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Hellraiser

6.1

12,206

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3 Related Movies

Sequel:

Hellbound: Hellraiser II

Related Documentary:

Leviathan: The Story of Hellraiser and Hellbound: Hellraiser II

Original title: Hellraiser
Year: 1987
Running time: 94 min.
Country: United Kingdom
Director: Clive Barker
Screenwriter: Clive Barker. Novel: Clive Barker
Music: Christopher Young
Cinematography: Robin Vidgeon
Cast: Andrew Robinson, Clare Higgins, Ashley Laurence, Sean Chapman, Oliver Smith, Robert Hines, Anthony Allen, Leon Davis, Michael Cassidy, Frank Baker, Kenneth Nelson, Doug Bradley, Nicholas Vince, Simon Bamford, Grace Kirby, Oliver Parker
Producer: Cinemarque Entertainment BV, Film Futures, Rivdel Films
Genre: Horror. Fantasy | Gore. Cult Movie
Movie Groups: Hellraiser
Synopsis: 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.

Awards: 1987: Sitges Film Festival: Official Selection

Critics' reviews

"'Hellraiser's overriding ridiculousness (...) can’t disguise the fact that the movie is at least unwittingly a product of the AIDS crisis (…) Rating: ★★½ (out of 4)"

Eric Henderson: Slant
"Genuinely scary (...) [It] is intelligent and brutally imaginative (...) But the basic problem with 'Hellraiser' is one of balance (...) [Barker] seems to be scraping bloody tongue against gory cheek."

Michael Wilmington: Los Angeles Times
"What ever happened to movie plots? (...) Minor grisly fun, but don't expect the movie to linger when it's over"

Jonathan Rosenbaum: Chicago Reader
"Who goes to see movies like this? What do they get out of them? (...) There are no surprises in 'Hellraiser', only a dreary series of scenes that repeat each other (…) Rating: ½ (out of 4)"

Roger Ebert: rogerebert.com
"It's a dark, frequently disturbing and occasionally terrifying film that suggests Barker's vision hasn't quite made the conversion from paper to celluloid."

Richard Harrington: The Washington Post
"One of the most genuinely disturbing movies of the last 20 years (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"

Bob McCabe: Empire
"Barker's dazzling debut as a director creates such an atmosphere of dread that the astonishing visual set pieces simply detonate in a chain reaction of cumulative intensity."

Nigel Floyd: Time Out

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Ranking Lists Position

6 Most Horrifying Movie Posters Ever (10)
53 The Most Unpleasant Movies I Have Ever Watched (23)
71 My Favorite Horror Movies (218)

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