Hellraiser - Das Tor zur Hölle

Despite appreciating horror very much (with a lot of classic ones out there, such as 'Halloween', 'Nightmare on Elm Street', 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre', 'Night of the Living Dead' and 'The Exorcist', plus the best of Hammer House of Horror), even if not my favourite genre, it took me a while to get round to watching the 'Hellraiser' franchise. Due to having so much to watch and review, and the list keeps getting longer and longer.

This is the film that started the franchise off, and not only is it by far the best of the 'Hellraiser' films it also for me, and quite a few others it seems, is one of the stronger horror films of the 80s, though not quite of all time. What is meant by being by far the best of the 'Hellraiser' films is that it is the only one to be above very good, the nine sequels were very variable (leaning towards the disappointing) and the latter films particularly are suggestive of the franchise having run its course.

'Hellraiser' is notable for being the directing debut of celebrated and extremely talented author Clive Barker. His books have always been hugely compelling, with intelligent exploring of ambitious themes, vivid attention to detail and characterisation, meticulous atmosphere and distinctive chills and sense of dread, his popularity is more than well deserved. He also adapts his source material 'The Hellbound Heart', a terrific book and even better than this already very good film, and all those qualities are lifted off the pages onto the screen. It is also notable for introducing us to Pinhead, who would justifiably become a horror icon.

By all means 'Hellraiser' is not a perfect film. The ending is schlocky and at odds with the rest of the film, which was up to then very disturbing and remarkably intelligent and the ending felt like it belonged somewhere else.

Also felt that Barker's direction did occasionally show his inexperience, namely in some unfocused and not always necessary close-ups.

Most of the time though he does a great job, capturing the spirit and atmosphere of the book with ease and the momentum is never lost. 'Hellraiser' is genuinely scary with plenty of chills, unnerving dread, nail-biting suspense and a hair-raising sense of claustrophobic tension. It is very graphic but not in a cheap way, going over the top with the shock value and not pointlessly so, traps that it could easily have fallen into and ones fallen into so many times in horror. Personally thought the Cebonites were used well, they are still terrifying and using them as catalysts rather than focusing too much on them (mentioned already very well) added to the mysteriousness, they look good too.

It's not just scary though. 'Hellraiser' has truly inventive storytelling stemming from a unique premise back then and seldom equalled now. It also has some abitious themes like pain and desperation that are handled intelligently, giving the film some emotional power and surprising dimension not always found in horror, it is just so wonderful to find a film with a great concept seen recently that lives up to it and exceeds it even. Just want to say this is not trying to knock the genre at all, in case it's sounding that way. 'Hellraiser' holds up well on the visual front, some eerie camera work and lighting, the effects are far from amateurish and the make-up manages to be some of the most effective of the 80s.

The script is thoughtful with Barker's prose all over it and the characters show his attention to detailed characterisation, nobody is bland or annoying. The music doesn't seem to have pleased everybody, for me it was haunting and didn't dimish the atmosphere at all. Was surprised too by how good the acting was, have seen some terrible acting in horrors recently so this was refreshing. What a staggeringly frightening performance from Doug Bradley and Clare Higgins is particularly good of the rest of the cast.

Summing, very good with many great elements. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Finally got around to watching this one. I was not into horror as a kid but as I approach middle age, it has been fun to visit these types of films for the first time.

The basic plot of Hellraiser is straight out of a1930s horror or suspense anthology radio program. This is a morality play and quite similar to those on those old-time programs like "Suspense" or "The Mysterious Traveler" people listened to up through the 1950s. However, the hellish images, nasty depictions of torment, and gross, practical gore effects give a nice coat of fresh paint to this type of story.

The direction is OK but certainly has a B-movie quality at times, much like the rest of the production. Claire Higgins is great, though. Ashley Laurence is not a great actress here but is strikingly beautiful. You could make this movie today with almost the same script and make it much scarier or even nastier if you wanted. But I think it's nice to keep it a bit cartoony, keep it fun, not nasty.

The practical gore effects still hold up for the most part. Some of the skin looks excessively rubbery but still very wince-inducing in a few scenes (especially the famous "nail on the wall" scene). Does it look real? No, but you can appreciate the work and lack of dated CGI.

