Critic Reviews
Hellraiser (1987) Rank 5 Reviews
Expert Review Summary
based on (30) reviews
Click on the numbers to the right of the graph to see reviews of that rating
Reviews by Score:
The Spinning Image (Graeme Clark)
Jaded Frank Cotton (Sean Chapman) visits a Middle Eastern cafe to meet his contact who agrees to sell him a very particular kind of box. Returning to his family home, he sets up a makeshift camp in one upstairs room and sets about solving the riddle of ...read the complete Hellraiser movie review at The Spinning Image (Graeme Clark)
Movie Gazette (Anton Bitel)
"This isn't for your eyes", says the demonic Cenobite - but he is so very wrong about Clive Barker's must-see horror. ...read the complete Hellraiser movie review at Movie Gazette (Anton Bitel)
Daily-Reviews.com (Dennis Prince)
Lumivision has done a very good job transferring HELLRAISER to Laserdisc. ...read the complete Hellraiser movie review at Daily-Reviews.com (Dennis Prince)
Jerry Saravia
The magic box, known in later sequels and in the Clive Barker book as the Lament Configuration, is a gateway to Hell and a means of summoning the Cenobites who provide pain as pleasure by wielding chains and piercing several parts of one's skin. The ...read the complete Hellraiser movie review at Jerry Saravia
SF, Horror and Fantasy Film Review
"I have seen the future of horror and its name is Clive Barker," Stephen King was quoted as saying by the trailer for the film. At the time Clive Barker was a rising star, having in a very short time emerged first as a playwright - ...read the complete Hellraiser movie review at SF, Horror and Fantasy Film Review
Arrow in the Head ("The Arrow")
Without a doubt, the strength of the film relies on Julia and Frank's relationship. It's when the film focuses on them and their actions that it is at its strongest. The subplot with the bug-eating vagrant also worked. ...read the complete Hellraiser movie review at Arrow in the Head ("The Arrow")
DVD Talk (G. Noel Gross)
Novelist/director Clive Barker wonders what would happen if a cheating bride was reunited with the object of her lust, only to discover he's become a gooey, living corpse. ...read the complete Hellraiser movie review at DVD Talk (G. Noel Gross)
DVD Review e-zine
Soon she is able to bring him back from the dead through human sacrifices to complete his decayed body. However, Cenobites, demons from the Beyond, claim possession of the man and do their thing to make sure he stays in their Hell. ...read the complete Hellraiser movie review at DVD Review e-zine
Shade.ca
Even though most people consider this to be the best movie in the series, I consider it to be the worst. We barely see Pinhead, the movie's mascot, and the movie lacks creativity. ...read the complete Hellraiser movie review at Shade.ca
Mike Bracken's Horror Films (Mike Bracken)
Full of both weighty philosophical concepts and fun, over the top gore, it's got something guaranteed to please almost any genre fan. ...read the complete Hellraiser movie review at Mike Bracken's Horror Films (Mike Bracken)
DVD Review e-zine
In the meanwhile, Frank's niece Kirsty (Ashley Laurence) discovers the occult cube and not knowing what to make of it also manages to open it unintentionally and unaware of the dangers that lurk within. ...read the complete Hellraiser movie review at DVD Review e-zine
Q Network Film Desk (James Kendrick)
Although made on a low budget at a time in which the British horror film industry, after having achieved international heights with the Hammer film series in the 1950s, '60s, and early '70s, was almost nonexistent, Clive Barker's "Hellraiser" was a ...read the complete Hellraiser movie review at Q Network Film Desk (James Kendrick)
Q Network Film Desk (James Kendrick)
Against the odds, Barker produced a unique, imaginative, if not somewhat stomach-churning, work that has since earned aplace in the annals of horror cinema. ...read the complete Hellraiser movie review at Q Network Film Desk (James Kendrick)
Tail Slate ("The Horror Guru")
Like eating too much ice cream... sometimes too much pleasure turns into extreme pain. ...read the complete Hellraiser movie review at Tail Slate ("The Horror Guru")
DVD Town (John J. Puccio)
