Review for Hellraiser: The Scarlet Box

Hellraiser: The Scarlet Box

Clive Barker/Tony Randel/Anthony Hickox
(1987-1992)

"You summoned us... We came."













Introduction

My first personal experience with Hellraiser, was reading the novella as one third of a short story collection called Night Visions. Risking sounding ridiculous, it was a life changing experience for a 12 year old boy previously afraid to even consider most horror films. Barker's writing managed to tap into something primal, depicting the unknown in a believable, entrancing, and yeah, sometimes stomach-churning manner. Such was my enthusiasm for his work that I immediately sought out all of his novels, regardless of whether I could yet understand the content. It wouldn't be long before any cinematic works with Barker's name attached became must-see material. Nightbreed was almost as significant as seeing Hellraiser for the first time, with it's terrifying depiction of a serial killer, and the sympathetic, misunderstood monsters who coloured the background. But for a young fan, the finest moment came in meeting Clive himself. Following a lecture at Queen's University in Belfast, I attended an autograph session that I had no idea was due to occur. Unprepared, I had nothing with me to get signed, and my heart sank when I reached the top of the queue, and the very last 8x10" went to the person in front of me! A chirpy and warm Clive signed my ticket, which still survives today, despite being ravaged by time.

Clive Barker's Hellraiser exploded onto screens in 1987 and cut through the horror genre with sadistic aplomb. Raking in accolades from genre aficionados, and startling mainstream viewers, the film marked a striking debut for the 35 year old Liverpool born director. Based on his acclaimed novella, The Hellbound Heart, the film offered a visceral, seductive experience, that played with an abundance of themes, showcasing a fervent imagination. Such was the impact of the central concept and the iconic design of lead villain, Pinhead, that there have been eight sequels. Sadly though, none have matched the ferocious impact of the original.

Films

On the surface, Hellraiser remains a reasonably simple tale; that of hedonist Frank Cotton (Sean Chapman), who picks up a mysterious puzzle box in Morocco. Solving the box in an abandoned room, the thrill-seeker is subsequently torn apart by chains that emerge from the far reaches of the room. Married couple Julia (Clare Higgens) & Larry (Andrew Robinson) move into same building; the childhood home of Larry and his brother, yep, Frank. An accident however resurrects the latter, who remerges skinless, and craving human flesh. Aided by Julia, he seeks to restore his body, and escape from the clutches of the demonic group called The Cenobites, who consigned him to his hellish fate.

What immediately distinguishes Hellraiser is the caliber of actors gathered. For a genre entry, it's superbly cast. As Kirsty, Laurence acquits herself reasonably, though she'd improve immensely in the sequel. Playing her father, Andrew Robinson is extremely credible, while the duo of Chapman and Higgins are one of the finest horror double acts British cinema had seen in years. Even the performers behind the Cenobites are excellent in their limited roles- with Doug Bradley being the obvious standout. As a whole, the collective is completely believable, which helps hugely in depicting the broken family at the centre of the picture.
First-time director Barker handles the action with aplomb, occasional blips with pacing and awkward transitions aside. He clearly had a real eye for staging dread-filled scares, wringing maximum impact from scenes such as Frank's horrific opening of the box, to the outstanding proper entrance of the Cenobites, The resurrection scene is also stunning, operatic and epic in staging, and gruelingly disgusting in its detail.

Hellraiser isn't a perfect film by any means, but it's as good a low-budget debut in the field that one can imagine Barker making. Elements of Punk-rock and S & M culture seep through a blood stained surface to create something genuinely unique and original. It's hard to imagine even the most jaded of first time viewers not being impressed by the sheer invention on display, the flaunting of taboos, and a rawness seen in so very few horror films before, or since.

Barker's direction may have been flawed, but it would still have been nice to have him helm the sequel, and really see what the evolution of his skill could have done for the series.
At the same time, Tony Randel handled the responsibility extremely well, despite being seriously hindered by a budget that didn't quite match the ambition evident in the script.
The result throws several really strong ideas at the screen throughout the course of Hellbound: Hellraiser II.

Picking up immediately after the first film, Kirsty Cotton lies in a mental institute following the death of her family. Dr Channard becomes obsessed with her ramblings, and exploits a patient in horrific fashion, spilling his blood in order to resurrect Julia and access hell's secrets. Along the way, Kirsty attempts to rescue her father from the clutches of the Cenobites as the various players find themselves in the labyrinths of hell itself.

