HMRWS - Starring Cenobites!

[Seil]

Raise a little hell, raise a little hell...

I found this film interesting. A while back, I found what amounted to marketing DVD for horror movies. Some of what I saw on it looked amazing, some not so much. But there was a small segment set aside for the original Hellraiser film, where it showed one character being pulled apart by several hooked chains in gory detail... and while I will admit that this film is gory, I can't classify it as torture porn. Why not? I don't know. John Carpenter's Halloween 2 involved Michael literally melting someone's face off, and I'm more ready to call that film TP. It might be that the character in Hellraiser deserves it.

I've read the book "The Hellbound Heart," written by Clive Barker, which serves as the basis for this film. It's interesting that Clive Barker plays the director for this movie.

The Cast includes Ashley Laurence as Kirsty Cotton, Andrew Robinson as her father, Larry, Sean Chapman as her uncle, Frank and Clare Higgins as Julia, her step-mother. Doug Bradley plays Pinhead, Grace Kirby plays Female Cenobite, Simon Bamford plays Butterball Cenobite, and Nicholas Vince plays Chattering Cenobite.

The Plot starts off with Frank Cotton purchasing a puzle box in Morocco, and taking it to his childhood home. He sits in the attic, surrounded by candles, and starts to play with the box. As he slowly solves it, strange lights appear, and a bell begins tolling somewhere far off, getting closer. When Frank solves the puzzle box, hooked chains shoot from inside and tear into his flesh.

We then meet Kirsty, Larry and Julia as they move into Larry and Frank's childhood home. It's revealed to be filthy - food in the kitchen has been left out to rot, with maggots crawling in it. The house smells. Julia and Kirsty are appropriately disgusted, while Larry is enthusiastic about the move. It's revealed that while Larry cares for Julia, Julia doesn't reciprocate - a fact which Kirsty has picked up on. It is later revealed that at some point, Julia and Frank were close.

In fact, while cleaning the house, Larry - who is squeamish around blood - cuts himself badly and stumbles toward Julia for help while she's checking out the attic. The same attic where Frank solved the puzzle box. While Larry's blood is spilling on the floor, it seems to be absorbed by the floorboards - and when Julia returns to the attic, she hears Frank's voice, calling for help. He asks her to bring more blood, bodies, people - so he can come back.

Personal Opinion It's an interesting movie - like the animals in The Mist, I'm interested in the Cenobites. The term simply means "members of a communal religious order." They describe themselves as "angels to some, demons to others," and they each have interesting little details. Pinhead has become a horror icon, the "pins" in his head actually being modified nails.

It should be noted that they don't call themselves "Pinhead," "Butterball" and "Chatterer." These names were invented by the costuming department to keep track of who was who - Clive Barker thought the names were inappropriate. The Cenobites aren't actually evil, or "demons," they're just... people. They are called by someone consciously opening the box, and canonically, most people opening the box are hedonists who have exhausted every debauchery they can, and are looking for different experiences.

Pinhead himself was a veteran in the British Expeditionary Force who suffered extreme PTSD and survivor's guilt. When asked how to play the character, Clive Barker told Doug Bradley to "[think] of him as a cross between an administrator and a surgeon who’s responsible for running a hospital where there are no wards, only operating theaters. As well as being the man who wields the knife, he’s the man who has to keep the timetable going."

I like the film - the characters are solid and they develop throughout the movie, the plot is unique, and there's a really neat movie universe that's glossed over in the film. Well, the first and second film, anyway - the other films, books, comic books, and cross-overs run it right into the ground. But the first two films are good.

The special effects, while still pretty good, look somewhat dated. The costumes look fantastic, and some of the final scenes look pretty damn swell, so I guess they saved their effects budget for what counted.

Final Opinion Was I scared? A little bit - I was invested in the story. The movie is supposed to touch on themes of hedonism and dark appetites. Julia is driven by lust, and becomes darker over the course of the series. Frank is driven by greed, Kirsty by wrath. The entire movie has dark overtones, starting with Frank purchasing the box and continues with the maggots on the food in the kitchen.

It's definitely not for everyone, there's no wise-cracking Freddy or camp counselor deaths. This film and the next sequel have some depth to them, and if you do decide to watch them you should pay attention.