Here's what you need to know; when Larry and Julia decide to move into an old, mouldy house in an effort to save their marriage, Julie finds a disturbing secret in the attic, one of her old loves has returned from the dead and needs her help escaping the dark forces that dragged him to hell years ago. This leads Julie down a dark path that unwittingly ensnares her husband and daughter-in-law in a tale of demons and terror from the very bowels of hell itself.
After years of being scared and fascinated by the Hellraiser series and its unique brand of horror, I decided to take the opportunity on this spookiest of seasons to take the plunge, to see just what it was that fascinated me about it, and to see if it was worth indulging in, because why not.
Hellraiser opens with a mystery as a mysterious man in some far away land buys and ominous puzzle box, one that, when solved, sprouts chains and hooks that rip him to pieces before a mysterious figure collects the box and returns the room to normal. What surprised even me about the film upon finally watching it was the lack of the film's most famous piece; the Cenobites, extradimensional creatures with the goal to harvest and sadistically torture human souls, in fact they only really show up in the last twenty minutes or so, leaving the rest of the film to be occupied by an intriguing and perverted story that I really like. The story follows a few people, mainly Kirsty, the innocent sweetie who gets dragged into this mess, and Julia, who discovers a pile of bones calling itself Frank in the attic and elects to help it become human again. The film is very much a drama about this family, as we learn of Frank and Julia's history, the strain it has put on her marriage with his brother, while at the same time being a thriller, as Frank's evil looms over the lives of Larry and Kirsty, all the while a far greater evil lurks just out of sight in the form of the Cenobites. Even having a rough idea of the film's story going in, I found myself completely hooked, pun intended, by it, I was intrigued to learn more about this film's twisted world, to see the conclusion of Frank's sinister mission to escape from hell, and the depths to which the film would sink into abject depravity. And this was all without the Cenobites, making their arrival in the film a moment of genuine dread, as the film has, by this point, sucked you into its mystery. The film is driven by its characters, which are good in some ways and weak in others. Kirsty has good moments, being the innocent of the film, making her all sugar and spice compared to everyone else; Larry and his spinelessness, Julia and Frank in their evil, but this all comes together in the film's fantastic finale which I won't spoil, just so long as you don't mind screaming, because Kirsty does a lot of that, a lot.
The film is made enjoyable not just by its mystery, but also by its horror. Hellraiser's true antagonists being a cabal of demonic sadomasochists, it really isn't surprising that the film is very sexual in nature, there's a sex scene or two but that's to be expected, what's more unnerving is the sadomasochistic stuff; which, when present, is taken to its absolute extremes. The ideas on show in this film are frightening; the lines between pain and pleasure being pushed so far that former is all that remains and the latter ceases to be, a literal hell where people are tortured endlessly for the pleasure of morally ambiguous creatures only looking to get off, yeah, it's pretty fucked up. But whereas a film like Saw, another franchise that dabbles in extreme sadomasochism, would put that horror front and centre, Hellraiser shows a remarkable amount of control, knowing when to hold back, and when to go insane with it, which it absolutely does. It's here that the film's visual effects come into play, and like most horror films from the eighties that are still loved today, they hold up. The standout is unquestionably the makeup effects on Frank, who you can't help but stare at because of how disgusting he is; he spends most of the film without skin and the film sells it every single time, it's uncanny and creepy to look at, a body without skin, and it's mesmerising by just how good it looks. The hooks going through people's skin is eerily convincing also, and one scene in particular not long into the film is outstanding, practical horror effects at their finest. And when the Cenobites finally show up, their costumes are equally creepy and cool, fittingly comprised of black leather and exposed, mutilated skin, kinky. Not all of it's as show stealing as any of that however, there's a monster in this film that looks a bit dated, and the blood looks off in some scenes, but that could easily be ignored while you're staring in confusion and horror at Frank. All in all Hellraiser's horror is outstanding, I find myself gawking at its visuals, in love with how good the effects are and how uncanny and creepy it all is, but while the film lays it on thick with the gore, none of its pointless, the film takes its time to invest you in its world so that when the film gets its freak on, it's not meaningless and gratuitous, it has a point, which matters almost as much as the quality of the effects themselves.
Come to Daddy
Hellraiser isn't what I was expecting at all, I wasn't expecting to be so drawn into the film, into its story and characters, I wasn't expecting the Cenobites to be so conservatively used, but I was expecting to enjoy it, and I very much did. The film is creepy and uncomfortable from beginning to end, it has some amazing visual effects and horror, but a very entertaining and unsettling mystery that culminates in a finale that I adore in its entirety. I will admit though that Hellraiser is definitely not for everyone; it's more perverted elements could easily be too much for some people, and even though I enjoyed it, it's intensely sexual nature makes it a film I probably wouldn't watch with my friends, or anyone really, but it's a film I personally had a lot of fun with, and I'd recommend it, just don't tell your parents.
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