Logically, the concept of Hellbound is a phenomenal progression from the first film.
Once again, the Cenobites are background monsters, in a manner similar to the horrendous figures that occupy Barker's Nightbreed. In this case, Julia and Dr Channard share the role of lead beast, and they are genuinely abominations of the worst, most perverse kind. Without spoiling too much, it goes without saying that there are physical alterations in store for both too, and this is imaginatively realised. Several set pieces genuinely equal the ideas, and in numerous instances, surpass the visual flair of the first film. Equally, the make-up on the Cenobites is both stomach churning, and fabulous. Image Animation contribute really impressive old-fashioned techniques as well that may seem old-hat to younger viewers, but were certainly preferable to the primitive digital work of the day. While some of the prosthetic work is magnificent though, there are equally some terrible ideas. Phallic attachments, Peter Pan-esque flying, and floral malevolence provide unintentional comedy. The Hell landscape is a little more dull than it must have seemed in the brain-trusts collective heads, and there are some awful computerized laser effects zipping about that really detract from the movie's believability. Director Tony Randell brought something of a sci-fi leaning towards the descent into hell, which perhaps required much more money to be executed successfully.

In any case though, even as the movie stumbles into a wayward third act and disappointing climax, it benefits enormously from outrageously good performances once again, and is a very worthwhile effort.

Hell on Earth by contrast, was a big disappointment, marking the series' descent into cheap thrills and juvenile puns.
In New York, scummy night club owner JP (Kevin Bernhardt) purchases a monstrous piece of art for his grim boudoir, which turns out to be the flesh infused column from the end of the previous film. A dash of blood later, and Pinhead is given enough juice to convince JP to join him in his quest to be unleashed upon the big city. Meanwhile, a reporter investigating the case, Joey (Terry Farrell), uncovers the history of the puzzle box as she races to save the man underneath the pins and prevent hell on earth.

Hell on Earth's as silly as it sounds. The cruelty and sadomasochistic elements of the previous entries are ham-fisted here, played for jollies and missing Barker's subversive perverse tone.
A big problem lies in the un-likability of the oddly patronising lead, "tight stories, not tight skirts", she scolds a co-worker for suggesting she uses her feminine charms to get ahead, whilst wearing, yep, a tight skirt. Joey just comes across as a complete drip. Humanizing Pinhead is also an uncomfortable transition, which goes beyond the previous movie's developments, into territory that really removes him of majesty and presence.
Director Anthony Hickcox manages to create a number of wild set pieces, and obviously had style to spare. His lingering, indulgent flash is definitely appropriate for such a daft script, even if it's not quite fitting with the previous efforts. His other 1992 picture, Warlock: The Armageddon, was a big improvement that played much better to his strengths. Good prosthetics also compensate for some very primitive digital effects, though the modern Cenobites are laughably rubbish. Special mention must be made for Paul Marshall however, making her feature debut in the supporting role of Terri. Her excellent performance is easily not just the best turn in the film, but among the better in the entire franchise.

Taken upon its' own merits, the third Hellraiser film is fairly enjoyable, boasting several set pieces that are a great deal of fun. However, it's just too removed from Barker's mythos to be considered as anything other than the signpost that Hellraiser had jumped the shark. Worse would be to come over the next two decades sadly, as the series descended into churned out, straight-to-DVD fare that both insulted the original and its fans. Thankfully though, the numerous perversions committed by greedy studios and out-of-their depth filmmakers have not diluted the original film's importance.

Arrow's presentation of the trilogy is the best the series has looked, to my eyes at least. The darkness of the first two films is represented with solid black levels, and a refreshing lack of any intrusive cleaning. They're distinctly 80s in appearance, with the grain preserved nicely, and a slight softness that Barker's film always possessed. The third film does many things wrong visually, but Arrow's restoration cannot be faulted.

Extras

Leviathan: the Story of Hellraiser is a gargantuan crowd-funded documentary released earlier in 2015. The main new feature on Arrow's set is re-edited, feature length documentaries extracted from that film that are split across each disc becoming much more palatable than the original project. Almost everyone, bar Barker contributes, including Peter Atkins, Christopher Figg, the cast, and many other crew members.
The Story of Hellraiser clocks in at 90 minutes, and despite the omission of Barker himself, covers a tremendous amount of ground. This is exhaustive stuff, despite the odd irritant such as contributors belittling other horror movies in order to underline the unique nature of Barker's work. It's obviously researched with the highest possible attention to detail, and lovingly put together. Especially rewarding, are the anecdotes from the actors who knew one another prior to the making of the movie, and the shock many felt at the visceral appearance of the make-up and effects.
The Story of Hellraiser II is even more in-depth, and extremely illuminating. This is a particularly noteworthy chapter as Barker began handing over the reigns at this point while still maintaining an influence over the franchise, resulting in really muddled history and specifics. As you'd expect, Bradley, Randel and Atkins are superb talking heads here, It's impossible to dislike Atkins, even for those who aren't fans of his contributions to the franchise. He's extremely erm, frank, regarding his becoming involved and the reservations and difficulties he had. The big talking point for many viewers will be the dissection of Pinhead's growth into a central role, as opposed to Barker's original intent. Also fascinating, is the wealth of time devoted to discussing the intricate make-up work and how it evolved from the original. An interesting aside is the discussion of beloved film critic, Barry Norman. The notoriously biased Norman despised horror films and took his anger out on the first film in the trilogy, with a scathing review, only to show up on the set of Hellbound.
Hell on Earth: The Story of Hellraiser III is a 32 minute retrospective documentary offering surprisingly candid insight from the likes of Atkins, Bradley, Randell, and other performers who weren't deemed worthy of splashing the cash to bring to the US. It's refreshing to hear comments from contributing folk that don't add up to little more than nauseating back-patting, favoring an even-handed weighing up of the pros and cons.
Steered by Stephen Thrower, Soundtrack Hell runs 18 minutes, covering the ill-fated process of band Coil's abandoned Hellraiser soundtrack. As a former member of the band with first-hand experience and a personal history with Barker, there couldn't be a better guide than Thrower for this piece. The author provides a unique take on both Barker himself, and the experiences the band endured in working on the film. Although Coil's actual music will be jarring to anyone familiar with the movie- it's experimental nature is completely removed from Christopher Young's operatic score- it's fascinating to hear snippets as they may have appeared in the film.