The story concerns a certain box, a kind of Chinese puzzle or Rubik's Cube, that proves a means to summon the demons of a netherworld, to unlock a region that may be hell or purgatory or somewhere in between. ...read the complete Hellraiser movie review at DVD Town (John J. Puccio)
DVD Authority.com ("Fusion3600")
You expect something to happen when you solve a puzzle, such as the pieces forming an image or at least some type of reward for your hard work. ...read the complete Hellraiser movie review at DVD Authority.com ("Fusion3600")
MovieEye.com (David Litton)
The film opens with a rather disturbing sequence, in which a relatively young man, having just purchased an ornate box from a decrepit old man, has just discovered what lies within its six sides. ...read the complete Hellraiser movie review at MovieEye.com (David Litton)
DVD MovieGuide
Ultimately, these deficiencies don't really matter, as Barker explores the creepy subject matter with aplomb. ...read the complete Hellraiser movie review at DVD MovieGuide
digitallyOBSESSED.com (Joel Cunningham)
I have never understood the fascination with '80s horror films. ...read the complete Hellraiser movie review at digitallyOBSESSED.com (Joel Cunningham)
Reel.com
There's a lot of plot to get through in Hellraiser, and though the director frets in his commentary about how much explication there is, his film is never dull. ...read the complete Hellraiser movie review at Reel.com
Time Out
In the bare bedroom of a London suburban house, bored sensualist Frank Cotton solves the mystery of a Chinese puzzle-box and enters a world of exquisite cruelty presided over by the Cenobites, glamorous sadists with a penchant for ripped flesh, steaming v ...read the complete Hellraiser movie review at Time Out
Cinema Laser (Derek M. Germano)
Lumivision has done a very good job transferring HELLRAISER to Laserdisc. ...read the complete Hellraiser movie review at Cinema Laser (Derek M. Germano)
Combustible Celluloid (Jeffrey M. Anderson)
In its day, Hellraiser was trashed by almost every mainstream movie critic. ...read the complete Hellraiser movie review at Combustible Celluloid (Jeffrey M. Anderson)
Washington Post (Richard Harrington)
That's what one of the characters says in Clive Barker's "Hellraiser," and he might as well be talking about the first film written and directed by this new enfant terrible of the horror genre. ...read the complete Hellraiser movie review at Washington Post (Richard Harrington)
Classic Horror
There are certain expectations when dealing with a film titled 'Hellraiser'. For example, one would expect that hell will be involved, and, further, that someone or something will be raising that hell. ...read the complete Hellraiser movie review at Classic Horror
Digital Retribution
The debut film by artist and author Clive Barker, this adaptation of his novella The Hellbound Heart is a classic of the genre. ...read the complete Hellraiser movie review at Digital Retribution
DVDTown.com (John J. Puccio)
...some memorable screen monsters and a vision of hell that's hard to forget. ...read the complete Hellraiser movie review at DVDTown.com (John J. Puccio)
Qwipster's Movie Reviews (Vince Leo)
A cult favorite for fans of author Clive Barker, but just plain silly (and very gory) schlock for just about everyone else, Hellraiser marked the first feature film as a director, adapting his own novel, "The Hellbound Heart". One of the main pr ...read the complete Hellraiser movie review at Qwipster's Movie Reviews (Vince Leo)
Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)
"I have seen the future of the horror genre, and his name is Clive Barker." - Stephen KingNow there's a blurb Stephen King should have written under one of his pen names. He may have ...read the complete Hellraiser movie review at Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)
Mark R. Leeper
Clive Barker is the new *wunderkind* of horror fiction. While Stephen King writes pretty much in the well-trodden areas of horror--clairvoyance, psi powers, vampires, etc.--Clive Barker seems to create startlingly new ideas that are usually totally off ...read the complete Hellraiser movie review at Mark R. Leeper
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