The sexual undertones of Clive Barker’s ‘Hellraiser’
The 1980s was a thriving decade for the horror genre, as slasher icons such as Freddy Krueger, Michael Myers, and Jason Voorhees made their way into the mainstream consciousness. Slasher filmmakers John Carpenter, Tobe Hooper and Wes Craven thrived, whilst others sought to create a new brand of terror, with John McNaughton creating the psychological tale Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, Elem Klimov speaking to the atrocity of war with Come and See, and Clive Barker bringing a filthy grungy aesthetic with Hellraiser.
Grimey, disgusting and wonderfully creative, Clive Barker’s cult classic horror film Hellraiser is a punk joyride across the depths of hell, featuring one of the most iconic villains of all time in the hideous Pinhead. Based on the original novel The Hellbound Heart, written by Barker himself, Hellraiser follows the story of a woman who begins to kill for her recently resurrected brother-in-law so that he can escape the horrors of the underworld.
It’s a bizarre, bombastic plot that combines genuine terror and entertaining pulpy visuals, typified by the eclectic Cenobites, extradimensional beings who exist in a horrifying realm of dread. So impactful was the movie that Stephen King described the flick as “the future of horror”, no doubt inspired by the fact that the author also took on directorial duties for the 1987 classic.
Barker spoke to The Guardian on the 30th anniversary of the film in 2017, where he revealed the surprising sexual undertones of the horror flick. Discussing his inspirations behind the tale, Barker told the publication: “Sex is a great leveller. It made me want to tell a story about good and evil in which sexuality was the connective tissue. Most English and American horror movies were not sexual, or coquettishly so – a bunch of teenagers having sex and then getting killed. Hellraiser, the story of a man driven to seek the ultimate sensual experience, has a much more twisted sense of sexuality”.
A complex, special effects-heavy production, as Barker explains: “My film required some design elements that hadn’t been seen before, the equivalent of Freddy Krueger’s fedora, striped sweater and burnt face”. Though, just like the story’s inspiration, Hellraiser’s villains were too inspired by sex.
Continuing, he adds: “The look of the Cenobites, such as the pins in their leader’s head, was inspired by S&M clubs. But I was emotionally inspired by them, too. On S&M’s sliding scale, I’m probably a six. There was an underground club called Cellblock 28 in New York that had a very hard S&M night”.
Pinhead will be returning in the upcoming supernatural movie remake directed by David Bruckner, with a screenplay by Ben Collins and Luke Piotrowski. Though not a straight remake, the new Hellraiser movie is sure to nick a few ideas from the original. The cast includes Jamie Clayton, Odessa A’zion and Brandon Flynn.
