Hellraiser (1987)

Rating: R

Country: United Kingdom

Running Time: 94 minutes

Director: Clive Barker

Starring: Doug Bradley, Andrew Robinson, Clare Higgins, Sean Chapman, Oliver Smith, etc.

UK's Hellraiser, based off of Clive Barker's critically acclaimed novella The Hellbound Heart, is a masterpiece. Enough said. A classic. One of the single influences brought upon the genre of horror. But saying all of these sentences will never do this review justice. All of the words I'm saying and the praise I'm giving out is all a big understatement. It would take an endless amount of wasted time to describe all of the wonderful factors and features that elevate Hellraiser from an ordinary chunk of a movie to an exemplar and symbol for pure adrenaline driving, spine-chilling 100% horror. But, in order to form a more understandable and complex walk-through review, I will. First of all, it introduces the fierce, depraved, corrupt, malicious and hellish Cenobite to the media: Pinhead. Although his role shifts in later films from a member of the demons to the main reckless rogue, he is still the prime concentration out of the four original menances. Another trait is that it stays true to the novella (for the most part) and that the movie deals with and tackles themes ranging from sadomasochism and mortality under duress. I will stop here. Hellraiser is pretty much my second favorite horror movie of all time. For my entire youth it scared the heck out of me, and it does even so today. A severly overlooked and underrated classic.

Pros: Everything

Cons: Nothing

Recommended? YEAH! GO OUT AND BUY IT RIGHT NOW!

10/10