"What's your pleasure Mr. Cotton?"
Be forewarned that this review is primarily for the DVD release of Hellraiser, not the film itself. It's no secret that Anchor Bay has done an excellent job bringing classic and cult horror films to DVD, even if it's over and over again. The 20th Anniversary Edition of Clive Barker's Hellraiser adds a few new extras, while bringing over the same extras that were available from the older DVD release of the film. What's new here are the interviews with the film's stars Doug "Pinhead" Bradley, Andrew Robinson, and Ashley Laurence. Other than that, it's the same stuff that we had before, including the interesting commentary by Barker and Laurence. If you already own the previous release of Hellraiser, the new interviews alone aren't any reason to go out and pick this up whatsoever. Anchor Bay has quite a habit of double and triple dipping their DVD's (there is yet again another edition of the original Evil Dead on the way as well), and the 20th Anniversary Edition of Hellraiser is...
More gore with your compelling storyline? Yes, please
Hellraiser is an extreme horror lover's dream come true. Clive Barker's unique vision marked a virtual rebirth of the genre at a time when slasher sequels were the fun, yet predictable, norm. Although the premiere setting for viewing this movie is a crowded theater of screamers (and sick puppies like myself who find humor in gore), one can still achieve a quite satisfactory effect watching this movie alone in the dark. Some horror creators rely on blood and gore for its own sake, others rely on the story itself to produce the desired effect. Clive Barker is one of the few horror geniuses who can make copious amounts of gore an integral and necessary part of the story. Hellraiser can be deliciously gross, so those with weak stomachs should beware. It features rats; decayed, maggot-infested meat; and copious amounts of blood--and that's just the teaser. Later there are acts of cold-blooded murder, human dismemberment by arrays of chains, a partially formed, pus-dripping, oozing...
A classic of the genre.
In 1986, Clive Barker wrote a novella called "The Hellbound Heart" which was and by all means still is a brilliant example that in a space of roundabout 160 pages a skilled horrormaster like Barker can convey horror and suspense enough to shock and scare the reader. Barker is the same one who says that there are no new stories, only new ways to tell. It is a refreshingly original story rich in gruesome details. Then, in 1987, Barker himself got the opportunity to adapt his novel to the screen. This film immortalized the legendary villain called Pinhead, played by Doug Bradley. The film is just as gruesome as the book if not more. I'd say that I had no doubt the film would be faithful to the novel because after all it was the novel's writer who was directing the movie in the first place! I just rewatched Hellraiser last night and I reread the book today. It's short enough to be read in one sitting...and compelling enough, too! To me this film is a contemporary...
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