No jump scares here. The movie's horror relies more on the nasty gore and hellish depictions of torture and torment.

Anyway, this is a fun movie I think. Not a great one. Mediocre acting, a very genre script and OK direction. However, it delivers fun, oldschool thrills, not far from what your grandparents heard on the radio.

I'm not sure whether to give this a 7 or an 8. I think it may deserve an 8 just based on fun factor.

Julia is forced to kill for her brother in law Larry, who's dabbled with powerful, but malign forces and been turned into a decayed, monstrous like creature. Larry is trying to regain his physical being in order to escape the creatures, The Cenobites.

Hellraiser is definitely one of those wonderful 1980's video nasties, I'm not a hundred percent sure I'd put it in the same category as Halloween or Nightmare on Elm Street, but I'm not sure if that's because of this film, or some of the atrocious followups.

Special effects that would have been quite advanced for the time, there's lots of blood and gore, and that scene where Frank initially appears is quite something.

At times it's really quite sadistic and nasty, the kind of film that you'd sneak on as a youngster, and have a few sleepless nights over. At times it's menacing, sickening and just downright twisted, yes it may look a little dated in parts, but I think it holds up well.

Great music throughout, it's so dramatic, it perfectly fits the tone of the film. The makeup is terrific, especially The Cenobites.

Clare Higgins steals it for me, I think she's great, definitely something of the femme fatale.

What is so interesting, is just how little Pin Head actually appears, even if people don't know the film.or the story, he's quite well known, he's hardly in it though.

The story holds up pretty well, I'd say it's perfect for an update, but I'm not sure that the followups have offered much.

7/10.

This is certainly Clive Barker's Masterpiece. His 1987 film, "Hellraiser" is a really good example of how a late 80's horror film can work.

Nearing the 90's, horror films started to go down hill. In 1991 and 1996, we got two really good thriller horrors, being "SCREAM" and "Silence of the Lambs". This film however, was the last of it's kind to give us some good late 80's slasher craze which was still born and still very fresh with horror freaks.

I won't go into the plot because I believe everyone should have seen Hellraiser by now, if not, well GO SEE IT! All I can say is that the concepts of the box is terrific. A new way to kill a slashing demon is always a terrific and creative concept and it works really well in this one. I also love the soundtrack suite which is haunting beautiful and dramatic in parts. The actors are superb and their characters are believable.

Doug Bradley as Pinhead is the best and he knows how to give us a creepy killer which cannot be stopped. I dunno why in "Revelations" they got a different actor to play him. Doug is Pinhead, end of story.

I also like the way the death scenes and plot are shown. The director takes it a little step at a time while as most directors just go full on with the violence and exploit everything. Clive actually took his time to tell the story and that's what made most of the ending sequences and starting deaths so intense. It all left us to the core suspense.

Also, the 1987 film is the only Hellraiser film I have really liked. I've also seen part 3, 4 and 6. 3 was OK, 4 was dodgy and 6 sucked. The thing about the first film was that it had a dramatic fantasy to it, while being realistic, people were dying for real. The other Hellraiser films I have seen since then haven't really had the same impact but instead really try to rehash and be as shocking, doesn't work at all!?

My verdict on this 87 classic is a 7.5/10.

P.S: I just hope they can get this right in the remake next year.

Hellraiser was a bloody good film but part of me wishes I hadn't seen it because it made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I remember renting it out on video along with A Nightmare On Elm Street back in the late 1980's. I thought Freddy Krueggar was bad but those cenobites scared the you know what out of me.

The acting is good throughout the film and praise must go to everyone. The characters were very interesting characters from the humans right up to the cenobites.

There was a lot of gore in this movie and it was quite sick at times-not a film to watch if you're eating.

The storyline of the film is a very intriguing one and very original indeed.

But those cenobites didn't half scare me particularly when that pinhead said, "We will tear your soul apart!" Then again, that is what a good horror is all about-scaring the you know what out of it's audience.

If you're looking for a quality horror movie of the 80's then check this one out. Just don't be surprised if it sends you hair grey.