It’s proving to be quite the lucrative Halloween for Hellraiser this year. For the first time ever, the (in)famous Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios have finally given fans the ultimate chance to truly experience the grizzly horrors that await them behind the riddle of the musical puzzle box. Fans walk, most willingly I must add, through the gaping rift of a giant-sized Lament Configuration as they traverse the blood-strewn familiarity of scenes to assault the senses lifted straight from the iconic early films. Through the infernal threshold, you take your final steps into a world beyond all human experience where pain is worshipped, and the flesh can no longer hide the soul as it’s torn apart.

Since the rights of the franchise are safely back in Clive Barker’s protection, he’s been busy giving fans what they wanted – more. We are simple little things that follow desires no matter how debasing they may be, and we love to consume, so consume on.

For example, Hellraiser has been a primary focus with the fine maniacs over at Trick or Treat Studios, as the team behind giving fans so many nightmares has made it their goal to bring us top-of-the-line masks of the Order of the Gash. They’ve also determined no home is complete without a Lament Configuration sitting on the living room’s coffee table. This replica opens too, so you never know if you’ll be willingly opening the seal to Leviathan’s damned regions. Play with care, kiddies.

On a smaller scale, the same studio is set to release some of the most impressive Cenobite figurines I’ve seen. Originally, NECA held the rights and early in their career released nearly every character from the movies—whether we wanted them to or not. They eventually produced an Ultimate Pinhead, and I waited and waited for them to create the rest of the Cenobite order, but it never happened. Thankfully, Trick or Treat Studios is now releasing the original four Cenobites in an 8-inch scale, which is a significant upgrade from the previous NECA releases. I can’t wait to have them haunting my shelf as soon as they become available.

Let’s not forget the immersive video game, Clive Barker’s Hellraiser: Revival, now taking up our time. It’s yet another chance to delve into the gruesome world beyond the puzzle box. That and Hell, I nearly forgot a brand new comic series is being published at the time of writing this.

Fans are rejoicing after so many years of suffering through far too many sequels, and I’m too lazy to look up how many are out there, but it was pushing double digits and giving the fucking Children of the Corn franchise a run for its money. Then we got a miserable little remake that completely misses the point of what made the original films so legendary.

This rancid stream of putrescent cinematic sins began with the inclusion of Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth. Released by a new studio, Dimension Films, and desperately competing to win over some of Freddy’s big money, Hell on Earth malformed the very being of the Hellpriest (Doug Bradley) by trying to reduce him to a slasher role. I mean no offense to fans of this movie, and no offense to the slasher genre at all. The truth is, Hellraiser was never a slasher piece. It’s more of a splatter film, if anything. One ripe with depth and leaves you feeling uneasy upon viewing it.

Hell on Earth‘s become a cult classic over the years with arguably one good scene (the church, it’s the church scene), and it really does want to up the blood here but still manages to shit the bed. The third installment greatly differs in tone from the first two movies, which are both legendary, especially the first, which is a horror masterpiece, and that’s this film’s greatest iniquity.

All of the lust and philosophy are lost here, and it leaves the film, however ambitious it was, feeling soulless. The heart that beat and bled across the previous two films was missing here, and the same is true for every movie that followed carrying the Hellraiser moniker, leading our beloved Hellpriest on a catastrophic quest of mediocrity that got stupider and stupider as the movies rolled out.

The pigs at the studio selfishly clung to the rights and were required to produce at least one film every few years bearing the name ‘Hellraiser’ to maintain ownership of the name. They didn’t care if they made good movies; they just did what was legally required of them in hopes of one day doing a large-scale remake. Or something of that nature. Everything they released sucked as a result. They’d churn out the godawfulest horror movies imaginable, slap Hellraiser on the title, put Doug Bradley back in makeup, and then rinse and repeat. Essentially, most films in the franchise have no right to be called actual Hellraiser movies; they carry the name alone, and that’s the only connection they have to the franchise. Everything that made the original movies so horrifying was lost.

The decline can be traced back to 1992 and the topic of today’s discussion. In the Leviathan documentary, a brilliant documentary covering the first two films, Doug Bradley opens up about Clive Barker’s original idea for the third Hellraiser film.

