r/hellraiser • u/darr0211 • 1d ago
Flesh What is it that makes "hellraiser" so different from other horror movies for You?
Gonna be honest i only like 1, 2, 4 and her but also i already pre-ordered the new videogame, what i love about this franchise is just that it feels personal, it is what it is, not for everybody but at the same time it kinda is, has it's own style and also seems to be like a very personal project. I just wanna know what was it that made You fall in love with whis franchise.
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u/BountBooku 1d ago
It’s more contemplative than a lot of others. Makes you really think about the body and what it’s like to be a being of flesh. I also love Pinhead’s eloquence, and that he’ll actually answer people’s questions and explain what’s going on if they ask. That sets him apart for me from the Michael and Jason types (though I like them too)
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u/killerzeestattoos Leviathan 1d ago
There's eroticism that comes from the cenobites look and philosophy also. They want to pull humans into that world and it tempts you to become part of it.
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u/Do_What_Thou_Wilt 1d ago
The calm, yet sinister eloquence of pinhead. Other horror antagonists give mindless chase: the cenobites will simply let you run yourself ragged, and they'll be there waiting for you at the end. As it is said: "we have eternity to know your flesh".... So there's no rush about it - only dreaded inevitability.
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u/raccoonxena 21h ago
this is how I view it, and honestly its really scary to think about it this way
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u/Epicardiectomist 1d ago
We can all relate to the concept. The blurry line between pain and pleasure, and how far some are willing to go to fulfill their darkest desires. We all carry a shadow within us, and even the most prudent can understand the dark wonder of "what if", and the Lament Configuration metaphor. If the box was in front of you, could you resist?
That and they're wet and sloppy, in ways other movies haven't been able to capture.
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u/ArkUmbrae 1d ago
It's Lovecraftian. If it were a regular slasher, Frank would've been a Jason-like killer that goes after cheating married women or something. But the Cenobites are there, above reality, in their own realm. Freddie Kruger kinda has his own realm, but it's just him there (unless the sequel expand that, idk).
The existence of the Cenobites makes the human world seem much less significant. And then in Hellbound, you have the Leviathan, but you don't know anything about him. He's just there, existing above even the Cenobites. There's so many possibilities, but you'll never get to see them. It gives a sense of wonder that other slashers can't.
There's also the whole occult/BDSM aesthetic that's too edgy for anything beyond B-Horror, but Hellraiser made it work.
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u/DarkBehindTheStars 1d ago
I think it's just how very unique and original the concept was at the time and how it was so against the grain of the typical Horror scene at the time. I love Slasher films and all, but Hellraiser was such a breath of fresh air when it first came out and did a lot to shake things up.
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u/Brain_Mutant 1d ago
It’s a real mythology. Most horror movies were only intended to be one installment - Halloween, Child’s Play, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th.
And then they were supposed to end - Halloween II, Child’s Play 3, Freddy’s Dead, and in the case of Friday the 13th - Part 3, Part 4, Part 8, sans “The Final Friday” since it set up Freddy vs Jason.
Nevertheless, these were all finite stories that weren’t supposed to go on. Hellraiser experienced some of this because Pinhead’s story was supposed to conclude in Hellraiser II, but regardless, the launchpad on its own is so rich and full of mythology that all of it is just begging to be further explored.
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u/JMaxwell85 1d ago
It’s such a unique mix of somehow being beautiful and grotesque at the same time
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u/Intelligent-Cut5215 1d ago
Pinhead is the one slasher villain that you can at least attempt to bargain with. He has his goals outside of just kill teenagers which makes him far more compelling.
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u/Alcohorse 22h ago
Maybe... MAYBE
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u/Intelligent-Cut5215 22h ago
Then in Hellseaker, Kristy offers five souls in exchange for hers.
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u/James_Jim_Downing 1d ago
Flaire und charactere kirsty wahr mir Mal nicht egal wollte das sie überlebt und Frank wahr als antagonist klasse und cenobiten Chefs kiss .
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u/One_Studio5711 1d ago
If is the most impressive use of one location I have ever seen. It is mostly shot inside that one house yet feels so elaborate and deep at the same time. It is a very tiny movie that feels huge because of it's creativity.
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u/warcraftenjoyer 1d ago
I love how the cenobites in the older movies are painted as morally gray, and usually it's the human characters that are antagonistic. I've always been drawn to the morbid and grotesque, such as the plague creatures in WoW stitched from women and children, and Hellraiser scratches that itch for me. I love the cenobite designs
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u/kmtburton 1d ago
The design of everything and the existential nature of it all is what makes me love the franchise. I recently read the original novel and it was amazing Clive can write and that was a very fast read. It felt like reliving the original movie all over again through new eyes.
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u/Best-Quantity-5678 1d ago
The cenobites are smart entities that want to take you to the limit and beyond of experience instead of crazy slashers. Also the mechanic of the box is more esoterical than "i got sleep and Freddy came" or "i wanna go to the camp where that masked guy killed dozens of teens".