Vintage featurettes for the first two movies are also invaluable, if only to hear from Barker himself, despite much of what you'll see here being covered elsewhere, or insights fans may be familiar with. The footage looks pretty good when considering the state many featurettes for lower budgeted pictures of the era have ended up in.

The second film also comes with the bonus of the infamous "surgeon scene" that has earned a reputation thanks to the startling still that was accidentally present on VHS cover art. Unfortunately the scene itself is one that was deservedly culled- even the work-print nature of what's included here (for the first time ever) reveals that the scene wouldn't have worked within the film, something the filmmakers can attest. It's a staggering extra feature though.

As for Part III, it's nowhere nearly as well represented in terms of talking heads, perhaps understandably so. We do get fine interviews with co-star Paula Marshall and director Anthony Hickox though and a stunning 23 minutes of FX Dailies though, Marshall is a fantastic subject for this.
Where the film does benefit, is in the branching of added footage from the "unrated" version of the movie. Taken from rather poor sources, the footage looks incredibly rough in contrast to the sharp, glossy 90s style feature, but it's an unavoidable inconvenience rather than an issue with the restoration. Arrow include the option to watch the entire restoration without this footage, if the impaired quality of it is too jarring a change for some.
Each disc also features an interview with Doug Bradley, titled "Under the Skin", relating to the respective film. These short segments carry a nice sense of consistency, and although they might have been more satisfyingly combined to form one piece, they'll serve the films well upon their individual re-releases. Likewise the first two movies also have enjoyable short interviews with Sean Chapman (Frank).
Additionally, the extras include trailers, EPKs, interviews, behind the scenes footage, image galleries and TV Spots.There are also commentaries for all three films, most interestingly one for Hellraiser with Barker and Ashley Laurence although it does creak from the odd silent lull. Another features just Barker solo, while Hellbound serves up an Atkins/Randel listen, plus one that unites them with Laurence. The trio allow for more silences than you'd perhaps expect, but it's still great fun. Hell on Earth meanwhile, has a Peter Atkins commentary on the theatrical cut, and an excellent Bradley/Hickox listen on the unrated cut.
A fourth disc that wasn't available for review is called The Clive Barker Legacy, included exclusively in the limited edition set.
This disc includes the short films of Barker, Salome, and The Forbidden. These were made available on previous DVD releases, but it's a real treat to have such pivotal, experimental early material available in such a comprehensive bundle. The disc also includes Hellraiser: Evolutions, a 48 minute documentary covering the wider series, With interviews from key personnel involved in the terrible later films, this sounds absolutely fascinating. There's also a short film covering a 2004 project called The Hellraiser Chronicles: A Question of Faith, and a 20 minute look at Barker's varied literary work.
Arrow have also outdone themselves with physical extras to equal the on-screen material. This comes in the shape of a beautiful 200 page hardback book commemorating the series, art cards and a Pinhead poster.



Overall

Almost 30 years on, it's impossible to view the Hellraiser series with the same reverence that some once did. The sequels that the franchise has spawned have ultimately been as desperate and shallow as the numerous Friday the 13th efforts, the prolonged Paranormal Activity follow-ups or the attempts to expand upon Texas Chainsaw Massacre's mythology. When condensed down to the original trilogy however, it's clear (and frustrating) that Barker's project had much more to offer. While Hellraiser as a whole has never lived up to the promise established in The Hellbound Heart, Hellraiser and Hellbound remain thrilling, if unsettling experiences. Part III simply isn't a good movie but taken in the context of a car crash spectacle, signaling the beginning of the end, it's utterly fascinating.

It's difficult to imagine any fan being disappointed by the Scarlet Box. The films have never looked, or sounded for that matter, better than this. Those who have missed out on the now apparently sold-out edition can look forward to Arrow's eventual individual releases of each movie. In the meantime, this is one of the finest Blu-ray releases of the year.