Hellraiser

From today's perspective, Hellraiser's effects might be criticized as weaker, but they were of good quality for their time. The concept and execution are commendable, and in terms of direction and acting, this film belongs in the horror hall of fame. Overall impression: 70%. It's a shame that the idea was diluted in later sequels, which squeezed out from the theme even what wasn't there. (11/11/2006)

These hellraisers can be really scary and the debuting Clive Barker, especially in the opening, shows first-class direction based on time parallels. Even Stephen King may never have imagined such a disturbing house. Hellraiser may be set in a decade defined genre-wise by slime and mutations (the physical ones as much as the narrative ones), and some of the violence and make-up effects are delightfully naive, but it paces well for 90 minutes and doesn't overwhelm you with cheap attractions. It's a clear cult classic, of course, with everything so very 80s that if something similar had been made a decade later, it would have gone straight to video. I probably would have liked more ingenuity around the torture of the victims, which is admittedly ugly, but at least visually just physical and too straightforward – I was waiting for the title dudes to start making Rick and Morty-esque noises with needles in their faces and snapping teeth coming out of hell, occasionally just waving their arms around. The final tug-of-war with the rock, paper, scissors monster is downright funny, but I still can't give it less than 4* – a bit out of amusement, but still mainly for the lack of horror qualities and enthusiasm in today's work. 75 % (08/10/2022)

I really don’t know why I avoided Hellraiser for so long, but whatever the reason was, it was a mistake. The original story with an at times very good atmosphere is well supported by quality gore, and that, together with the demonically charming Cenobites, would be good enough reason for a five star rating. But I’m giving it “only” four stars due to the pretty bad special effects for today’s standards (especially by the end), the poor performances and the occasional naive dialogues. My ranking: H1, H5, H2, H7, H3, H4, H6, H8 (21/03/2008)

I'm glad that Hellraiser was the exact opposite of what I expected it to be. Finally, it's not just another mindless slasher movie like we're used to with cult oldies. Here Clive Barker focused mainly on originality, great effects (except for the computer-generated ones), fantastic gore, dense atmosphere, a simple but therefore more effective story, and especially on the entertaining cenobites. (31/08/2016)

I've been waiting to watch this series since at least 1998 and I think the ship has sailed. From today's perspective, the first Hellraiser isn't great - the mystique around the cube is lacking and the Cenobites don’t get much space. Really, the only thing most of the runtime offers is Frank's transformation and the romance between him and Julie, which isn't much. But in a way, I'm looking forward to the next few nights watching more from the series, that is if I can survive watching 8 of the films (and fan films). This is the order in which I like the films overall: Hellraiser 8, Hellraiser 5, Hellraiser 4, Hellraiser 7, Hellraiser 2, Hellraiser 6, Hellraiser 1, Hellraiser 3, Hellraiser 9. (12/05/2023)