Clive Barker

British horror novelist, screenwriter, and director.

Hellraiser (1987) -- If people like this movie, it's because they only remember the potential of the movie--and it certainly had that. The idea of the Cenobites -- creatures who are either demons or angels, creatures of pain or pleasure, depending on who you are, what you're seeking, etc. -- is interesting, but we only get hints of them. Other parts stand out as creepy or scary or mysteriously confusing, such as when one of the characters (before being ripped apart by chains) says, "Jesus wept." However, the real movie is simply a story about a guy who needs blood in order to come back to life (because of some stupid puzzle box or blood or something that makes no sense) so he gets his old girlfriend to do it for him by killing people. Kind of like The Little Shop of Horrors without the comedy and the plant. The characters themselves come straight out of Dynasty or worse and are horrible people. So if you remember "Pinhead" (a name he wasn't actually given in this movie) as what the movie is about, you're wrong. Watch it again and you'll see what I mean. (Tony Randel directs the sequel, Hellbound: Hellraiser II.)