Review of Hellraiser (1987) by Gavin D — 04 Oct 2015
'Hellraiser' has a great premise for a horror film, yet doesn't quite reach its full potential. The basic story is about a magical puzzle box, which when is unlocked opens a doorway to a hellish alternate universe.
A man named Frank unlocks the box and is ripped apart by chains and hooks, his body parts collected by the demons who live in this alternate universe, and is enslaved by them and trapped in their world.
What follows is a grotesque and macabre series of methods for Frank to escape the realm and rejuvenate every time his girlfriend kills someone in his house. This is a brilliant and fascinating idea for a horror film, which is actually based on a book called 'The Hell-Bound Heart'.
However, despite this brilliant premise the film has a lot of flaws. The acting is quite poor and the narrative is messy. So even though it was a messy film, it was still a fascinating one thanks to the premise.
The make-up and special effects are good for its time and the gore is actually pretty cool, and Ashley Laurence makes for some good eye-candy as Winona Ryder's doppleganger.
This review of Hellraiser (1987) was written by Gavin D on 04 Oct 2015.
Hellraiser has generally received positive reviews.
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