Admittedly, it is very bare-bones, and I wish more was known about it, but even searching through the thin scraps of information we’re given, a much better and very different story is discovered among the slithering pulp.

Firstly, instead of moving the franchise forward, Clive Barker was determined to set the third film back in the ancient past, all the way back to ancient Egypt. One thing you’ll realize when diving deeper into Barker’s stunning body of work is his fascination not only for the phantastique, but also a genuine love for history and the manifold influence the Occult has held sway over it. You’ll find this in the fan-favored video game, The Undying, Barker’s take on the Fall of the House of Usher where a friend visits his ailing friend and discovers the Hellish curses laid upon the family from generations of Occult practices. There’s also Mr B Gone, a book about a demon’s journey from Hell to Earth and then his odyssey across medieval Europe.

His Hellraiser III would’ve tapped into a similar vein and gone for a Genesis story. After all, after taking audiences to the heart of Hell, where else could we go? Clive thought the Great Pyramid would be the perfect answer. In his version, we would’ve watched the origins of the Cenobites, with the Pharaoh of Egypt himself completely hell-bent on opening the forbidden gates and joining with the infernal host.

Setting the movie thousands of years in the past, Barker imagined the Great Pyramid as the first Lament Configuration, the means to open the underworld and release the wonders and knowledge of Hell to mortal minds. The Pharaoh would’ve essentially been the first Cenobite, perhaps the first Hellpriest and predecessor of Doug Bradley’s iconic character. Imagine a scene wherein the tip of the Pyramid would’ve come close to touching the tip of Leviathan as the two worlds collide. If for nothing else, I would love to have seen the visuals of this ambitious movie! I bet it required a really big budget though, which might explain why we got a party club and an apartment setting in L.A. instead. Who needs to see the mystical visions of the past when the crew could just film downtown Hollywood? Right? What a pile of rat dicks.

An origin story was later explored in Hellraiser: Hellbound, the fourth movie and final film to play in theaters. Here we witness the creation of the Lament Configuration and the man who built it.

The mythology of the toy maker, Philip LeMarchand, was greatly changed for the film. Previously, LeMarchand was a demented occultist who, upon learning the mysteries of Hell’s gateway, sealed the secret inside many, and I mean lots, of different music boxes and scattered them all across the globe to feed upon souls.

I love this story, and of course Bloodline changed it, making LeMarchand an unassuming toy maker hired by a vile magician in France who wants to fuck a demon. I’m dead serious, and I guess I can’t blame him. Anyone who knows me knows my dream woman is Lady Death. So I get it.

True To The Vision

A comic book was later released that Barker considers the appropriate and true third installment to follow Hellbound. He played a significant role in its story, which clearly reflects his vision as it captures the essence of Hellraiser and provides a conclusion to both Kirsty Cotton’s and Tiffany’s storylines. Together, these brave survivors are on a mission to find and destroy every LeMarchand music box they can, aiming to prevent anyone from ever opening the gates of Hell again.

The story features many twists and turns, including Pinhead’s (attempted) apotheosis and Kirsty’s transformation into the Hell Priestess in his stead. Pinhead presides over her ordination, a touching moment between two icons, the one who got away kind of finale you could say.

The comics were released by Boom Studios back in 2011 and quickly became a must-own for me. Unfortunately, as is the case with comic collecting, trying to pick up back issues will cost you and is tedious as Hell. Thankfully, an omnibus collection of the series is releasing later this year so you have a chance to check out the true third installment of the Hellraiser trilogy. You can check it out here.

All isn’t lost, it would seem. We never got the ancient Egypt story, but there’s plenty of good Hellraiser and all happening as we speak! Not to mention Clive Barker’s said he wants to make one more movie. Will he develop the comic storyline? I’ve heard fans mention an adaptation of The Scarlet Gospel too as a possibility. I’d prefer the comic story just because it’s a great conclusion to the Kirsty and Pinhead drama. Or maybe we’ll get something entirely new. I’d kill for a chance to sit down and talk with Clive Barker about this.

Anyway, that’s all I have for now. Time to play that video game!

Manic Out!