Such Sights

Hellraiser (1987)

I've written about The Hellbound Heart, Clive Barker's incredible classic novella of modern horror, years ago, but I recently rewatched Hellraiser, the film it inspired, as well as Hellbound: Hellraiser 2 again after several years, and found them both to be just as effective and memorable now as they were in the past.

Barker, who wrote and directed the film version of his novella, has described Hellraiser as a "dark domestic drama with demons, and that is an apt description as any. Barker's style has weaved together elements of fantasy, surrealism, and splatterpunk and put them in a very modern, downbeat, anxiety-riddled context, focusing on issues of sexuality, social class, and the modern horrors that threaten to drive us away from life, that drive us pointedly crazy. His characters are often men seeking an egress, finding a passageway to worlds that exist parallel to our own, such as the character of Boone in the novella Cabal, or Cal in Weaveworld. Barker writes of a dreamworld that abuts our own, those cryptic spaces that run alongside our more familiar topography, blurring the line between myth, rationality, delusion, and dream. (In that way, he is not unlike Neil Gaiman, creator of The Sandman, who takes much inspiration from Barker's works.)

Hellraiser assaults the senses from the opening frames, delivering the unsuspecting viewer to a world of dark, swaying chains and hooks hanging from the ceiling, of weird, leather-clad fetishistic figures pawing through a gore-be-specked jigsaw of human faces rotting on a damp, black floor. Is this Hell? Next, we see Larry (Andrew Robinson) and his frigid, emotionally cold wife Julia (Clare Higgins) coming into Larry's family home, which was formerly occupied by Larry's brother Frank (played both by Sean Chapman and, as a skinless horror, Oliver Smith), a sexy wastrel and occultnik on a neverending search for the "outer reaches of experience ", a sort of poor man's Aleister Crowley.

The third figure here in this cinematic manifestation of the Three of Swords is Kirstie (Ashley Laurence) who is striking out on her own for the first time. Daddy's girl, she resents Julia, the neurotic, difficult stepmother, whose cole demeanor is as creepily unfriendly as they come. Kirstie is devoted to Daddy Larry, and when Larry and Julia move into their new English digs, Kirstie follows. Larry, managing to cut himself while moving a bed, while Julia is upstairs reliving her rendezvous with brother Frank shortly after her marriage, bleeds all over the black, rotting floorboards of an upstairs room that will see the birth of Queen Julia's murderous reign.

The blood of Larry opens the gates of Hell for Frank, allowing him to egress; and escape. He comes back as a desiccated, living cadaver crawling across the boards, imploring Julia to "help me, for God's sake help me!" He enlists her to murder for him, bringing men back to the house, to the dank, upstairs room that abuts the dimensional portal, to spill blood, and revivify him, piece by dripping piece.

But what has he escaped from? The Cenobites, sadomasochistic monstrosities from beyond, whose chief spokesman, Pinhead (Doug Bradley), is called forth by the mysterious lacquered "puzzle box" Frank brings with him back from Hell.

To say any more would spoil it for those unfamiliar with this shocking, classic revenant from an era of horror that was a fertile breeding ground for both the banal and brilliant. But a breeding ground, nonetheless. With echoes of Greek tragedy, Hellraiser unfolds in celluloid meets Cenobite perfection, a glorious, classic dip into the splattery spectral whirlpools of grueling 1980s horror. You won't be disappointed, come hell or high water.

Hellraiser (1987) Trailer

Hellbound: Hellraiser 2 (1988)

Hellbound: Hellraiser 2, the sequel that was rather rushed out in the wake of the overwhelming success of the first film, has both strengths and flaws: it's visually arresting, possessing far more slick production values than the first film, and it has classical echoes and dives far further into the fantastical elements of Barker's vision of Hell. Yet, the film often seems tedious, or falls flat, despite the protestations of some critics at the time that the film was so shocking that it bordered on "sadistic violence." I'm certain that's probably a correct assessment, as the gore and horror punches are rarely pulled here, the film reveling in the nightmarish images and scenarios splashed upon the screen as Ashley Laurence, reprising her role as Kirsty Cotton, accompanies young Tiffany (Imogen Boorman) through the labyrinthine hallways of Hell, one step ahead of Dr. Channard (Kenneth Cranham), a floating horror of a psychiatrist (is there any other kind?) reminiscent (as a transformed Cenobite) of the Baron Harkonnen, and with long, tentacle-like fingers that sprout surrealistic flowers and razors, curling index fingers giving a "come here" gesture, etc. He likewise has a weirdly vibrating scream that is quite something to hear.

Julia (Clare Higgins reprising her role from the first film) returns from Hell via the bloody mattress and is given egress to this world by Channard, who possesses the mattress upon which she died. Giving a razor blade to a mental patient who believes invisible bugs are crawling all over his skin (a scene of that aforementioned "sadistic violence") the blood, as well as the blood of others, allows Julia to return. Wrapped in bandages, she finally consumes enough blood, with the aid of psychiatrist cum occultist Channard, to get her old skin back (but this is as per Hellraiser rules, unstable).

Channard and Julia return to Hell, and Channard turns into a Cenobite horror as previously mentioned. Kirsty and Tiffany follow close behind, and along the way, we meet up with Uncle Frank (Sean Chapman) again, as well as Pinhead (Doug Bradley reprising his role), who is coerced by Kirsty into remembering his former life as World War 2 soldier Eliot Spencer.

The grisly scope of Hellbound is considerable, yet, somehow, the film seems like a directionless mess, an aimless attempt to flash as much gruesome and surrealistic imagery on the screen without a lot of intelligent direction or a clue as to what, finally, is motivating it; except, perhaps, for Channard's wish to take over Hell.

Regardless, both films are grand, gruesome fantasies, hearkening back to an era of filmmaking before computer-generated effects and formulaic, blockbuster plots rendered (to borrow an expression from the film) "such sights" as these, a thing of the past.

But do watch them anyway, dears. They're a HELL of a lot of fun.

Hellbound: Hellraiser 2 Trailer [HD]