Raising Hell about Hellraiser

As a kid I was never allowed to watch horror flicks. this probably attributes to my obsession with them as an adult. I was almost 17 before I finally got to bring them into the house. Hellraiser debuted in 1978 and I did not get around to it until after 2000. Most of the effects and scares were dated compared to the current films of the day but it still maintained the intended purpose of scaring me senseless. The character Pinhead is so perfectly evil. You only see him for the last few minutes of the movie and he is what everyone remembers. Frank and Julia are nasty villains and you want them to get theirs but you can't help but feel a bit uneasy when you meet the escort sent to collect them. Makes you want to straighten up and fly right. Any one for church on Sunday?

I was excited to try out the sequels but quickly found out how far mighty Pinhead had fallen. Personally I think it is because the first is the only one directed by Clive Barker who wrote it and therefore truly knows how the story should be presented. Each new chapter Hollywood turned out was painfully worse than the one before.

Here is what they should have written on the back to warn off viewers:

Hellraiser 2: hellbound

Christy tries to convince people she isn't nutso so stupid opens the box because things went so well the first time.

Hellraiser 3: Hell on earth

Reporter stick her nose into the business of sadistic club owner and permanent victim girlfriend who have a lovely statue that just happens to be pinhead.

Hellraiser: Bloodline

Cenobites in space. Do I have to say more?

Hellraiser:Inferno

Crooked cop gets to relive crappy day for eternity. Pretty tame compared to what Pinhead usually doles out. This marks the turning point in the franchise where they begin to try and portray Pinhead as some sort of avenging angel punishing the bad people of the world. Nice thought if he didn't really love his day job.

Hellraiser:Hellseeker

I actually have not seen this one. *gasp*! It is on my blockbuster list of movies to be watched. It features the return of Christy Cotton from the movies 1 & 2.

Hellraiser: Deader

Dumb reporter part 2. Pinhead comes to punish 20 somethings trying to cheat death. He is just that kind of upstanding guy.

Hellraiser:HellWorld

Pinhead is not even the bad guy! It was all a hallucination. Pinhead pops out for maybe 45 seconds. This should not even be a Hellraiser movie.

A remake of the first is in the works with Clive Barker so maybe it will be good. I imagine he had to come back to fix what had become of his masterpiece. He cannot be any worse than the directors of films 2-8.

The original film is based on the novella "The Hellbound Heart" written by Clive Barker

Film Series

• 1.1 Hellraiser (1987)
• 1.2 Hellbound: Hellraiser II (1988)
• 1.3 Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth (1992)
• 1.4 Hellraiser: Bloodline (1996)
• 1.5 Hellraiser: Inferno (2000)
• 1.6 Hellraiser: Hellseeker (2002)
• 1.7 Hellraiser: Deader (2005)
• 1.8 Hellraiser: Hellworld (2005)
• 1.9 Clive Barker Presents: Hellraiser (2009)