Alternate versions

The UK cinema version was uncut though the 1988 New World Pictures and 1991 VCI video releases were cut by 4 seconds and removed shots of Julia's first victim pleading after the initial hammer blow and a shot of his dead bloodied face. The cut was waived for the 1998 issue.

Roadshow Film Distributors cut Hellraiser to get an M rating for its Australian theatrical run. The cuts were later restored to an R rated VHS release.

German DVD by Kinowelt (now StudioCanal) released in 2011 is cut by ca. 2 minutes and has a "Not under 16" rating. The uncut version was released in Austria with no rating.

The version on the German DVD by StudioCanal, released in 2011, is cut by ca. 2 minutes and has a "Not under 16" rating (the "Not under 18" rating is due to bonus materials).

The film was cut by the MPAA to achieve an 'R' and to avoid an 'X' rating:

• Two and a half shots were excised from the first hammer murder, including a close up of the hammer lodged in the victim's head.
• In the scene where Julia murders another man, the actor playing the victim felt that it made sense for him to do so naked. The nude murder scene was shot but ultimately replaced with a semi-clothed version.
• Close-ups of Kirsty sticking her hand into Frank's belly exposing his guts.
• Longer version of the scene where Frank is being torn into pieces by the Cenobite's hooks.
• Final shot where his head explodes and his brain messily splashes out was also cut. In an interview for Samhain magazine in July 1987, Barker mention some problems that censors had with more erotic scenes in the movie; "Well, we did have a slight problem with the eroticism. I shot a much hotter flashback sequence than they would allow us to cut in... mine was more explicit and less violent. They wanted to substitute one kind of undertow for another. I had much more explicit sexual encounter between Frank and Julia, but they said no, let's take out the sodomy and put in the flick knife." Barker also said on the commentary for the movie that the seduction scene between Julia and Frank was initially a lot more explicit: "we did a version of this scene which had some spanking in it and the MPAA was not very appreciative of that. Lord knows where the spanking footage is. Somebody has it somewhere.... the MPAA told me I was allowed two consecutive buttock thrust's from Frank but three is deemed obscene!".

The film was originally banned in the Canadian province of Ontario due to 'Brutal, graphic violence with blood-letting trough horror, degradation, and torture'. It was passed with a 'Restricted' rating after New World Mutual agreed to cut 35 seconds of a torture scene featuring hooks pulling a guy apart, and 5 seconds of rats nailed to a wall squirming.

An uncut version is available on video in the USA and features a few seconds of extended graphic footage in the scene where Julia kills one of her victims, who pleads for his life as she is about to hit him with the hammer.

The scene of the victim pleading for his life could only be found on subscription TV channels in the UK until the release of the British DVD version, which restores the missing shot of Julia's first victim pleading, but only on the widescreen version. The pan-and-scan version, on the other side of the disc, still has only one "please!".

Cut in Sweden for cinema by 4.5 min. When shown on a Swedish subscription TV channel, it was uncut.

The version shown on German TV (rated "18") has 5 minutes edited out:

• When Julia kills her first victim, the scene is cut after two blows with the hammer, leading directly to Julia leaving the room
• Any scene with Frank draining his victims is cut out (except when he drains Julia)
• The rat mutilation scenes are cut out
• Larry's dead body can only be seen briefly (with the Cenobites)
• Close-ups of Frank's Hands with hooks are left out
• The very last time Frank is seen is at the beginning of the "tearing-apart" scene, with his body still basically intact.