Hellraiser<\/em><\/a> starts with a simple puzzle box, the Lament Configuration.\u00a0 Purchased by warped thrill seeker Frank Cotton (Sean Chapman), the box is solved. This opens a gateway to another dimension (\u201cDoors to the pleasures of Heaven or Hell\u201d, Frank recounts, “I didn\u2019t care which\u201d), allowing passage to earth for a group of sadomasochistic demons called the Cenobites.\u00a0\u00a0 The demons, led by Pinhead (Doug Bradley), watch as Frank is torn apart by hooked chains.\u00a0 Then they close the box and everything vanishes.\u00a0 Months later Frank\u2019s brother, Larry (Andrew Robinson) moves into the same house with his wife (who had an affair with Frank just before she married his brother).\u00a0 An accident leads to Larry cutting his hand and his blood drips onto the floor where Franks vanished and Frank comes back…or at least some of him does.<\/p>\nOne element of Barker\u2019s writing that translates onto the big screen is his style.\u00a0 For a first time director with a limited budget and only the special effects technologies available in the eighties, this film is stunning.\u00a0 Moodily shot with haunting lighting and unsettling angles, this is a darkly beautiful film.\u00a0 The special effects, especially Frank\u2019s resurrection, are still unsettling.\u00a0 They are wet, organic and disturbing.<\/p>\n
Doug Bradley is on screen for very little of the film, but he has effectively made a career out of playing Pinhead.\u00a0 He delivers his lines with aplomb (We\u2019ll tear your soul\u2026 apart!) and, being a demon, even gets away with a little camp.\u00a0 However, the overly melodramatic delivery of some of the other actors, especially Clare Higgins as Larry\u2019s wife, Julia, does detract from the film at times.\u00a0 The only things in the film in danger of upstaging her are her hair and shoulder pads; you have to love the 80s!<\/p>\n
There are also some holes in the plot.\u00a0 The puzzle box turns up in the oddest of places, apparently following Frank into hell and back, and the mechanisms of the box are never really explained.\u00a0 The film is also a little anti-climactic.\u00a0 It seems to deserve a better finale and as viewers we definitely earn some sort of explanation for the penultimate scene.\u00a0 However, I\u2019m willing to forgive much; the style and audacity of Barker\u2019s work buys him that.\u00a0 It is a great introduction to his work and I recommend viewing it, although his films will never be the equal of his books.\u00a0 Oddly enough for a film review, it is to those books that I most enthusiastically direct you.\u00a0 Be warned though, they are not for the easily offended or the faint of heart.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Reviewed by Richard Feilden.\u00a0 Viewed on Netflix streaming. Clive Barker is a good author.\u00a0 Actually he is a really good author. From his early short story compilations The Books of Blood to The Thief of Always and The Great and Secret Show, Barker has presented intelligent, terrifying tales set in twisted worlds of sex and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-724","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-films"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/724","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=724"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/724\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=724"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=724"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=724"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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Clive Barker is a good author.\u00a0 Actually he is a really good author. From his early short story compilations The Books of Blood to The Thief of Always and The Great and Secret Show, Barker has presented intelligent, terrifying tales set in twisted worlds of sex and horror.\u00a0 He also paints, draws and writes plays and screenplays.\u00a0 Having been disappointed with two previous adaptations of his work, in 1987 Barker also tried turning his hand to directing.<\/p>\n