Hellraiser

[masknslasher86]

I just bought Hellraiser on DVD without seeing it and I must say I was very disappointed. Every review I have read has been good and said it was a classic. Spoilers* I like Pinhead, but he's barely in the movie it's basically about that Frank guy coming back to life. The movie is just gory and not scary and the end I want to know how that chick knew how to spin the cube right to put the cenobites away. I give it a 6/10. I don't know maybe I was expecting too much out of this movie and that made it worse to me.

[countchocula]

Upon the first viewing, I felt exactly the same way that you do. I was expecting Pinhead to be the focal point. However, I've come to terms with his dearth of screen time. I'm still not in love with Hellraiser, though. The characters that the film does focus on are completely unlikable. Julia's a self-absorbed bitch, Frank is nothing more than an asshole who happens to be obsessed with lust, and Larry just isn’t acted well enough for me to care about him. Andrew Robinson has always seemed wooden to me. Kirsty deserved the limelight, not her cold relatives.

[Devil55]

I watched the first 20 minutes of Hellraiser and turned it off because it sucked,I don't know how the fuck it spawned sequels,Movies that are good are the only ones that have sequels.

[thebloodfeaster]

Originally posted by masknslasher86
I just bought Hellraiser on DVD without seeing it and I must say I was very disappointed. Every review I have read has been good and said it was a classic. Spoilers* I like Pinhead, but he's barely in the movie it's basically about that Frank guy coming back to life. The movie is just gory and not scary and the end I want to know how that chick knew how to spin the cube right to put the cenobites away. I give it a 6/10. I don't know maybe I was expecting too much out of this movie and that made it worse to me.

I don't think it is that you were expecting too much, but rather that you were just expecting something different. I notice that your favorite movies are Halloween and F13. Hellraiser is a completely different style of horror than those, so I can understand your disappointment if you expected something in a somewhat related vein. Personally, I think that Hellraiser is not only the best horror movie ever made, but also my favorite movie of any genre.

[masknslasher86]

I agree with you. Well I'm going to watch it again more openly and see if it catches on to me or if I like it better.

[Odd Emu]

Originally posted by Devil55
Movies that are good are the only ones that have sequels.

Bloody Murder
Leprachaun
Warlock

:rolleyes:

[The Claw]

Originally posted by Odd Emu
Bloody Murder
Leprachaun
Warlock

:rolleyes:

Whats so bad about the original Warlock I liked and it's sequel. It's fun.

Leprechaun is fun trash.

I havent seen bloody murder

As for Hellrasier. It's good but not great. The sequels were bad.

[masknslasher86]

Hey Odd Emu you forgot Children of the Corn on that list.

[Toxferatu]

i really liked the first 2 children of the corn myself.

i like all the hellraisers to a point, the first is my favorite and bloodline is my least. didnt think any of em were terrible, but pretty decent all and all. havent seen the new one yet.

[thebloodfeaster]

Originally posted by masknslasher86
Hey Odd Emu you forgot Children of the Corn on that list.

I have not seen any of the Children of the Corn movies yet. I need to rent the first one pretty soon.

[masknslasher86]

The first one is pretty good than the sequels suck.

[Elgyn]

Originally posted by countchocula

Andrew Robinson has always seemed wooden to me.


What about in "Dirty Harry" where he played the killer? He was great in that.

[Requiem-for-a-Dream]

Hellraiser- 10/10

Rated R for Extreme Gore, Nudity/Sex and Extreme Horror.

I love the Hellraiser series. It wasn't really until recently that I made that judgement. I never really liked the Hellraiser films the first time I watched them. It's funny, but the reason I didn't like the first was I felt it was a bit too gritty for my taste. Don't get me wrong, I love blood and gore but this film pushes that to rotting corpses, skinless corpses, maggots and all sorts of death imagery. The first sequel was no different. But as time flew by, I began to appreciate the Hellraiser flicks for what they are. Well, the first 2 anyway, 3-6 don't follow the same tone at all, turning the Hellraiser series into your typical horror franchise.
After Kirsty's parents move into their uncles old place, strange occurances begin; Kirsty has vivid nightmares, there's a strange scent coming from the attic, and the wife seems to be getting very sneaky and edgy. This all begins because of Frank. Frank was the wife's lover and they wanted each other. When the husband fumbles up to the attic with a gory cut on his hand to be nursed by his wife, the blood awakes the torn up body of Frank under the floorboards.

