Hellraiser

70%

Tomatometer

53 Reviews

73%

Audience Score

50,000+ Ratings

Sexual deviant Frank (Sean Chapman) inadvertently opens a portal to hell when he tinkers with a box he bought while abroad. The act unleashes gruesome beings called Cenobites, who tear Frank's body apart. When Frank's brother (Andrew Robinson) and his wife, Julia (Clare Higgins), move into Frank's old house, they accidentally bring what is left of Frank back to life. Frank then convinces Julia, his one-time lover, to lure men back to the house so he can use their blood to reconstruct himself.

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Hellraiser

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Critics Consensus

Elevated by writer-director Clive Barker's fiendishly unique vision, Hellraiser offers a disquieting - and sad*stically smart - alternative to mindless gore.

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Critics Reviews

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Chris Stuckmann

ChrisStuckmann.com

The reason the movie works as well as it does is because of its human characters.

Rated: B+

Oct 14, 2019

Full Review

William Thomas

Empire Magazine

Horror is at its best when it's relentless. Clive Barker knows this, and his debut feature as director is so gleefully vicious, so relentlessly grim that it's going to be very hard for fans of the genre not to like it.

Rated: 4/5

Nov 13, 2017

Full Review

Bob McCabe

Empire Magazine

With Hellraiser, Clive Barker created one of the most genuinely disturbing movies of the last 20 years.

Rated: 4/5

Nov 13, 2017

Full Review

Michael Sragow

San Francisco Examiner

The acclaimed young fiction writer turned filmmaker, Clive Barker, here wears his heart on his sleeve -- along with his brains and his intestines... By pushing his horror gimmicks to the limit, Barker becomes a pain for the audience.

Rated: 1.5/4

Sep 21, 2022

Full Review

Trace Thurman

Horror Queers Podcast

Sexy, gooey and filled with imagination, Hellraiser is Clive Barker's magnum opus.

Rated: 4.5/5

Sep 20, 2022

Full Review

Josh Larsen

LarsenOnFilm

...a demystifying experience, especially if the movie’s Pinhead poster was a staple of your youth.

Rated: 1.5/4

Jun 10, 2022

Full Review

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Audience Reviews

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Michael V He'll tear your soul apart.Hellraiser is a 1987 British supernatural horror film written and directed by Clive Barker 🧟‍♂️ Not bad, but not my favourite either 😐Meh, it passed the time. Just. 😐👍🏼👎🏼SFFIn the end, this is so bad it’s laughable…Hedonist Frank Cotton finds a mysterious puzzle box that summons the Cenobites, who open the doors to a dominion where pain and pleasure are indivisible. Rated 2.5/5 Stars • Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 06/11/24 Full Review goatacolypse s If you've ever read Clive Barker this is a true winner when brought to film. The film's after part two which is more of a prequel/backstory to this one are entirely off of what could be cannon if the original were studied more closely and honestly they all except for the first... stink and are not worth any stars at all shouldnt have even been made. I have not seen the 2022 of the same name so I can not comment on that one... But part two is the back story leading to this one and the old university guy in part two that brings Christina's step mom back from hell using the mattress is the guy in the attic she calls Frank in trying to return the favor in this one. tldr watch part two first. Rated 5/5 Stars • Rated 5 out of 5 stars 06/05/24 Full Review Audience Member A classic horrormovie that is a great piece of art and brings the horror aspect to another level Rated 4/5 Stars • Rated 4 out of 5 stars 05/24/24 Full Review Praetorium S For the era that this film came out, it was very scary and well done. Times have changed and so have tastes in films and styles in production. That should not take away from this exquisite classic horror story of love and greed gone awry. Rated 5/5 Stars • Rated 5 out of 5 stars 05/21/24 Full Review Kalin D Gross and nonsensical. Nothing to be gained from watching this. Rated 2/5 Stars • Rated 2 out of 5 stars 04/02/24 Full Review capnpppants Seriously one of the dumbest things i've ever seen. The only redeeming quality of this entire mess is the fact that pinhead is an epic-looking character, and even then he was only on screen for at most 3 minutes. This movie seriously aged terribly. Rated 0.5/5 Stars • Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 03/23/24 Full Review Read all reviews

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Cast & Crew

Clive Barker Director Andrew Robinson Larry Cotton Clare Higgins Julia Cotton Ashley Laurence Kirsty Cotton Sean Chapman Frank Cotton Oliver Smith Frank the Monster

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Hellraiser

Hellraiser: Trailer 1

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Hellraiser

Hellraiser (1987)

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Movie Info

Synopsis Sexual deviant Frank (Sean Chapman) inadvertently opens a portal to hell when he tinkers with a box he bought while abroad. The act unleashes gruesome beings called Cenobites, who tear Frank's body apart. When Frank's brother (Andrew Robinson) and his wife, Julia (Clare Higgins), move into Frank's old house, they accidentally bring what is left of Frank back to life. Frank then convinces Julia, his one-time lover, to lure men back to the house so he can use their blood to reconstruct himself.

Director: Clive Barker
Producer: Christopher Figg
Screenwriter: Clive Barker
Distributor: New World Pictures, Anchor Bay Entertainment, Image Entertainment Inc.
Production Co: Rivdel Films
Rating: R
Genre: Horror
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Sep 18, 1987, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 25, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $13.3M
Runtime: 1h 33m
Sound Mix: Surround, Dolby Stereo
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)