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.

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Plot Keywords:

cenobites | demon | hell | creature | blood | 

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Taglines:

Satan's done waitin'.

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Genres:

Horror

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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.

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Goofs

Throughout most of the film, Larry has a bandage on his right hand. When he talks to Julia through the bathroom door, Larry's bandage is on his left hand.

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Quotes

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.

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Connections

Referenced in Clive Barker: Raising Hell (2004)

User Reviews

It ain't SUPPOSED to be Macbeth, here folks....

In a decade of cheap, exploitive slashers, we finally get this one. Relief.

Instead of some maniac ripped from Halloween, we get a simple wooden box. Simple, or so Frank thought.

What results is a cinematic masterpiece, a great mix of gore and violence, as well as a great musical score and some nice drama. The acting is fine, but there are imperfections. One common complaint: The characters are not pleasant enough we can latch onto them. Maybe that's because these seem more realistic than the characters we CAN latch onto. Just a thought, don't jump on this.

What really gets me, though, is the people calling it down, saying it's not quality entertainment. Come on guys, if it was SUPPOSED to be Shakespeare, it would not advertise as being able to "tear your soul apart."

The presence of the cenobites was originally intended not to carry the story but to emphasize it. As usual, the sequaes ignored it. Hey, merchandizing.

This is the only one of the series that depends on the story more than the demons. We hardly ever see the infamous Pinhead at all.

all in all, this was a fun movie. No Shakespeare, but it's not supposed to be. Just dramatic, gory, groundbreaking horror, delivered to us excellently by Mr. Barker.