Arrow Video
4K UHD Release: October 22, 2024
Video: 1.85:1/2160p (HDR10/Dolby Vision)/Color
Audio: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 stereo and 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH
Run Time: 93:21
Director: Clive Barker
Note: This disc is currently only available as part of Arrow’s 4K UHD Quartet Of Torment collection, which also includes Hellbound: Hellraiser II (1988), Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth (1992), and Hellraiser: Bloodline (1996).
Hedonist Frank Cotton (Sean Chapman) thinks he has reached the limits of earthly pleasure. But a mysterious puzzle box will take him further than he can possibly imagine, opening the doors to a dominion where pain and pleasure are indivisible and summoning the Cenobites, whose experiments in the higher reaches of experience will tear his soul apart. When he manages to escape, Frank returns to the world skinless and in need of help. Now, his former lover Julia (Clare Higgins) must kill to make him whole again. But the Cenobites want Frank back and there'll be hell to pay when they find him. (From Arrow’s official synopsis)
Coming out of the late ‘60s avant-garde theater scene, future literary superstar Clive Barker became a regular Theatre of the Imagination collaborator in the mid ’70s, before founding his own troupe, The Dog Company, in 1978, where he developed long-lasting relationships with performers and writers. His reputation as a master of literary horror grew with the short story collection, Books of Blood, first published in 1985. Soon after, his writing was adapted to film, beginning with George Pavlou’s Transmutations (aka: Underworld, 1985), which he scripted, and George Pavlou’s Rawhead Rex (1986), also written by Barker and based on his story of the same name. In 1987, Barker graduated to director and made Hellraiser, based on his novella The Hellbound Heart (pub: 1986). Despite continuing writing, directing, and even becoming an accomplished painter, Hellraiser remained his defining artistic achievement.
Hellraiser isn’t a perfect horror movie – the pacing is off and a few simple reshoots could’ve filled some of its holes – but it is among the strongest debuts from a horror director. Barker’s literary mind and stagework translated impeccably to film, producing a singular nightmare vision that combined grounded characters, surrealistic turns, and deviancy. Plenty of ‘80s horror had grit and/or flash, but not many filmmakers outside of Lucio Fulci (who Barker was a fan of) and Hideo Nakata capture the tactile side of terror better than Barker did in Hellraiser. The heightened sensation is then magnified by the special attention to the crossroads between pleasure and pain. The violence is grotesque, but it’s also delicate, teasing its discomforted audience with the textures of graphic sadomasochism.
Most outstanding horror debuts announce a new talent who will almost certainly build on their new reputation to produce a future masterpiece. John Carpenter’s Halloween (1978) gave way to The Thing (1982), Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead (1981) led to Evil Dead II (1987) and Drag Me to Hell (2009), and there wouldn’t be Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) had Wes Craven not made Last House on the Left (1972). But Hellraiser is actually more akin to Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) – a vision so definitive and singular that its director never bested it, despite overseeing other good films (noting that Tobe Hooper’s feature was technically the non-horror Eggshells [1971]). Also like Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Hellraiser inspired an endless cavalcade of inferior sequels. Perhaps, in its own way, Hellraiser is a perfect horror movie after all.
Video
Hellraiser has been a horror mainstay on home video for decades, appearing on Betamax, VHS, Laserdisc, non-anamorphic DVD, anamorphic DVD, and Blu-ray. Image Entertainment’s 2011 barebones Blu-ray was easily surpassed by Arrow Video’s 2015 2K restoration and now that disc has been bested by Arrow’s own 4K remaster, available on both 1080p Blu-ray and 2160p UHD. I was not sent Blu-ray copies of the 4K remaster and cannot get screencaps from UHDs, so all of the images on this page have been taken from Arrow’s 2K master Blu-ray. They are merely for editorial purposes (I want something on the page), not to illustrate the quality of the 4K discs.
Having only seen the film on home video, I remember fearing that some of Hellraiser’s budget constraints wouldn’t survive the upgrade to HD, but even the least convincing effect is shielded by layers of texture, smoke, and cinematographer Robin Vidgeon’s use of diffusion and other softening techniques. In 4K, it looks even better. Close-up detail is at times almost lifelike, background textures are complex, and film grain is consistent without chunking up. Colors are rich and complex, black levels and highlights get a nice boost from the HDR upgrade (thankfully without unnecessarily blasting white levels), and fine detail isn’t lost in the gloom of the spookiest, darkest sequences (skinless Frank is positively glistening).
