Hellraiser

Rating:
Summary: Suspenseful, strongly violent and shocking motion picture...
Review: Suspenseful, strongly violent and shocking, "Hellraiser" is an original and interesting thriller without limits and censorships. Clive Barker adapted his book for the screen and he directed it in a realistic, hard and cruel way: his camera shows with details bodies that were wounded after several mutilations and extremely unpleasant scenes (one of the most sensitive moments is when Frank stabs Júlia- a disturbing and unforgetable scene).The script offers surprising dramatic density, and the agile and vertiginous rhythm reminds some of the Hitchcock's best works. Clare Higgins gives the best performance of the film and of her career, but unhappily she was never recognized by Hollywood - if her talent and beauty had been recognized at that time, today she would be in Judi Dench or Emma Thompson's same place.The sequence, "Hellbound Hellraiser 2" is even more thrilling than the original!

Rating:
Summary: a masterpiece one of the best but....
Review: very creative, graphic, gory, shocking and due to clive barkers genius and creativity, it deserves to stand beside halloween psycho night of the living dead dwan of the dead and evil dead 1 and 2 as one of the best horror films ever made. but it is kinda slow and though kinda drags at times, its a must-see for strong stomached hardcore horror fans.could have been improved but it works great. the ending is a knockout! rated R for extreme graphic violence thats for those with strong stomachs.

Rating:
Summary: Hellraiser has its moments
Review: I have very mixed feelings about Hellraiser. My thoughts about this film changed around a bit after I watched it. Now I think I finally have my absolute opinion of this film. Hellraiser is considered by many to be a classic in horror film history. I don't know if I should argue with that. I've seen maybe close to twenty horror films in my life and I've only liked about six of them. Hellraiser is based on a Clive Barker novella. It's about a man named Frank who buys a strange looking contraption. It's supposed to be a configuration that opens a portal to beings of wonder called the Cenobites who offer great pleasure. Instead the Cenobite offer pleasure in a way no one understands and puts Frank in unspeakable suffering in the floor of one of the rooms of his house. Frank is later revived by his brother Larry's blood but he needs more to become a full bodied human again and this leads to a bloodbath of sadistic manner. Hellraiser can be both very suspenseful and horrific and then just turn plain boring. That's what I disliked most about this film. It wasn't certainly scary at some points but Barker seemed satisfied with frightening the viewer at one point and then decided to slow down the film some more. This made the transitions very uneven. The Cenobites were an impressive sight but they didn't do anything impressive. The acting in this film ranges from bad to good. The bad: Ashley Laurence, the good: Doug Bradley who easily steals the show with his limited appearances. I'm very surprised about a few things in this film. Hellraiser's budget was only one million dollars and it's special effects were actually quite amazing for the late eighties. Some examples are the appearance of the Cenobites, the chain scenes, and how Frank's body grew from the floor and just mended together. The film easily earned its budget amount back at the box office with 14 million. Another thing that surprised me is that this film wasn't heavily threatened with the infamous X rating at the time. The film has more blood and gore than its copy film Event Horizon. As for how Hellraiser compares with the other Clive Barker films, I would highly recommend that you watch Candyman instead. It's more frightening and stylish with less gore. Lord of Illusions is another film from Clive Barker that's not bad.

Rating:
Summary: A DIFFERENT HELL
Review: Finally a different HELL.No more red horned demons holding tridents and shaking their pointed tails.The Cenobites are portrayed the way we are: cruel and wild at heart.Frank is a typical human being:insatiable,nasty,immoral and selfish.Our evil side is displayed here as well as our good side( represented by Kristie and her dad ).This movie (like its sequels) is a must.I own all the four installments and I have watched all sorts of horror movies,but by far HELLRAISER SERIES are the best.HALLOWEEN 1,2,3,DEAD ALIVE,RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD 1,2,3,NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD,DAWN OF THE DEAD,DAY OF THE DEAD,EVIL DEAD 1,2,3, to name a few are extraordinary (I own all of them),but they aren't as creepy and hair-raising as HELLRAISER SERIES!The Demons here are intelligent,mean and wicked just like us.Thank you Clive Barker for showing us the demons we all got inside.

Rating:
Summary: GREAT
Review: This is a great movie. This is definately gory and is not for everyone. If you do have a weak stomach or doesn't like gore I suggest not watchinf this film. But has a good plot and great acting

Rating:
Summary: The first of its kind...
Review: Clive Barker opened a new door to horror when he made this one. The cenobites aren't slow wandering zombies or euro-trash vampires. They are simply there to open your minds to one simple fact... There are no limits. Awesome movie, must be followed immediately by part two-Hellbound-Hellraiser 2. Hardcore watchers see part three, Hellraiser III - Hell on Earth. No one should see part 4. Well, maybe the end...

Rating:
Summary: Super horror from Hell!
Review: Another Great in horror history! It is a new for horror genres. A must see as is its sequels none of which were let downs! A++++!!!!!

Rating:
Summary: Blood and guts but that's about it
Review: To answer the reviewer below me, there is scene of very brief nudity with Claire Higgins. As to how good the movie is, it's not much. There are some dark and grisly scenes but most of the time it's too slow moving to maintain interest. Instead of making the Cenobites creatures of wonder and terrror Barker just has them torture people with chains that seem to come out of nowhere. As for the sequel, Hellbound is actually a pretty good movie. It's slow, but a lot more interesting than Hellraiser.

The best Clive Barker adaptation out there is definitely Candyman which is probably the best horror film of the decade so I suggest you watch that instead of Hellraiser.

Rating:
Summary: Surely an exceptional horror flick.
Review: I am a fan of horror films. Good horror films, and when I watched 'Hellraiser', I know that it is simply different than the typical ones that I have been watching all my life. Barker certainly have the talent in writing and directing his work, but though some people may argue that the films have some human interest on it, I think that the storyline of the film is a bit weak, though interesting. It is the whole concept of the Cenobites that really strikes me in the film: Truly unique as well as disturbing. If only these Cenobites are being let out into the reality of the film, the film would have scored a perfect five from me. A gory, satisfying horror film.

Rating:
Summary: IS CLAIRE HIGGANS NAKED????
Review: I WANT TO KNOW IF YOU GET TO SEE CLAIRE HIGGINS NAKED SO IM ASKING THE REVIEWERS THATS ALL