Hell raiser (1987)

Directed by: Clive Barker | 94 minutes | horror, fantasy | Actors: Andrew Robinson, Clare Higgins, Ashley Laurence, Sean Chapman, Oliver Smith, Robert Hines, Anthony Allen, Leon Davis, Michael Cassidy, Frank Baker, Kenneth Nelson, Gay Baynes, Niall Buggy, Dave Atkins, Oliver Parker, Doug Bradley

Hell is an ancient concept that has left an important mark on Western culture since ancient times. In their mythologically tinged narrative masterpieces, the ancient Greeks already told of the Tartatus, a dark and inhospitable part of the underworld where criminals, morally reprehensible figures and people who had defied the gods were exposed to eternal torments and therefore faced an eternal, hopeless existence. could see. Christianity then came in the Middle Ages with the concrete concept of hell as a place of penance for lost and corrupted souls and dwelling place of devils and other demonic creatures.

‘Hellraiser’ is an original and chilling cinematic adaptation of this classic theme. The source of misery in this case is a mysterious puzzle in the shape of a small square box, a kind of Rubick’s cube of damnation. This puzzle turns out to be a gateway to hell that offers the so-called “cenobites” (monstrous-looking creatures whose main task is to torment and torture people who have ended up in hell), to also visit our world. The first to be introduced to the dark forces that the puzzle conjures up in an extremely unpleasant way is Frank. His brother’s blood, however, brings him back to life, albeit this miraculous resurrection triggers a series of murderous events.

‘Hellraiser’ is generally regarded as an absolute horror classic and this qualification is certainly in order. So what makes this movie still so good so many years later? First of all, the careful build-up of tension. The suspense remains taut throughout the film and the story is told at just the right pace. The balance between tension and suspense on the one hand and gory and horror on the other is also well balanced. The film contains the necessary explicit and raunchy scenes, but unlike many other horror films, it is not exaggerated. Fortunately, the right dosage of all these horror elements ensures that we are not dealing with “horror with a wink”, but with a film that remains terrifying for the full 94 minutes, both thematically and visually. The cenobites, led by chief villain and cult figure Pinhead, don’t appear very often, yet these figures convincingly come across as the incarnate embodiment of the eternal and ineradicable evil. In addition, other horror films (think of the sequels to ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’, for example) have shown that portraying the prominent horror that the film revolves too frequently often leads to a flattening of the character and usually at the expense of the storyline.

Of course there were several sequels after the first ‘Hellraiser’, but only the second part – both thematically and visually a logical and comparable sequel – comes close to the original in quality. Despite the fact that ‘Hellraiser’ is an absolute classic, this movie will certainly not appeal to every film buff. Some affinity with the genre and a strong stomach are requirements to count this film as one of your favorites. However, fans of more extreme horror will undoubtedly enjoy this expertly produced visual nightmare.