150 Word Reviews: 'Hellraiser' (1987)
We have such sights to show you
Horror writer Clive Barker’s directorial debut is a low-budget masterpiece and, in my opinion, one of the most original splatter flicks of the ’80s. Hellraiser is a raunchy, blood-drenched, coked-up HP Lovecraft story about a kinky mortal who wants to explore sex in other dimensions. He gets what he wants, good and hard.
And from there, it gets weird: a living corpse, a horny wicked stepmother, a gore-soaked mattress that's also a portal to hell.
The movie's design — from the mysterious puzzle box that summons leather-clad fuck monsters from hell to the monsters themselves — is on another level. Pinhead, the leader of the Cenobites, looks like a fabulous goth butcher who gives himself a daily nailgun facial. He’s a brilliant and terrifying creation, a demon who enjoys his work: ripping apart humans with hooks for eternity.
The climactic death features the best final two words from a baddie.
That's the best description of Clive Barker I've ever seen. And Neil Gaiman is already super cool!!