1 / 8
MONEY
Did you know
Shot for just $1.0M โ micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
MoodPlayr ยท trivia#01
Hellraiser
"Demon to some. Angel to others."
1987 1h 33m EN
๐
6.9
SOLID
โ
6.9TMDB ยท 3,026
HorrorThriller
Synopsis
Spoiler shield
A hedonistic man finds a mysterious puzzle box that summons a group of gruesome beings known as the Cenobites. These otherworldly entities open the doors to a dominion where pain and pleasure are indivisible.
โDemon to some. Angel to others.โ
Cast
Andrew Robinson
Larry
Clare Higgins
Julia
Ashley Laurence
Kirsty
Oliver Smith
Frank the Monster
Sean Chapman
Frank
Robert Hines
Steve
Doug Bradley
Lead Cenobite
Nicholas Vince
Chattering Cenobite
Credits
Behind the camera
- Director
- Clive Barker
- Writers
- Clive Barker
- Languages
- English
- Countries
- United Kingdom, United States of America
Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.
Did you know?
Fun facts ๐ฟ
2 / 8
MONEY
Did you know
Grossed $15M โ a 14.6ร return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.
MoodPlayr ยท trivia#02
3 / 8
ERA
Did you know
39 years old โ old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
MoodPlayr ยท trivia#03
4 / 8
WORLD
Did you know
International production across 2 countries: United Kingdom, United States of America.
MoodPlayr ยท trivia#04
5 / 8
CINEMA
Did you know
Part of the "Hellraiser Collection" โ so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
MoodPlayr ยท trivia#05
6 / 8
DIRECTOR
Did you know
Directed by Clive Barker, shot by Robin Vidgeon. Note their partnership โ DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
MoodPlayr ยท trivia#06
7 / 8
DIRECTOR
Did you know
Original score by Christopher Young. Worth a dedicated listen after โ most great films lose half their impact without the score.
MoodPlayr ยท trivia#07
8 / 8
DIRECTOR
Did you know
Editor Richard Marden shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
MoodPlayr ยท trivia#08
Cinephile deep dive
The take
Clive Barker directs. Robin Vidgeon behind the camera. Christopher Young scores. Richard Marden cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United Kingdom, United States of America. Dialogue in English.
Trivia
Things worth knowing
- 1Shot for just $1.0M โ micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
- 2Grossed $15M โ a 14.6ร return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.
- 339 years old โ old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
- 4International production across 2 countries: United Kingdom, United States of America.
- 5Part of the "Hellraiser Collection" โ so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
- 6Directed by Clive Barker, shot by Robin Vidgeon. Note their partnership โ DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
- 7Original score by Christopher Young. Worth a dedicated listen after โ most great films lose half their impact without the score.
- 8Editor Richard Marden shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
- 9Andrew Robinson and Clare Higgins and Ashley Laurence carry the top of the cast.
- 10Marketing tagline: "Demon to some. Angel to others.".
- 11IMDB entry: tt0093177 โ still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
- 12Classified under 30 themes, including "based on novel or book", "sexual obsession", "pain", "ritual".
- 13Released under 17 different titles around the world.
The technical file
- Cinematography
- Robin Vidgeon
- Original score
- Christopher Young
- Editing
- Richard Marden
- Production design
- Michael Buchanan
- Costume design
- Joanna Johnston
- Makeup / hair
- Cliff Wallace
- Runtime
- 93 min ยท 1h 33m
- Aspect ratio (typical)
- 1.37:1 (Academy)
- Status
- Released
- Budget
- $1,000,000
- Box office
- $14,580,380
- Return
- 1458% of budget
- Original language
- EN
- Certification (US)
- R
Part of
Hellraiser Collection
Hellraiser is a British horror film franchise is based on the novella The Hellbound Heart by Clive Barker. The films continually features the Cenobite Pinhead. The seriesโ storyline focuses on a puzzle box that opens a gateway to the Hell-like realm of the Cenobites, an order of formerly human monsters who harvest human souls to torture in sadomasochistic experiments.
