January 12, 2010 - Hellraiser

I stumbled across Clive Barker's Books of Blood in the book section of Kmart during my short tenure there in 1986. As with most American horror fans, I had heard Stephen King's praise of the man, and despite the garish monster mask covers, I found the three volumes of short stories fresh, vibrant and exciting.

There had been a few lackluster adaptations of his stories, but I was still anxious to see his directorial debut, Hellraiser.

The film was scheduled to open in September of 1987, but through a stroke of luck, Kyle and I were able to catch a preview screening in Mountain View several months prior to the film's release. I fell in love with it from the outset. It was the perfect antidote to a decade of mindless slasher films. With bizarre monsters at the forefront, imaginative visual effects, a haunting score by Christopher Young, and a puzzle box that more than gave Rubick's Cube a run for it's money, Barker had established himself as a premiere horror filmmaker. I spent the rest of the summer talking up the film, so that by the time it was released, we had a good size group assembled to see it on opening night.

In the ensuing years, the property was turned into a franchise with diminishing returns, but the original still holds up extremely well. If you missed it on the big screen, consider joining us to party with the Cenobites on January 12th.