Great Stuff!

Acting- 9/10
Some great performances by the married couple, Frank and Kirsty.

Directing- 10/10
Clive knows what he's doing behind the lense. He films this flick in such a way that his novel is perfectly captured. This is probably the most faithful adaption created, nothing is left out. The film (like many of Lucio Fulci flicks) is like a rotting corpse that stinks of endless maggots crawling over it and ants eating at the flesh...I mean that in a good way.

Gore- 10/10
Someone's ripped apart by hooks, skinless bodies are seen throughout, a wicked regeneration, a head split in two then the body bursts (Jesus Wept), and more!

Nudity- 3/10
We see the wife's breasts in a sex scene with Frank. The ladies get Frank's ass.

Matt

[countchocula]

Originally posted by Elgyn
What about in "Dirty Harry" where he played the killer? He was great in that.

I've only seen chunks of Dirty Harry, so I can't really comment on his performance. I'm speaking mainly of his genre roles, especially Pumpkinhead II: Blood Wings. Blech!

[masknslasher86]

Hey the blood feaster i watched Hellraiser again and you know what I like it much better. The first time I watched it was during the day in the light with some friends. Last night I watched it home alone in the dark and boy was it scary. I think where and who with watching a movie can impact it. I want to change my rating to 9/10. I'm going to go watch it again.

[Elgyn]

count

you`re right, he did suck in "Pumpkinhead II".

[thebloodfeaster]

Originally posted by masknslasher86
Hey the blood feaster i watched Hellraiser again and you know what I like it much better. The first time I watched it was during the day in the light with some friends. Last night I watched it home alone in the dark and boy was it scary. I think where and who with watching a movie can impact it. I want to change my rating to 9/10. I'm going to go watch it again.

Hey cool man. I'm glad you liked it :)

I agree the right environment is important for alot of movies. Alot of times if I watch a movie with some friends, then sometimes we will start talking or whatever and any sense of atmosphere is lost. That's why alone is the best way to view most movies. Movies like Jason X and stuff like that though is more fun if you have friends around and you can all cheer the kills :) Just depends on the film.

[Devil55]

Theres a difference between Hellraiser and Leperchaun,Warlock,or Children of the Corn,Those 3 were good movies and Hellraiser wasen't.

[masknslasher86]

come on leperchaun better than Hellraiser same with warlock.

[Odd Emu]

I woud take Hellraiser over Children of the Corn any day of the week.

[The Claw]

I would take a kick to the head before Children Of The Corn. Not a bad movie BUT teh sequels were fucking torture.

[Lord Crumb]

Originally posted by Devil55
Theres a difference between Hellraiser and Leperchaun,Warlock,or Children of the Corn,Those 3 were good movies and Hellraiser wasen't. Oh, come on now. That's just silly. Maybe you don't like the HELLRAISER series, but the films display much more talent than any of your picks. Why is it that HELLRAISER 1-4 got theatrical releases whereas the others got one, if ANY.

[heretic]

Hellraiser was ok thats it, not crap but nothin special I would say I defintely exspected much more from this film and dare I say I alsi thaught there would be a lot more gore and a more sinister atmospere and more involvement by Pinhead. Ive only seen Hellbound and Inferno and I must say I think that Inferno was proabably a better movie all be it a very different one.

[Devil55]

You said the first 4 were in the theatres,I thought there was 6 or 7 in that series,Well maybe the series is getting more popular by going straight to video.:rolleyes:

[The Arrow]

Originally posted by Devil55
Theres a difference between Hellraiser and Leperchaun,Warlock,or Children of the Corn,Those 3 were good movies and Hellraiser wasen't.

I'll take Hellraiser over Lepergarbage anyday.

At least Hellraiser had great gore, displayed creativity and was unique. Leperchaun was not even entertaining under the influence, yet alone sober.

I loathe that movie and the pogo stick scene has to be one of the dumbest kills ever put to celluloid, right up there with the Sleepwalkers corn on the cobb thing. Of course this is solely my opinion, to each his own.

