Blu-Ray Review: Clive Barker’s ‘Hellraiser’ Stands Test of Time

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Blu-Ray Rating: 4.0/5.0

CHICAGO – Some 1970’s and 1980’s horror movies have lost their luster. Have you seen the original “Fog” lately? Any of the “Friday the 13th” sequels? As much as I love it, even “A Nightmare on Elm Street” looks its age. Not “Hellraiser”. Clive Barker’s twisted journey into the world of desire and darkness has all the power it did over twenty years ago and now you can see for yourself in HD.

Honestly, if you have the nerve to call yourself a horror fan and you don’t have at least one version of the regularly re-released “Hellraiser,” then you’re just a poseur. The new generation of horror junkies - those of you who went to a “Saw” movie every year before the Homecoming dance for four high school sessions in a row - need to catch up with one of the most influential horror films of the last twenty years.

Hellraiser was released on Blu-Ray on April 21st, 2009.
Photo credit: Anchor Bay

One of the many things I love about “Hellraiser” (and this only holds true for the first one) is how relatively unpolished the film looks today. It doesn’t look it’s trying to be “slick”. There’s a grit and a dirt to the bloody horror of “Hellraiser” that instantly separated the film from the slasher sequels dominating the marketplace in 1987 when it was first released.

Having said that, I’m not sure Blu-Ray is the best format in which to watch “Hellraiser”. The video on the Anchor Bay HD release looks a little too polished, as sometimes happens with ’70s and ’80s films. It’s not an overly plastic look like some HD transfers of two-to-three-decade old films, but it’s not quite gritty enough, as if it’s been overly remastered. But it’s a minor complaint. “Hellraiser” definitely looks good and sounds even better with a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track.

In “Hellraiser,” Andrew Robinson, Ashley Laurence, Clare Higgins, and Doug Bradley star in an original vision from one of the masters of horror, Clive Barker. “Hellraiser” became famous for introducing the world to a legendary villain in Pinhead but there’s a lot more to it than that vision of pure evil. It’s about the mixture of pleasure and pain and the nightmares that can be unleashed when we give in to our base instincts.

If you picked up the standard DVD release from October 2007, you don’t need to upgrade. Like I said, the picture is a bit questionable and the special features are the same, although some have been upgraded to HD themselves. However, if you didn’t pick up that anniversary edition and have an older “Hellraiser” release then you need to add this edition to your collection.

The special features are elaborate and interesting, including new interviews with some of the major players, old featurettes, and a commentary with writer/director Clive Barker and Ashley Laurence, moderated by screenwriter Peter Atkins. The library of developmental material is truly impressive including a storyboard gallery, a final draft screenplay, a first draft screenplay, posters & advertising gallery, behind-the-scenes galleries, trailers, and TV spots. It’s exhaustive.

As for featurettes, the old “Hellraiser: Resurrection” has been imported along with four interviews - “Mr. Cotton, I Presume?: An Interview with Star Andrew Robinson,” “Actress From Hell: An Interview with Star Ashley Laurence,” “Hellcomposer: An Interview with Composer Christopher Young,” and “Under ths Skin: Doug Bradley on Hellraiser”.

Anchor Bay is the king of horror movie re-releases, essentially taking the same title and giving it a new polish every year or so. Fans of “Hellraiser” probably own a version already and don’t really need the HD upgrade. But if you haven’t bought “Hellraiser” yet, there’s no way you’ll be disappointed with the latest edition from one of the best horror studios out there.

By BRIAN TALLERICO Content Director HollywoodChicago.com brian@hollywoodchicago.com