When Clive Barker first burst on the literary scene, I was enthralled. I went out and spent hundreds of dollars on first editions of the six "Books of Blood", which were individual volumes of Barker's short stories. "The Hellbound Heart" was in one of them. That's the story the movie is based on. I bought all his output, in first editions, as it came out. The man is a spectacularly talented writer, though probably insane. But the films- oh, the films. I just rewatched this thing, and it definitely hasn't aged well. Reading the reviews, it's obvious most of the praise heaped upon this is because of the subject matter (which doesn't say a lot about the reviewers), not the film itself. The acting, such as it is, is atrocious. The dialog is juvenile, the characters unbelievable. Andrew Robinson is as sleazy and cringe-inducing as ever, and the special; effects are laughable. It's amazing to me that this piece of trash spawned more than a half dozen sequels. I guess for some, pleasure comes only with a lot of pain. At having to sit through "Hellraiser".

I saw this when it came out and I was 15. I remember it being highly original for it's time and a very refreshing change from the usual horror fare. Though probably not understanding everything about it at 15, there was enough to keep me intrigued. Now 30 years later I watch it and feel a little disappointed. It still is a highly original film and concept, but it just feels a little dated. The script is pretty bad and contrived, and the acting is pretty poor all round. Frank's voice even sounds badly dubbed. The whole cenobyte thing is still quite creepy and interesting to watch but generally the rest of the film is so so.

It is not perfect. It is a little uneven and some of the acting seeming flat. The late decision to insist (stupidly) on switching the film from England to US means some locations make little sense and that there are inevitable problems with accents and dubbing. Having said all that, this is Clive Barker's first film, he had very limited budget and yet produces the most original of horror films. The struggles with sex, religion and violent tendencies are omnipresent despite the various censors' connivance at keeping the lid on and the diabolic creations are sublime. From the very first indication that things might be very wrong indeed, when the drops of blood are drawn from the floor, this wondrous creation doesn't stop. No CGI so all praise indeed and if some of the effects are better than others, the figures from beyond are about as iconic as you can get. Awesome is a word I do not use but here seems most appropriate.

"I have seen the future of horror, and his name is Clive Barker." High praise indeed from the grand master Stephen King.With the Cenobites — and Doug Bradley's Pinhead in particular — Clive Barker created a unique horror movie presence."They're like sado-masochists from beyond the grave," Barker once said of the Cenobites. (In fact, Barker has joked that at one point he wanted to call the film "Sado-Masochists From Beyond The Grave" adding that "Hellraiser turned out to be far weirder that I expected.") Pinhead was revealed (in Hellhound: Hellraiser II) to be Captain Eliot Spenser, a World War II veteran who had discovered a devilish box known as the Lament Configuration and found in it his own portal into Hell. By detailing his character in the manner he did, Barker made him instantly accessible to his audience, using the "war is hell" metaphor in its most literal sense.Hellraiser Set a New Horror Movie Standard with outstanding effects, Frank the monster and PINHEAD! make this film a must-see. But what about that Chatterer cenobite? Well, I don't know about him, but from the beginning I am going to say that Clive Barker's Hellraiser is fantastic!With Hellraiser, Clive Barker created one of the most genuinely disturbing movies of the last 30 years.