There are a lot of famous horror franchises featuring such terrible creatures
as Freddy Kruger, Michael Myers and Jason Voorhees. Just below this triad of
terror lies the second tier monsters arguably lead by Pinhead from the
Hellraiser series of flicks. Now if you had to go through eternity with grid
marks and pins stuck all over your face and had to wear a skin tight faux
leather outfit you will want to torture people too. The 1987 flagship flick of
this horror series is being re-released to celebrate its twentieth anniversary.
Yes, as hard as it may be to believe this franchise has reached the two decade
mark with some 9 films in the series. Born from the strange yet talented mind of
Clive Barker old Pinhead and his Rubik’s cube of death are back on DVD in a
special Anchor bay Collection edition. This is notably the best of the whole
Hellraiser series and is considered to be a groundbreaking film for its genre.
It took horror into a definitive new direction where the dark world of
sadomasochism is central to the shock. The film actually holds together. It is
well written, directed to perfection and has much better acting than most of the
current horror field. This film is not for the faint of heart; it is correctly
targeted towards the hard core horror fan.
The film opens it what appears to be a Asian market. Two men sit at a table;
one dropping sugar into a green liquid, the other with dirty fingernails pushes
a large stack of money over. He takes an ornate, cubical box with him as he gets
up to leave. The man takes the box home. There, in the middle of a square of
candles the man, Frank Cotton (Sean Chapman) begins to work on opening the
mysterious box. Frank pushes one of the symbols and the box starts to
reconfigure itself. As he continues to work on opening the box a strange bluish
light starts to stream into the room. When the box finally opens metallic hooks
fly open and dig deep into Frank’s flesh ripping him into small pieces. A
strange man appears; the Lead Cenobite (Doug Bradley), better know to the
audience as Pinhead, bends over the remains piecing the face back together. It
turns out that there are four Cenobites, demonic creatures that thrive on the
pain of humans. Pinhead closes the box and the once bloodied room is now bare.
A short time later Frank’s brother, Larry (Andrew Robinson) moves into
Frank’s house. With Larry is his second wife, Julia (Clare Higgins) who it just
happens had an affair with Frank sometime in the past. They assume that Frank is
on one of his notorious escapades and think little of his not being there. Larry
also has a teenaged daughter, Kristy (Ashley Laurence) who can’t stand her step
mother and choose to go out to live on her own.
Since Frank was not exactly the greatest housekeeper there is a lot of work
for Larry and Julia. While moving a mattress Larry cuts his hand. For some
reason he goes up into the attic where, unknown to Larry, killed. Some of
Larry’s blood drips onto the floor and is absorbed into the wooden planks. The
remains of Frank’s soul is still there and is able to feed on the blood. It uses
the energy received to partially restore Frank’s body. Later, the reincarnated
Frank convinces Julia to help him become fully restored. In order to completely
regenerate Frank requires greater quantities of fresh human blood. The plan
seems simple enough. Julia picks up the stray guy, brings him back home, seduces
him and then Frank can feast on their blood. Frank also explains to Julia about
the puzzle box. By regenerating his body he will break the covenant he has with
the Cenobites and they are not the type to take such matters lightly. Frank
hopes that he can fully restore himself and leave with Julia before they can
find them. One night while Julia is in the process of bringing the next victim
to the house Kristy happens by and sees her. While Kristy looks on the man
stubbles out of the attic followed by a skinless Frank. Before Frank can seize
her she sees the box, grabs it and throws it out of the window. As she flees
Kristy grabs the box. While playing with the box Kristy inadvertently solves it
and it opens. Pinhead appears and explains to the terrified girl that since she
summoned the Cenobites they must now take her to their world of pain and
pleasure. She strikes up a deal with the demon; she will lead them to Frank in
exchange for her freedom.
What sets this film apart from other horror flicks is nature of the monster.
While the Cenobites are awesome in their horror they real villains are the
humans. The Cenobites are just acting like any self respecting demon would,
evil. The real monster here is the dark side of human nature. Julia is more than
willing to lure random men to a painful death just to help her partially
resurrected former lover. It doesn’t matter that she is married to his brother;
she is willing to commit a string of murders to help him. The theme of the dark
side of human nature is continued with the visual references to sadomasochistic
practices. The line between pain and pleasure is blurred; one leading to the
other. Pinhead is the ultimate in the piecing lifestyle. With his leather outfit
he would fit right in to many clubs in lower Manhattan. The piecing motif is
extended to an extreme height with the scene were the hooks penetrate Frank’s
flesh pulling him apart.
The cast here is strong and able. Clare Higgins does well as a woman torn
between her husband and lover. She is able to sell her part and convince the
audience that she is someone that is pulled to the darkest corners of the human
condition. Contrasting the character of Julia is Kristy. Ashley Laurence plays
her as more of a victim. She did not intend to open the box like her uncle
Frank. She has to literally make a deal with the devil to save her own life. She
can justify turning Frank over since he is in this mess of his own accord. Most
people identify Doug Bradley’s Pinhead with this film the fact of the matter is
he only has a few minutes of screen time but in that short time he makes quite
an impression. His impression here was so strong that Pinhead has become his
only movie role.
Anchor Bay has been releasing select films as special anniversary edition for
awhile now. Even if you have the old release these, including this one, are well
worth the purchase. Several new extras are included to help the fan get even
more from the film. The anamorphic 1.85:1 video is well mastered. The colors are
bright and solid. The Dolby 5.1 audio fills the room and even the sub woofer
gets a workout. There is commentary in a round table format. Writer-director
Clive Barker chimes in with Ashley Laurence while screenwriter Peter Atkins acts
as the moderator. There is an interview with Andrew Robinson about the
production and impact the film has had. There is also an interview with Ashley
Laurence on life as a teenage scream queen. The musical score is considered in
the featurette ‘Hellcomposer’ in the form of an interview with Christopher
Young. Doug Bradley tells us all about the makeup effects of the film. There are
also still, galleries, TV spots and trailers to make sure you get something
really special. For those into extreme horror flicks this is a must have.
Posted 10/05/07