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Hellraiser

Play trailer 1:27 Poster for Hellraiser R Released Sep 18, 1987 1h 33m Horror Play Trailer Watchlist
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70% Tomatometer 53 Reviews 73% Popcornmeter 50,000+ Ratings
Sexual deviant Frank (Sean Chapman) inadvertently opens a portal to hell when he tinkers with a box he bought while abroad. The act unleashes gruesome beings called Cenobites, who tear Frank's body apart. When Frank's brother (Andrew Robinson) and his wife, Julia (Clare Higgins), move into Frank's old house, they accidentally bring what is left of Frank back to life. Frank then convinces Julia, his one-time lover, to lure men back to the house so he can use their blood to reconstruct himself.
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Hellraiser

Hellraiser

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Critics Consensus

Elevated by writer-director Clive Barker's fiendishly unique vision, Hellraiser offers a disquieting - and sadistically smart - alternative to mindless gore.

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Critics Reviews

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Chris Stuckmann ChrisStuckmann.com The reason the movie works as well as it does is because of its human characters. Rated: B+ Oct 14, 2019 Full Review William Thomas Empire Magazine Horror is at its best when it's relentless. Clive Barker knows this, and his debut feature as director is so gleefully vicious, so relentlessly grim that it's going to be very hard for fans of the genre not to like it. Rated: 4/5 Nov 13, 2017 Full Review Bob McCabe Empire Magazine With Hellraiser, Clive Barker created one of the most genuinely disturbing movies of the last 20 years. Rated: 4/5 Nov 13, 2017 Full Review Grant Hermanns Screen Rant Clive Barker's original adaptation of his Hellbound Heart novella, Hellraiser, remains a tightly-paced genre classic, despite its narrative flaws. Rated: 8/10 Feb 7, 2025 Full Review Michael Sragow San Francisco Examiner The acclaimed young fiction writer turned filmmaker, Clive Barker, here wears his heart on his sleeve -- along with his brains and his intestines... By pushing his horror gimmicks to the limit, Barker becomes a pain for the audience. Rated: 1.5/4 Sep 21, 2022 Full Review Trace Thurman Horror Queers Podcast Sexy, gooey and filled with imagination, Hellraiser is Clive Barker's magnum opus. Rated: 4.5/5 Sep 20, 2022 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Josh A This movie is absolutely crazy. That's the best way to describe it. It's like Demon 79 but darker and fused with The 9th Circle (the short film where Art the Clown first appeared). Let's begin. The plot is worth talking about as it is interesting. A guy manages to escape hell but needs people to be killed in order to regain his normal form. It's crazy and works well, adding horror as the guy, named Frank Cotton, slowly but surely regains his flesh but turns into a blood-soaked figure. And there's also the Cenobites, who are mysterious and look cool. The film is also absolutely crazy. Like, the way the Cenobites are summoned is a puzzle cube, they rip people apart with chains, and a dragon steals the box at the end. Well, a demon that looks like a dragon at least. We don't see much of hell but what we see is cool. We see it more next film anyways. Overall, a crazy movie and a very good movie. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 03/16/25 Full Review Justin I I was really looking forward to watching this movie after playing the video game Dead by Daylight. As the lead cenobite better known as "Pinhead" is a playable character. Boy was I disappointed. The film is boring and the cenobites are barely in the film. Just about an unfaithful wife who lures men to her house to resurrect her husband's dead brother who she slept with before and it was a really good time for her. The acting is bad. It's not scary. just gory. I would not recommend watching this film. The cenobites are a great design. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 03/15/25 Full Review Chris B Boring and rubbish. This movie was not scary at all. Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 03/06/25 Full Review Joseph S D In the Navy we saw this shortly after it came out - out at sea - in a rough patch. I don't think anyone got any sleep that night. Your average sailor is pretty well hardened to horror pics, but this one... Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/06/25 Full Review Kevin P Intriguing mystery of character motivations behind their fixation and history with the cenobites. Great creature work and character design for all of the cenobites. Solid acting from Pinhead's actor. Can't tell if Julia's affair is a well-done portrayal of assault or a poor framing of it as a consensual affair. I was really invested in the Frank storyline where he coerced Julia to help rejuvenate him back to life. I ironically lost some interest when it devolved to typical “undignified screaming & crying final girl chased by monsters” stuff with the cenobites & Kirsty. Or when the hospital conveniently keeps Kirsty hostage by locking her in without explaining what’s going on even though they legally can't do that since she isn't institutionalized (God, I hate that trope in horror movies). But then it gets interesting again when Kirsty offers to trade Frank's soul for hers to the cenobites with a pretty cool climax that ties it all together with some crazy body horror brought to life from insane practical effects. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/27/25 Full Review Ricardo d Lá quando eu era criança, tinha muito medo dos cenobites. Este filme passava no SBT, eu ia assistir e depois me borrava de medo. Mas hoje, sei do que tinha medo, era da maquiagem. Todo o filme se baseia na reconstrução do Frank, que é maravilhosa, considerando um filme de orçamento baixo. Isso é inesquecível. Mas o roteiro, e as atuações são bem fracas. Aliás não sei como o filme se manteve com tantas continuações. Este é um daqueles filmes onde torço para o vilão. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 01/05/25 Full Review Read all reviews
Hellraiser

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Movie Info

Synopsis Sexual deviant Frank (Sean Chapman) inadvertently opens a portal to hell when he tinkers with a box he bought while abroad. The act unleashes gruesome beings called Cenobites, who tear Frank's body apart. When Frank's brother (Andrew Robinson) and his wife, Julia (Clare Higgins), move into Frank's old house, they accidentally bring what is left of Frank back to life. Frank then convinces Julia, his one-time lover, to lure men back to the house so he can use their blood to reconstruct himself.
Director
Clive Barker
Producer
Christopher Figg
Screenwriter
Clive Barker
Distributor
New World Pictures, Anchor Bay Entertainment, Image Entertainment Inc.
Production Co
Rivdel Films
Rating
R
Genre
Horror
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Sep 18, 1987, Original
Rerelease Date (Theaters)
Feb 5, 2025
Release Date (Streaming)
Oct 25, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA)
$13.3M
Runtime
1h 33m
Sound Mix
Surround, Dolby Stereo
Aspect Ratio
Flat (1.85:1)
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