Also by
Clive Barker
Stills ยท wallpapers
Selected frames
Full-resolution frames โ open one to save it as a wallpaper.
Trailers & featurettes
Watch the pieces
Community reviews
What people are saying
- JPV852โ 8/10
Hellraiser is probably one of the lesser of the horror franchises from the 80s behind Halloween (yes, I know that came out in 1978), Friday the 13th and Nightmare on Elm Street. This is a movie Iโve seen a few times over the years and while itโs hardly a perfect horror film with a clunky set-up, itโs still a lot of fun as the make-up and effects work perhaps is a bit on the cheesy side yet kind of still holds up in a strange way. The acting is nothing special, though I did like both Clare Higgins and Ashley Laurence, not to mention Doug Bradley in the role of โLead Cenobiteโ, who would later be called Pinhead. Kind fascinating that character was accidentally propelled into being a horror icon as he was only a minor part of the film, though based on his design and overall look, not hard to see why he resonated with horror fans. Hellraiser, written and directed by Clive Barker based on his novella, isnโt a favorite of mine, as mentioned I lean more toward the more reality based slasher (like Halloween and F13) than the supernatural variety, but still found this to be entertaining as a whole. 3.75/5
Production companies
Who made it
New World Pictures
US
- CI
Cinemarque Entertainment
US
- FI
Film Futures
GB
- RI
Rivdel Films
GB
Key crew
- Executive ProducerMark Armstrong
- ProducerChristopher Figg
- Executive ProducerDavid Saunders
- EditorRichard Marden
- CastingSheila Trezise
- Visual EffectsRichard Dimbleby
- Production DesignMichael Buchanan
- Art DirectionJocelyn James
- Costume DesignJoanna Johnston
- Executive ProducerChristopher Webster
- Makeup EffectsCliff Wallace
- Associate ProducerSelwyn Roberts
- EditorTony Randel
- Makeup EffectsNigel Booth
- Makeup EffectsJulian Caldow
- Makeup EffectsPaul Catling
- Makeup EffectsStuart Conran
- Makeup EffectsJohn Cormican
- Makeup EffectsDave Elsey
- Makeup Effects DesignerBob Keen
- Makeup EffectsDave Keen
- Makeup EffectsWilliam Petty
- Makeup SupervisorGeoffrey Portass
- Makeup EffectsRoy Puddefoot
Themes & keywords
What it's about, really
- based on novel or book
- sexual obsession
- pain
- ritual
- supernatural
- haunted house
- seduction
- gore
- surrealism
- undead
- stepmother
- revenge
- human sacrifice
- body double
- demon
- puzzle box
- attic
- occult
- bdsm
- cenobite
- sexual awakening
- return from dead
- reanimated corpse
- sexual pleasure
- hiding in attic
- psycho-sexual
- body snatcher
- lovecraftian
- wicked uncle
- sexual adventure
Release history ยท US
When it landed
- Theatrical (limited)2025-02-05R
- Theatrical1987-09-18R
- Physical1988-01-01Rยท New World Video #A87007 [๐๐๐๐ผ] [๐๐ฎ๐๐ช๐ญ] / #ID5186NW [๐ณ๐ช๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐] | ๐ต๐ฐ mรญnutัั
- Physical2016-12-20Rยท Arrow Video Scarlett Box
Also known as
International titles
- Clive Barker's HellraiserUS
- Le PacteFR
- Hellraiser 1US
- HellraiserSV
- Clive Barkers HellraiserUS
- PekelnรญkSK
- PekelnรญkCZ
- Fogo MalditoPT
- ็้ฌผ่ฟฝ้ญCN
- La puerta del infiernoMX
- ะะพัััะฐะฒัะธะน ะธะท ะฐะดะฐRU
- Hellraiser - Non ci sono limitiIT
- Hellraiser (Le pacte)FR
- Hellraiser Das Tor zur HoelleDE
- Hellraiser: Renascido do InfernoBR
