Hellraiser (1987)

An unfaithful wife encounters the zombie of her dead lover, who's being chased by demons after he escaped from their sado-masochistic Hell.

Director:

Clive Barker

Stars:

Andrew Robinson, Clare Higgins, Ashley Laurence

2 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Andrew Robinson	...	Larry
Clare Higgins	...	Julia
Ashley Laurence	...	Kirsty Cotton
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

Storyline

Clive Barker's feature directing debut graphically depicts the tale of a man and wife who move into an old house and discover a hideous creature - the man's half-brother, who is also the woman's former lover - hiding upstairs. Having lost his earthly body to a trio of S&M demons, the Cenobites, he is brought back into existence by a drop of blood on the floor. He soon forces his former mistress to bring him his necessary human sacrifices to complete his body... but the Cenobites won't be happy about this.

---

Plot Keywords:

cenobites | demon | hell | creature | blood | 

---

Taglines:

It will tear your soul apart.

---

Genres:

Horror

---

Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 September 1987 (USA)

Also Known As:

Sadomasochists from Beyond the Grave

Filming Locations:

187 Dollis Hill Lane, Dollis Hill, London, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$1,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$14,564,027 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cinemarque Entertainment BV, Film Futures, Rivdel Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min 89 min (cut) 86 min (cut)

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

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.

---

Goofs

The amount of blood on Julia from inside the attic to the hallway to the bathroom.

---

Quotes

Lead Cenobite: This isn't for your eyes!

---

Connections

Referenced in The Damned (2006)

User Reviews

Pure horror!

I first saw this brilliant shocker when I was only ten years old and it scared the hell out of me!I still think that this is a really effective horror filled with gruesome imagery(for example rats nailed to the wall)."Hellraiser" reminds me a bit such Italian horror movies like "The Beyond"(1981)and "The House by the Cemetery"(1981),mainly due to its surreal atmosphere of total dread.Add also plenty of gore and some really gruesome special effects made by Bob Keen("Proteus")and you have a winner!I like "Hellraiser" series in general(especially "Hellbound:Hellraiser 2" which is,in the unrated/uncut version a nasty gorefest!),even Part 5("Hellraiser:Inferno")that almost only get bad reviews.It surely is the lowest budget film of the series so far,but it tells a gripping story of one's personal hell with Pinhead involved."Hellraiser:Bloodline" is the only one I really don't like,although it's quite interesting too,because you can see that post production was a mess(making it a Alan Smithee film in the end).