Germany:18 (video rating) (cut) | New Zealand:R16 | Belgium:16 (video rating) | Australia:M (theatrical rating) | Australia:R | Canada:13+ (Québec) | Canada:18A (Alberta) (re-rating) (2000) | Denmark:15 (DVD rating) | France:-12 | Iceland:(Banned) | Iceland:16 (cut) | Netherlands:16 | Norway:18 | Singapore:R21 | South Korea:15 (original rating) (cut) | South Korea:18 (DVD rating) | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R (certificate #28562) | Canada:R (Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Ontario) | Germany:BPjM RestrictedFun Stuff
Trivia:
In his DVD commentary, Clive Barker explained that filming the movie in an actual house forced him to be creative in his cinematography. There was often only room for a single camera and this explains why many of the shots are from only one angle. In particular, vertical movement was often the only movement available to the camera operators, which explains many of the overhead and zoom shots. Only one room in the house, the attic, was shot on a soundstage, but only the FX shots used this attic set. moreGoofs:
Crew or equipment visible: When the Engineer chases Kirsty, the trolley and crew pushing it are visible. moreQuotes:
Frank Cotton: I thought I'd gone to the limits. I hadn't. The Cenobites gave me an experience beyond limits... pain and pleasure, indivisible. moreFAQ
How is the film different from the novel?more
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Adapted by Clive Barker from his own story "The Hellbound Heart" this has long been a favorite among horror-film devotees. Clive Barker is an outstanding writer. In terms of literary style light years ahead of Stephen King. His awesomely unhinged imagination is given free rein in this tale of the darker side of the human psyche.
Frank Cotton (Sean Chapman) is as immoral and perverted a scumbag as you could hope to find in the English speaking world. Ever alert to the potential for some new thrill (sexual or otherwise) Frank comes by a small carved wooden cube that just happens to be (in the right hands) a gateway to Hell. Not your normal run of the mill pit of hot sulphur fumes presided over by a horned Lucifer wielding his time-honored pitchfork, but a most unpleasant parallel dimension, home of the wickedly inventive Pinhead and his cenobite cohorts. As the series worked its way onwards, Pinhead (Bradley) became a retro cult hero much like Freddy Kreuger and was given increased screen-time!
Frank ends up paying the ultimate price in his search for new pleasures and to his everlasting discomfort, inevitably discovers the real meaning of the film's tag-line "He'll tear your soul apart." This leaves Frank's ex well and truly home-alone and she takes up with his wimpy brother Larry, crawlingly played by Andrew Robinson.
Things might have worked out for Julia (Higgins) and daughter Kirsty (Ashley Laurence) had not Larry cut his hand badly and the blood run beneath the floorboards where Frank's decimated but undead corpse responds dramatically well to the corpuscled cocktail! Frank's gory resurrection is actually one of the film's highlights, aided and abetted as it is by a superb musical score from Christopher Young!
Frank of course is a little miffed over Julia's dalliance with his brother and persuades her to bring him an assembly line of fresh meat to ensure his complexion is brought up to scratch. The demise of the first victim especially is quite shocking horror and on its own would have earned the film its "R" certificate.
Without giving anything else away, it is left to daughter Kirsty to combat both Frank, her socially distasteful step-mother and Pinhead. It is the ultimate learning curve you might say. One hell of a lot goes wrong before it starts getting any better. Frank's second whirl on the block is distinctly gruesome. Kirsty who under normal circumstances would be left a gibbering idiot, survives to take on the sequel and a further appearance by her awesomely repulsive stepmother!
You want horror? you want originality? you like blood on tap? you need HELLRAISER!
For all the above though, Barker's CANDYMAN was still better!