Hellraiser (1987)

Authors can often become rather protective of their stories.  Some, like Stephen King, have learned (at least after the can of worms he opened with Stanley Kubrick's version of The Shining) to just let it go.  Some, like Michael Crichton, just had a knack for doing both books and movies.  Others, however, got frustrated enough that they just decided to handle things themselves.

This was the case with Clive Barker, who had seen two of his stories, Rawhead Rex and Underworld, turned into films that he personally did not like.  Besides writing Barker also worked in theater, but knew nothing about how to make a film.  Still, he decided to adapt his novella The Hellbound Heart for the screen, using friends and crew he worked with on stage, and hoping that something satisfactory came of it.  Thus, we have Barker's cinematic debut, Hellraiser. 

Larry (Andrew Robinson) and his wife Julia (Claire Higgins) come into possession of his mother's home.  Despite her reservations Larry convinces her to move in.  While exploring the attic they find evidence that Larry's brother Frank (Sean Chapman) has been there at some point.  It is revealed that Julia had an affair with Frank on her wedding night, and still carries a flame for him.  That flame is put to the test when Larry cuts his hand on a nail and his blood leads to Frank's reanimation.

Frank (Oliver Smith) informs Julia that he needs more blood to regenerate and hopes to do so before the Cenobites - a group of demons summoned by his use of a puzzle box called the Lament Configuration - return to bring him back to hell.  Julia accomplishes this by leading desperate men back to her home, a practice that her stepdaughter Kirsty (Ashley Laurence) soon discovers.  Kirsty soon comes into possession of the box and, to avoid being taken herself, promises to give them Frank.  Unfortunately, Frank is not going to return easily, and it is best not to make deals with demons. 

Clive Barker was given just under a million dollars to make Hellraiser, and the executives at New World liked what they were seeing and kicked in a little more while the movie was in production.  That allowed one of the greatest practical effects scenes to ever be filmed - Frank's resurrection from the dead, which was originally just supposed to be him materializing out of the dust of the attic.  While the later sequels tend to focus on Pinhead (Doug Bradley) and the other Cenobites as the bad guys, they are just another angle in the original film, much as they weren't the sole focus of the story.  The most shocking thing about Hellraiser was always Frank in all his skinless glory and the stomach-turning relationship with Julia.

Although he understandably dialed down some of his usual erotic horror, and was forced to cut even more by the MPAA, enough of the usual Barker elements are there.  Frank is portrayed not only as a violent psychopath but willing to cross other lines as well, especially when he sees that his niece has grown significantly since the last time he saw her.  The Cenobites themselves are in full BDSM mode, with leather outfits and multiple piercings, enhanced by open wounds and other hints that they, like their victims, once took things a bit too far.  There is also a wild Lovecraftian creature that lives in the corridors the box opens, full of claws and gnashing teeth.

Andrew Robinson, best known for playing the Zodiac-style serial killer in Dirty Harry, plays the weak-willed husband this time around.  He does a solid performance, especially toward the end, but Claire Higgins and Oliver Smith are outstanding, managing to make their twisted romantic dynamic believable.  Ashley Laurence is pretty much a newcomer at this point, getting that "introducing" credit, and she's okay, although she would get more to do in the sequel.  Robert Hines, as Kirsty's boyfriend Steve, is barely a placeholder and largely doesn't do much, while Doug Bradley gives Pinhead his all during the few scenes in this movie that feature the Cenobites. 

Although this strange combination of sexual body horror with overtones of Eating Raoul with a supernatural twist may have been too much for some Barker, despite his relative inexperience at directing, does a great job of providing both visceral and dreamlike horror.  Much like his books he has a style that one must be prepared for, and that might be a bit too repulsive for some.  Still, this gooey, drippy bit of perverted horror has endured, and unfortunately created more sequels than it should, to the point where one forgets how important atmosphere and tone were to the original.  

Hellraiser (1987)

Time: 94 minutes

Starring: Andrew Robinson, Claire Higgins, Ashley Laurence, Sean Chapman, Oliver Smith, Doug Bradley

Director: Clive Barker