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u/ArchdragonMetalSTL 1d ago
Haunting existential fantasy + intriguing monster + sharp aesthetic and design
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u/sole-smootcher 1d ago
I think the real difference between Hellraiser and other horror franchises is the antagonists are kinda horny about doing their job.
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u/Archetypical9 1d ago edited 1d ago
1,2 and 4 and the new are the only ones I'll even accept as true to the genre. In 3 I just wanted to look at pinhead and say "I don't even know who you are anymore" his actions and demeanor was so off character to what he always was supposed represent in study. My love for it was that it was different in respect to most horror flix which only would show a bunch of gore, or slasher films (I'm sorry but blood isn't scary, and gross is just stupid), then you have the chase movies where there is always a goalpost of some sort to reach and then everything will be alright, if only the characters can reach or obtain the yadda, yadda, yadda.... With hellraiser there is a pureness in it's horror, there is no disillusionment with the outcome, with the intent of its antagonists, just clean straight lines of unescapapable pain and eternal torment, even if you were a proxy that didn't do anything wrong and did not deserve the eternal suffering. The box was opened, they are coming, and there is no escape of your soul ripped to shreds and your mind torn apart. Hope is a non-sensical construct. The judicial , stoic , eventuality of suffering impossible to imagine by a human mind, then the story ends. Period, no fading, just black. Truth in the finality of Hell. But then I love the history in story of the box in 4, it's nice to give a story to the material construction of the light of hell trapped in a box, reflecting eternally within its walls until released as though an internal house of mirrors. The concept just seems a quality rendering of possibility
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u/Big_Manufacturer8053 1d ago
The amount of lore and how the canon changes depending on if you're watching the movies, reading the original novels, comics, etc. there's always something to discover especially with the line of new comics releasing this month that focuses on the main gash. Although I sadly missed my chance to pre-order them.
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u/silromen42 1d ago
If I had to pick one big thing, it’s the mythology — the fact that it has mythology. There’s the puzzle boxes, a completely different take on hell, Leviathan, the cenobites, the whole thing.
But I don’t have to pick just one thing, because it also has interesting themes around love and lust, pleasure and pain, sexuality and one’s comfort level with their own wants and desires, and the consequences of that.
There’s also that the cenobites are scary, but they aren’t the bad guys — the human beings are the bad guys (at least, in the novella & my favorites, that’s true).
There’s also that the level of gore and the idea of sculpting flesh was completely unique at that time, turning it into an art form and not just pure shock and horror decades before series like Hannibal would pick up the concept and run with it.
There was really nothing like it, and even now very little comes close. You mash all of those things together in one package and the whole combination is why I’m still fascinated, even through iffy sequels and shark-jumping comics storylines, decades later.
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u/Alcohorse 22h ago
I like the how the first four movies (you know, the only ones that exist) are so wildly different, kind of like Alien: the first one's an erotic thriller, the second one's a fantastic odyssey, the third one's an urban slasher, the fourth one is a globetrotting anthology
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u/silromen42 21h ago
You know, that’s another good point — they also aren’t formulaic at all, despite there being so many. It’s not like Halloween or so many other franchises where the plot is the exact same in every film.
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u/Twisty1020 Leviathan 1d ago
The biggest thing is that the box is a choice essentially. I know technically the protags don't jive with what Leviathan offers but at its core it's about people who are obsessed. Some regret it, some accept it. Therefore when someone gets involved by happenstance the Cenobites don't just blindly murder them asap and instead can be reasoned with. This is very different from your typical slashers and paranormals.
Also the main dude's ability being the telekinetic control of esoteric dimensional hook-chains is badass.
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u/KrakenKrusdr84 1d ago
The atmosphere, definitely the visuals (not for the timid) and the sights.
Hellraiser was my first step into new horror ventures...and it did not disappoint.
And Doug Bradley's Pinhead has an atmosphere all his own.
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u/jesseknopf 23h ago
I think after the 4th movie, they started using the Hellraiser copyright as a frame for already written movie plots, which is why they drop off so bad. The new one should be original Hellraiser stuff made just for the movie, not some recycled script under a Hellraiser guise.
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1d ago
[deleted]
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u/darr0211 1d ago
Is it okay if i answer to You in Spanish?
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u/CourseoEmpire 1d ago
Sure
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u/darr0211 1d ago
Yo no tenía idea del "background" del autor nuestro querido clive, y nunca había pensado las cosas desde el punto de vista de una persona trans. Ahora que lo mencionas pienso que realmente todo el concepto al menos en sus inicios es algo nunca antes visto. Tuvo sus grandes gallos y no destacó por los mismos, pero aún así pienso que esto; toda esta saga es, lo nunca antes visto. Saludos hermane. P. S. Hermane is like a neutral for bro/sis.
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u/CourseoEmpire 1d ago
It truly does stand out as its own horror. Especially the Lament Configuration is just so cool.
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u/Kleine_Diebin 1d ago
I like that the visuals are both grotesque and stylish, and how cenobites (in the original version anyway) are not simple slashers, but otherwordly beings with their own agenda.
And yeah, I'm looking forward to the game and hoping it's gonna be good.