Hellraiser

In the first scene of the film, Frank Cotton, a petty criminal, buys an antique puzzle box from a merchant in an oriental bazaar. Frank is sure that the box gives access to some "indescribable pleasures." In fact, it is the key to the gates of hell; anyone who opens it becomes the prey of the Senobites ( English cenobites ), the pleasure of which is pain, torture and suffering. Upon returning home, Frank unravels the secret of the box and opens it. Appearing Senobits led by Pinhead (Pinhead; from pin - pin or nail; and head - head) tear Frank's body to pieces and completely destroy it, and then return to hell.

Frank's older brother Larry, together with his wife Julia and an adult daughter from their first marriage, Kirsty decide to move to the house where Frank disappeared without a trace. During the move, Larry accidentally injures his arm. His blood, spilled on the floor of the attic, brings Frank back to life, but Frank's body cannot recover completely, he looks more like a skeleton than a living person. This is how Julia discovers him, with whom, as it turns out, they were lovers during Frank's life. Frank reminds Julia of their closeness and demands help: to complete the restoration of the body, he needs human blood.

In the following days, Julia meets men, brings them home and kills. With every kill, Frank is becoming more and more like the one he was before. Larry, worried about Julia's strange behavior, asks Kersti to look after her, and Kersti witnesses how Julia brings the third victim into the house. Climbing into the attic, Kersti discovers the bloodless body of a man and Frank. Frank tries to detain her niece, but she manages to escape, taking with him a box. On Kirsty Street it gets bad. She is taken to the hospital, in the ward she examines the box and finally collects the puzzle. Behind the girl are the Senobits; in a panic, she tells the demons that she knows about Frank and is ready to help bring him back in exchange for her life. The Senobits reply that if Frank himself pronounces his name, they will probably let her go. Meanwhile, Julia persuades Frank to flee, but for this, Frank needs skin (it does not recover from the blood of the victims, it must be removed from the body of another person). When Larry returns home, Julia lures him into the attic.

When Kirsty returns home, she is met by Larry, who says he killed Frank. In the attic she finds a body without skin. Appearing Senobits say that they need a man to do this. Kirsty runs downstairs, tells Julia and Larry to save. But when Larry, reassuring Kirsty, says: “Go to daddy!”, Frank's favorite phrase, the girl realizes that Frank is in front of her. Kirsty is trying to escape, Frank, about to kill her, accidentally kills Julia. Chasing Kirsty around the house, he says: “Everything is fine! Your dear Uncle Frank is here! ” This phrase becomes fatal. As soon as Frank pronounces his name, the Senobits emerge from the shadows. Recognizing the escaped captive, they tear him apart with chains, after which they decide to take Kersti with them. At the last moment, the girl realizes that to expel the demons, you need to disassemble the puzzle by returning the box to its original form. She manages to do this and escape from Frank's house, which meanwhile lights up and collapses.

In the final of the film, Kirsty in the wasteland throws the box into the burning pile of garbage, but then a tramp appears, who throws himself into the fire and takes the box in his hands. His body shell burns down, and the person turns out to be a monster resembling the skeleton of a winged dragon. Holding the box in its paws, it flies away. In the last scene, the merchant, who once sold the box to Frank, talks to a new buyer, and the box lies on the table in front of him.

• Sean Chapman - Frank Cotton (person)
• Oliver Smith - Frank Cotton (Monster)
• Andrew Robinson - Larry Cotton (in the book - Rory Cotton )
• Claire Higgins - Julia Cotton
• Ashley Lawrence - Kersti Cotton, daughter of Larry Cotton (in the book - she is not Rory Cotton's daughter, but his girlfriend and Julia)
• Doug Bradley - Pinhead (Nailhead Senobite)
• Nicholas Vince - Chater (Senobit chattering teeth)
• Simon Bamford - Butterball (Fat Senobit)
• Grace Kirby - Fimail (Senobite Woman)

Putting makeup on Doug Bradley, who played the role of Pinhead, took six hours. The film was shot in a real house, with the exception of scenes in the attic. The crowded rooms limited the film crew ^[1] . At the request of the producers, the action of the film, originally shot as British history, was moved to the United States: in connection with this, the picture had to be re-voiced so that the actors spoke with an American accent ^[3] .

• 1988 - " International Fantasporto Fantastic Film Festival " - prize of criticism.
• 1988 - " Avoriaz Fiction Film Festival " - prize in the "fear" section.
• 1988 - Saturn - nominations: best horror movie, best music, best make-up.

Composer Christopher Young ^[4]

Total duration: 42:40

The film has nine sequels shot by different directors at different movie studios. Several of them indicate that the characters were created by Clive Barker. The writer has no other relation to these films. The last sequel was shot in 2018. In almost all of these films, the role of Pinhead was played by the English actor Doug Bradley and only in Revelation was he replaced by Stefan Collins, and in the “Sentence” Paul T. Taylor played the role of Pinhead.

In November 2006, a remake from Dimension Films was announced. French director Pascal Lugier was appointed director of the film ^[5] , but was later removed from the project due to creative differences with the producers ^[6] . Lugier wanted his film to be gloomy and serious, while the producers wanted the film to be as commercially profitable and targeted to a teenage audience ^[7] .

In October 2007, it was announced that French filmmakers Julien Mori and Alexander Bustillo would prepare the script and film a remake ^[8] . In 2011, the duo discussed with the producers the reasons that ultimately led to their departure from the project. As Mori said: “The problem was that we could not coordinate the script with the studio. This is obvious why. We are hardcore fans of the original, and wanted to be respectful to the Clive Barker universe, but Bob Weinstein has his own vision of the film and wants a film that would appeal to a wide audience. For us, this was not so; it is impossible to do what can be both of them ” ^[9] .

On October 20, 2010, it was officially announced that Patrick Lussier and Todd Farmer were appointed directors who will be engaged in a remake. The story of the film will differ from the original film, because Lucier and Farmer, out of respect for the work of Clive Barker, did not want a simple retelling of the original story. The film would have an emphasis on the world and puzzle functions. Lucier and Farmer abandoned the teen-oriented film, stating "If we make HellRaiser, he will have an R rating, if they want to make PG-13, then they should get rid of us." In 2011, Farmer confirmed that he and Lucier both dropped out of the project ^{[10] [11]} .

On October 24, 2013, Clive Barker posted on his official Facebook page that he would personally write a remake and that he had already made a deal with Bob Weinstein's Dimension Films studio. He also stated that classic special effects would be used in the films, not CGI effects, and Doug Bradley would return as Pinhead ^[12] . On March 18, 2017, Clive Barker said that the production of the film did not budge: “The script was written and submitted to Dimension Films several years ago. It was the last, before the news of the sequel (Hellraiser 10: The Verdict) appeared. ” ^[13]

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Sources

Bibliography

• Kane, Paul. The Hellraiser Films and Their Legacy . - McFarland, 2015 .-- ISBN 1476600694 .

• Hellraiser on the Internet Movie Database