Hellraiser Review

Review of Hellraiser (1987) by screenqueeen: 👍 4/5

Barker's masterpiece of horror through the windows of sadomasochism, kink, and hushed queer sensibilities. Kirsty is such a unique final girl type in that she is given agency from the very beginning, not beholden to her father or stepmother but on her own and exercising independence despite unpleasant family dynamics. it's the contrast between how self-sufficient Kirsty feels at this point in her life versus the all-reaching terror the cenobites wield, rendering distance as one of Kirsty's main sources of strength useless in the shining beams of these defined monsters of torture and pain.

it tosses aside the feeling of safety one has in separating from the space of the "haunted house" inhabited by Frank's influence and visceral presence, evolved from the primordial to the perversely corporeal, betraying the idea that simply leaving a bad place will grant you a greater sense of protection from harm. the absence of "rules" alienate you from a blueprint of detecting a pattern in which even breaks from the storm of horrors the cenobites deliver cannot be predicted or dodged.

you could be taking a shit and they would find you or in an open field, the next time you blink, you suddenly are in a dingy, dusty room with rotating wooden obelisks crudely adorned with human viscera, cold rusted chains hanging and threatening with their endless hunger to pierce and rip, to taste more. it's always impressive to return to Barker's original film after watching the numerous sequels this spawned, despite my taste for some of the more ridiculous and out-there ideas executives had that they thought was in line with the original that brings me joy, they just make this first film better and better.