Audio
All four films in Arrow’s new 4K collection are presented with stereo and 5.1 options in uncompressed DTS-HD Master Audio. Hellraiser’s 5.1 remix is tasteful and bolsters composer Christopher Young’s indelible score with a discreet LFE track, but is otherwise mostly interchangeable with the already surprisingly aggressive 2.0 original. Quite a few actors are dubbed, either to cover accents, bring out demonic vocal qualities, or to ensure continuity, as in the case of Frank, who must have the same voice, despite being portrayed by two (or maybe three? I’m not sure) actors. The lip sync ‘issues’ are inherent in the material, not an error on the disc’s part.
Extras
Commentary with Stephen Jones and Kim Newman – Extras begin with a fun, fact-filled expert track featuring Jones, the editor of Shadows Over Innsmouth (Del Rey, 2001), and Newman, the general horror expert and author of Nightmare Movies: Horror on the Screen Since the 1960s (Bloomsbury, 2011). This debuted with the 2023 UK version of this collection and is new to North American viewers. Having been a unit publicist on the film and other Barker films, Jones has the insider knowledge, Newman (as usual) supplies all the wider critical context, while both have plenty to say about the wider Hellraiser franchise and careers of the cast & crew.
Commentary with writer/director Clive Barker – The original 1996 Laserdisc commentary track.
Commentary with Clive Barker and actress Ashley Laurence – A second archive track (moderated by screenwriter Peter Atkins) that was recorded for Anchor Bay’s 2000 DVD re-release. I’d recommend this one over the ‘96 track, but both are worth having on the disc.
Power of Imagination (58:14, HD) – An extensive sit down conversation about Hellraiser and Barker’s work with the editor of Clive Barker: Dark Imaginer (Manchester University Press, 2018) Sorcha Ní Fhlainn and scholar/critic Karmel Knipprath.
Unboxing Hellraiser (21:53, HD) – Alexandra (aka: ‘AK’) Benedict, author of The Christmas Jigsaw Murders (Simon & Schuster, 2023), celebrates the Lament Configuration and history of puzzle boxes, somewhat jokingly in the context of modern ‘unboxing’ videos in this visual essay.
The Pursuit of Possibilities (40:57, HD) – Paula D. Ashe, author of The Mother of All Monsters (pub: 2013), and Eric LaRocca, author of Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke (Weirdpunk Books, 2021), explore Barker’s influence as a queer horror writer and queer horror in general via a Zoom meeting.
Flesh is a Trap (18:19, HD) – The World House (Angry Robot, 2011) author Guy Adams discusses the ways in which Barker endeavors to ‘transcend the flesh’ in his art, writing, and motion picture work, and how those endeavors relate to his own experiences, all set to footage of him getting a tattoo.
1987 EPK clips and extended interviews:
2023 introduction by Stephen Jones and Kim Newman (10:30, HD)
Clive Barker (4:49, SD)
Andrew Robinson (4:24, SD)
Claire Higgins (3:18, SD)
Ashley Laurence (3:07, SD)
Creatures & effects (9:28, SD)
Final electronic press kit (6:00, SD)
Archival extras:
Being Frank: Sean Chapman on Hellraiser (26:22, HD) – This interview was conducted for Arrow’s previous Blu-ray collection and features the actor looking back on his early life, career, and role in the first two Hellraiser movies.
Under the Skin: Doug Bradley on Hellraiser (12:32, SD) – This interview is Arrow-branded, but I believe it debuted on Anchor Bay’s 2004 UK DVD. Bradley discusses his collaborations with Barker and playing Pinhead over the years.
Soundtrack Hell: The Story of the Abandoned Coil Score (18:09, HD) – In this second interview carried over from Arrow’s first Blu-ray, Stephen Thrower, the critic, author of Beyond Terror: The Films of Lucio Fulci (FAB Press, 1999), and musician talks about his relationship with Barker and now defunct experimental band, Coil, who wrote a number of themes for Hellraiser that were ultimately abandoned for Young’s score.
Hellraiser: Resurrection (24:27, SD) – Another featurette taken from the 2000 Anchor Bay DVD, it includes interviews with Barker, Bradley, Ashley Laurence, and make-up artist Bob Keen.
Theatrical trailer, Red Band trailer, and international trailer
Four TV spots
Image gallery
First and final draft screenplays
Fans might want to hang onto their older Arrow Blu-rays, because they feature the two-part documentary Leviathan – The Story of Hellraiser and Hellbound: Hellraiser II (2015), which is otherwise unavailable on streaming or on disc.
The images on this page are taken from the 2K mastered BD – not the 4K UHD – and sized for the page. Larger versions can be viewed by clicking the images. Note that there will be some JPG compression.
Fab write up. Miss the old days of sitting in tapped out theaters to watch such wild baloney at an under attended matinee. One of the most pleasing, along with, say, Phantasm.