[thebloodfeaster]

Originally posted by Devil55
You said the first 4 were in the theatres,I thought there was 6 or 7 in that series,Well maybe the series is getting more popular by going straight to video.:rolleyes:


So popularity is the same as quality? That's news to me :rolleyes: I can respect it if you don't like the series, but pointing out their popularity has nothing to do with the merits of the movies themselves.

[Asokan]

Never saw the numerous sequels (and for that matter, I don't care about the mostly inferior sequels to other famous horror movies), but I actually liked this original piece, despite all its shortcomings (bland characters, bad acting, stupid plot).

I found the gore scenes to be pretty imaginative and the direction highly effective and very entertaining. It's shallow and too "mysterious" for its own good, but solid horror fun.

[Devil55]

So popularity is the same as quality? That's news to me I can respect it if you don't like the series, but pointing out their popularity has nothing to do with the merits of the movies themselves.


Actually,It kind of does because I don't remember any of the Friday the 13th,Nightmare on Elm Street,Or Halloween movies going straight to video and Hellraiser is apparently compared to these movies because of the well known horror character Pinhead.

[thebloodfeaster]

Originally posted by Devil55
Actually,It kind of does because I don't remember any of the Friday the 13th,Nightmare on Elm Street,Or Halloween movies going straight to video and Hellraiser is apparently compared to these movies because of the well known horror character Pinhead.

Who cares though? I guess you must think Titanic and American Pie must be a couple of the greatest movies ever made because they were popular. In another thread you just posted that In the Mouth of Madness is underrated, which I definitely agree with. But if you apply the same logic to that movie as you do to Hellraiser then ItMoM must not be that good of a movie cause if it was it certainly would be more popular.

Apply your logic to other areas, such as music, and you must come to the conclusion that Britney Spears is the greatest musical artist of our time, because she sure as hell has popularity, while other artists who toil on a small lable and put all their heart into music suck because not that many of their records get sold.

See my point here?

I understand you have this intense hatred for Hellraiser, and that's perfectly fine; I'm just saying that popularity and quality are often unrelated in every medium of art.

[Romero&Juliet]

Originally posted by Devil55
I don't know how the fuck it spawned sequels,Movies that are good are the only ones that have sequels.

*sigh* we can only dream

[The Claw]

i have to say you can hate hellraiser i dont care.

but whats good and bad is in the eye of the beholder, sure i might not like some movies but i wouldnt wish them away because that would be taking enjoyment from someone who likes that movie.

[myersfan31]

I actaully enjoy Hellraiser. It's confusing...but it's interesting. Although it's very gory, I'm not a fan of gore, but it kinda ahs to be done. The story gets confusing, but then it wraps up the whole movie which it neat. Pinhead isn't in that much, yeah, but he wasn't really needed. Overall it's a pretty good movie. I'd give it a 7/10. Plus Kirsty is a good scream princess.:cool:

[Elgyn]

I actually re-watched this last night. I hadn`t seen it in a good while.
And my thoughts?
Not only do I still think it`s good, but compared to today`s flashy MTV-editing star-studded horror offerings, "Hellraiser" looks like a CLASSIC!
For a novice filmmaker, Clive Barker really did a great job with the direction. It just LOOKS classy.
Add to that a good plot, the first appearence of Pinhead and the Cenobites (which thankfully are NOT the focal point of the movie), some good effects (not all of them though), atmosphere, good set design (compare the look of this movie to the look of "Hellseeker"), NO self-ironic humor, and a great music score by Christopher Young, and you`ve got a horror film that will still be remembered years from now IMO.

[thebloodfeaster]

Amen, Elgyn!

[masknslasher86]

I feel that the movie's ending is a little weak. I would have liked to see Pinhead and the cenobites at least kill Kirsty's boyfriend. I didn't like how easy Kirsty got rid of Pinhead and the Cenobites.

[cenobite1282]

what is it with all you people criticizing the film because pinhead's not in it enough? you can't think less of a film because you know of one of the characters only too find out that he's not a main character. that's not the movies fault.

[thebloodfeaster]

Originally posted by cenobite1282
what is it with all you people criticizing the film because pinhead's not in it enough? you can't think less of a film because you know of one of the characters only too find out that he's not a main character. that's not the movies fault.

