Hellraiser

Hellraiser Movie Poster

"Demon to some, angel to others.  He'll tear your soul apart".  Through 2011, a total of 9 Hellraiser movies had been released in this franchise, two of which were released in the 80’s (1987 and 1988).  The movie series was based on a short novel written by Clive Barker titled The Hellbound Heart.  Although the movie received mixed reviews (Stephen liked it, but Ebert did not), it was profitable enough at the theatre to warrant all those sequels.

Focusing on the original movie, it starts out with a guy name Frank Cotton buying a puzzle box, called the Lamont Configuration, that ends up killing him after he solves it in his childhood home.  Frank purchased the puzzle after being told that solving it would open up a new world of sensory sexual experience to whoever solved it.  In reality, when the puzzle was solved, the gates of hell opened up and an evil creature named Pinhead, and his band of evil Cenobites, were summoned to exorcise their brand of sadomasochism.  The puzzle solver would then be transported to their realm.

With the help of his twin brother’s wife, Frank is able to escape from the Cenobite realm by consuming the blood of others, and Frank’s sister-in-law manages to bring horny dudes to the house, where Frank kills them and feeds on them.  When Frank’s niece (Kristy) learns what is going on, she takes the puzzle box, solves it, and learns the Cenobites considered themselves to be neither angels nor demons, but instead explorers of carnality.  They Cenobites agree to allow Kristy to remain in the land of the living, in exchange for Frank.  In the end, Frank is killed again by the Cenobites, and Kristy barely escapes.  However, the Lamont Configuration puzzle box is taken by a winged beast so that it can be sold again (and we could have more movies).