Anchor Bay brings Clive Barker's modern horror classic 'Hellraiser' to Blu-ray. While I've always found the film to be a bit lacking narrative-wise, it remains as entertainingly surreal and grotesque as ever and who can complain about the introduction of one of horror's most iconic villains, Pinhead?
The film is the directorial debut of Clive Barker - who was once claimed to be the future of horror by none other than Stephen King himself. Barker always read like a slightly less effective modern equivalent of H.P. Lovecraft and his film's and adaptations could almost be described that way too i.e. 'Nightbreed', 'Lord of Illusions' and 'Midnight Meat Train.' They are almost always filled with fantastic imagery that isn't backed up with a compelling story - 'Candyman' being the fully realized exception.
'Hellraiser' moves forward on the power of its images and concept. Its unapologetic sadomasochistic gore was a breath of fresh air in 1987 when the horror genre was still coasting on tame slasher pics. Thematically, it bears a few slight comparisons to 'A Nightmare on Elm Street' with a villain that could be described as belonging to a surreal, dreamlike state but this is no teen slasher pic.
The film opens with Frank Cotton (Sean Chapman) procuring an ancient-looking puzzle box from a mystical store that I also believe had a fresh supply of Mogwai's. Frank, a hedonist and pleasure-seeker, unlocks the secrets of the box which unleashes a torrent of both pleasure and pain (although I'm thinking being torn apart at the seams by giant hooks hovers more on the pain side) and his gooey remains are consigned to a hellish purgatory under the floorboards of this attic room.
An unspecified time later, his brother Larry (Andrew Robinson) moves into the same house with his wife Julia (Claire Higgins) and teen daughter Kirsty (Ashley Laurence) from a previous marriage.
Although Larry is unperturbed, the house is putting off some strange vibes to Julia and when Larry lets some blood drop from a cut in the same room that Frank was torn apart, this blood resurrects a barely-formed Frank.
Only Julia discovers Frank, however, a skinless mess of sinew and blood and Frank enlists her to help him build himself back up from the blood of victims. Once having a passionate affair, Julia is fascinated and aroused by Frank's situation and lures prowling men back from the bars where she kills them with a hammer and lets Frank devour their blood.
Frank tells Julia the story of the Cenobites led by Pinhead, a group of Hellish creatures from a netherworld (“demons to some, angels to others”) who prey on the pleasure and pain-seeking weaknesses of humans. When Kirsty walks in on the truth, she escapes with the puzzle box and accidentally unleashes the Cenobites herself.
On the verge of her own pain/pleasure experience, she entices them with a deal that would lead them back to Frank which results in a somewhat disappointing climax of arbitrary bloody f/x.
So the story is almost nonexistent and we learn little about the Cenobites despite genuinely fascinating designs with Pinhead leading the pack. They certainly make a visceral impact but at the end of the film, you'll probably want to know more (assuming you haven't seen the following eight pictures…).
Despite the low-budget, the film is at its most effective when showing off its gore set-pieces. The opening sequence where Frank gets ripped apart by chains and hooks is a doozy and sparks interest right away.
As Frank devours more bodies and slowly gains more skin, the stages of his fleshy development is like one of those Biology display body's come to life and gone horribly wrong. The acting is competent if nothing special but overall, the film is pointedly adult which makes it a title of choice for most horror mavens moving past the teen slasher.
Anchor Bay/Starz gives 'Hellraiser' a decent 1080p 1.85:1 transfer that is as good as it can probably get considering the aging, low-budget source. A steady layer of grain can be seen but detail is strong and black levels are nice. It certainly looks better than the previous Anchor Bay DVD incarnations. A Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track is included and fine for the film.
'Mr. Cotton, I Presume? - An Interview With Star Andrew Robinson' is 16 minutes, 'Actress From Hell - An Interview With Star Ashley Laurence' runs 12 minutes, 'Hellcomposer - An Interview With Composer Christopher Young', 'Hellraiser: Resurrection' is 25 minutes and examines the special effects with cast and crew interviews, 'Under the Skin: Doug Bradley on Hellraiser' is 13 minutes and to finish things off is four still galleries, some trailers and BD-Live functionality.
Hellraiser [Blu-ray] is now available at Amazon . Visit the DVD database for more information.
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