There are few things in the world that have changed as much as horror movies. a genre that had a clear turning point in the 1980s when the advancement in special effects allowed directors to reproduce any brutality that crossed their minds. And in that aspect, hellraiser It took the cake at the time when it hit theaters around the world 35 years ago.
From Clive Baker to the current reboot
hellraiser is a film released in 1987 and directed by Clive Baker, curiously also the author of the novel on which it was inspired and which had the title of The Hellbound Heart. 35 years ago, the film was very controversialwas rated 17+ (R) only, and clearly marked a new way of bringing horror to the big screen: lots of blood, inconceivably violent torture, and lots and lots of terror and suffering.
The point is that it has been known for a long time that 20th Century Studios was developing a kind of reboot which would mainly reach the company’s streaming platform, Hulu in the US and Disney + in Spain through Star, which will happen if nothing goes wrong on October 7. It will be then when we can see how a patina of modernity and 3D digital effects feels to a story that needs the collaboration of the spectators to endure the show of viscera and blood that they will attend.
Of course, in this new hellraiser Clive Barker no longer participates although the producer has not hesitated to call some of the most recognized names in the industry: signs the story and produces David S. Goyer (trilogy of Blade) while the direction is in charge of David Bruckner (the dark house, The Ritual, southbound), which already has callus with some horror films that have marked the rebirth in recent years of a genre that was a bit forgotten.
Why hellraiser It is a classic?
As we say, the impact of hellraiser in horror movies it was resounding (not even close to the highest grossing in history, but it gave enough of itself with 14.6 million dollars at the time), despite suffering censorship of some sequences. The story turns, as you will remember, around Frank Cotton, a hedonist looking to get the best sexual experience imaginable although he has no idea what awaits him when he comes across the cenobites, beings who understand pain as the maximum expression of that pleasure that the protagonist seeks. In between will appear a box full of puzzles that will be in charge of starting the most frightening experiences that you can imagine.
Its impact comes from the use of that psychological and physical terror within a field as different as the search for pleasure, in a story that deals with sexuality in an extraordinarily open way and more fluid than usual and moving away from that old leitmotiv of certain horror films that deal with these issues with greater superficiality: young, promiscuous teenagers who at first chance are victims of the brutal murderer who is after them.
hellraiser not only influenced the horror movies that were made from that moment, but also It also transcended to other areas such as comicswhich took its dark S&M setting and grotesque situations to give life to even more sinister, ruthless and sordid characters.
