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Hellraiser (1987)
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Overview
User Rating:
Release Date:
18 September 1987 (USA) moreTagline:
Still Raising Hell [20th Anniversary Re-Issue] morePlot:
An unfaithful wife encounters the zombie of her dead lover, who's being chased by demons after he escaped from their sado-masochistic Hell. full summary | full synopsisAwards:
2 wins & 4 nominations moreNewsDesk:
(241 articles)
The Weinstein Company Really Wants to Make a Hellraiser Remake (From ReelzChannel. 7 November 2009, 2:03 AM, PST)
Nevermind the Turmoil: Here’s the Hellraiser Remake Synopsis
(From Beyond Hollywood. 6 November 2009, 11:20 AM, PST)
User Comments:
More Urbane and Interesting Than Other 1980s Horror Movies more (251 total)Cast
(Cast overview, first billed only)| Andrew Robinson | ... | Larry | |
| Clare Higgins | ... | Julia | |
| Ashley Laurence | ... | Kirsty | |
| 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 |
Additional Details
Also Known As:
Clive Barker's Hellraiser (UK) (complete title)Sadomasochists from Beyond the Grave (USA) (working title)
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Parents Guide:
View content advisory for parentsRuntime:
94 min | Sweden:89 min (cut version) | Finland:86 min (cut)Country:
UKLanguage:
EnglishColor:
Color (Technicolor)Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 moreSound Mix:
DolbyCertification:
Finland:K-18 (uncut) (1998) (2002) | West Germany:18 (video rating) (cut) | New Zealand:R16 | Belgium:16 (video rating) | Finland:K-16 (cut) (1998) | Australia:M (theatrical rating) | Australia:R | Canada:13+ (Québec) | Canada:18A (Alberta) (re-rating) (2000) | Denmark:15 (DVD rating) | France:-12 | Iceland:(Banned) | Iceland:16 (cut) | Netherlands:16 | Norway:18 | Singapore:R21 | South Korea:15 (original rating) (cut) | South Korea:18 (DVD rating) | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R (certificate #28562) | Canada:R (Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Ontario) | Germany:BPjM RestrictedFun Stuff
Trivia:
For the video release, the film had one of the most unusual pieces of bonus material that has ever been offered: a Home Shopping Network show where merchandise from the movie could be purchased. The show was hosted by a giddy old lady claiming to be a hardcore fan of the movie. moreGoofs:
Continuity: The amount of blood on Julia from inside the attic to the hallway to the bathroom. moreQuotes:
Lead Cenobite: You solved the box, we came. Now you must come with us, taste our pleasures. moreFAQ
How is the film different from the novel?more
more (251 total)
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Hellraiser may not be an incredible work of horror genius, but it certainly is one of the more inventive and engagingly dark and twisted horror films of the 1980s, when horror films were almost all dull, poorly made, recycled, and absurd. Hellraiser's themes include sadomasochism, in an intriguing concept of the slasher figure in the story, which is a Gothic- looking antique puzzle box that summons ruthless demons to victimize the person in possession of it by subjecting them to a world of debilitating eternal pain. It also involves a femme fatale on the level of a chiller that does not involve fantasy, played brilliantly in an extremely acute performance by beautiful Clare Higgins. There is the layer of plot surrounding her that inhabits late-thirties, early-forties married and adulterous life with her almost frustratingly naive and unsuspecting husband, which is invaded by the devilish embodied soul of her ex-lover, brutalized by the demons of the puzzle box. Finally, at the core of the story is the pivotal character, as her fill of screen time patiently awaits to the point where she is revealed to be so, and she is the teenage stepdaughter, played by Ashley Laurence, one of the sexiest actresses I have ever seen. Everything from her voluptuous body to her scream-bloody-murder portrayal of the stepdaughter makes me wonder why her career never went any higher than this.
So yes, the movie is more urbane than the vast majority of other horror films in that decade. It's even set in England. It's interesting that no one has an English accent in England, according to this movie, but nevertheless the locale serves the film with a dark atmosphere of sophistication and antiquity, which suits a story that surrounds an age-old puzzle box. This feel of the movie that I speak of is interrupted, quite inexplicably by beer-drinking, dirty-T-shirt-wearing American furniture movers, which I didn't know they had in England.
Hellraiser is quite an enormous entertainment despite its 1980s-style inconsistencies that I suppose it just couldn't help but have. It's especially enjoyable during autumn, mainly during Halloween time.