Yeah... the story's about people first... cenobites second. As much as I am enthralled by the whole mythos underlying the concept, the people are supposed to be the most important characters.

[thebloodfeaster]

btw: Welcome to the board cenobite1282!

[the night watchman]

Originally posted by Devil55
Theres a difference between Hellraiser and Leperchaun,Warlock,or Children of the Corn,Those 3 were good movies and Hellraiser wasen't.

How would you know if "Hellraiser" sucked or not anyway? You only watched twenty minutes of it.

I think many people expect "Hellraiser" to be sort of a slasher movie. I see it as a ghost story, where the ghost is corporeal and demons are on their way to take him back to hell. But it seems that because Pinhead is on the poster, and the studio has turned him into a horror icon throughout the sequels along the lines of Freddy and Jason and Lector that people think the first movie is about him. It's not. It's about Frank and Julia and Kirsty.

I also think the people who dislike "Hellraiser" do so because it doesn't use traditional horror movie tropes. People get confused because the imagery and ideas are unfamiliar (or at least they were when the movie was first released). Everyone knows what a zombie or vampire or the devil or a machete-wielding killer is, and they can easily fill in the blanks of the story based on other movies they've seen with the same monsters. "Hellraiser," on the other hand, introduces new forms of supernatural beings and settings and unfamiliar character motivations that don't immediately correspond with traditional horror movies. There is no black-and-white, good-and-evil conflict.

To me these aspects make "Hellraiser" more interesting. To others, they make it an unsatisfying and frustrating experience.

[thebloodfeaster]

I pretty much agree with everything you said, Night Watchman.

[Devil55]

This is directed to Thebloodfeaster's last comment,Are you on glue,I compared Hellraiser to those movies because apparently Pinhead is a horror icon and that would make the Hellraiser series in the same company as the F13th series,NOES series,and the Halloween series.All I was saying is none of those movies went straight to video.

[Gretchen_Ross]

i think the night watchman has said it well. when i first watched "hellraiser," i too was expecting it to be about pinhead, but i was actually pleasantly surprised when it was more about the mythology of the lament configuration and it's effect on the human characters in the film. btw, i am both repelled and fascinated by the "hellraiser" aspect of clive barker's work. the elaborate mythos and the eternally open wounds of the cenobites are so bizarre. the connection to the whole "tortured souls" story and figures is undeniable. (i'm studying for final exams, and one definition i have memorized contains the word infibulate, and everytime i go over it i think of lucidique. *shudder*)

[the night watchman]

Makin' me look up words, eh? Yeah, "infibulate" is pretty ookie. What the hell kind of exam are you studying for?! :eek:

[thebloodfeaster]

Originally posted by Devil55
This is directed to Thebloodfeaster's last comment,Are you on glue,I compared Hellraiser to those movies because apparently Pinhead is a horror icon and that would make the Hellraiser series in the same company as the F13th series,NOES series,and the Halloween series.All I was saying is none of those movies went straight to video.

I assume that you're replying to what I said several posts ago, because the last few I've posted have nothing to do with what you're talking about.

I understand that Pinhead being an icon puts Hellraiser in the same company as the other series', but that has nothing to do with the fact that popularity does not equal quality.

[Gretchen_Ross]

night watchman, i'm studying for my "human sexuality" final and there's some stuff we need to know about female genital mutilation, hence infibulate. sorry to gross you out. :-) btw, i was talking with somebody the other day and i mentioned that i was taking the above class and another one called "drugs, addiction, and mental disorders" this quarter, and they said "sex and drugs, eh? sounds like fun."

[Elgyn]

Just want to say I think night watchman put it perfectly.

[Requiem-for-a-Dream]

Originally posted by thebloodfeaster
I understand that Pinhead being an icon puts Hellraiser in the same company as the other series', but that has nothing to do with the fact that popularity does not equal quality.

I agree with you completely.

Matt

[the night watchman]

Originally posted by Gretchen_Ross
btw, i was talking with somebody the other day and i mentioned that i was taking the above class and another one called "drugs, addiction, and mental disorders" this quarter, and they said "sex and drugs, eh? sounds like fun."

LOL!