For horror aficionados, the 1980s were a dream come true, with popular horror icons like Freddy Krueger and Michael Myers flourishing. This also meant that competing with these classics was difficult, and Clive Barker deserves full credit for how he handled Hellraiser in this regard.
This film version of his horror novel The Hellbound Heart revolutionized people’s perceptions of horror films, and more importantly, it brought the vicious horror villain Pinhead to life, who would go down in history as one of the finest.
The wonderful mix of a scary, grim, and fascinating script with a talented performer like Doug Bradley produced some incredible outcomes, and the Hellraiser franchise spanned numerous films.
We’ve given you a hearty amount of Hellraiser footage since we’re hopeless fans, but today’s film focuses on a lesser-known part of Hellraiser’s dark and eerie sadomasochist world. Stay tuned to find out some of the most stunning revelations that will astound you and give you a whole new perspective on Pinhead and the Hellraiser universe as a whole!
Pinhead existed way before Hellraiser!
This might come as a surprise for many, but Pinhead’s first appearance was not in the novel Hellbound Heart. In fact, the earliest instance of some version of Pinhead can be seen in one of Clive Barker’s plays in 1973 titled Hunters in the Snow. This play had a character named the Dutchman, who was an undead torturer, bearing too many similar features as Pinhead.
It later went on to be developed further as the Cenobites and Pinhead, and you would be further surprised to know that Doug Bradley was the one who played the role of the Dutchman in the play. Co-incidents surely work in mysterious ways! He later revealed that this character had echoes of the later Pinhead in Hellraiser, and described the Dutchman as a blank-headed person who could still convey a lot. The first incarnation of the nails on Pinhead came from Clive Barker’s short story called The Forbidden. He simply put the image and the idea over a human face, and the results are for all to see!
Major changes from the novel to the movie
Well, it is no secret that movie adaptations based on novels often require certain changes to fit the screen presence of a particular character or simply to make things more entertaining. The Hellraiser movie was not an exception, and there were some major changes introduced in the movie. Pinhead, for instance, was very different in the novel and the only common feature is the patterned grid tattooed into the character in the novel, which is later used to map the pins that you see in the movie.
A major change was actually in terms of his gender because the novel never really established him in this regard. In fact, he was said to have a voice of an excited girl, and had more feminine qualities than a man. Lastly, he was not even the chief Cenobite as shown in the movie, and the role was changed quite a bit to make things impactful. It is safe to say that the changes worked wonders!
The mysterious creation of Pinhead and the Cenobites
You might take one look at these creatures from hell and wonder what motivated the director to form the idea of something so dreadful. Well, the motivations were plentiful, and things were heavily inspired by a mix of S&M gear, punk fashion, and Catholic outfits. It was a combination of all these and even African fetish dolls that contributed to the idea of pins and nails being hammered into a human form. It gave the Cenobites their trademark appearance, which would shock and intimidate the viewers and also give a good idea about their ruthless nature.
Pinhead was never an official name
When we say Hellraiser, the first thing that comes to mind is probably the name Pinhead. Hence, it is quite a surprise to learn that Pinhead was actually never an official name. Clive Barker revealed that Pinhead did not have an actual Cenobite name, and he was either referred to as the Hell Priest or simply Lead Cenobite in the first Hellraiser film. The name actually came together courtesy of the cast and crew, who kept referring to the character as Pinhead.
It soon found prominence and caught up with the fans as well. That being said, Doug Bradley, himself is not quite fond of the title Pinhead, and he rather prefers the Hell Priest instead! Pinhead was actually used as a term used to insult someone, and the secondary meaning took over the moment everyone realized how perfectly it fitted the character based on his appearance.
Pinhead wasn’t really meant to be a villain
Wait, what? One of the most notorious and intimidating horror antagonists ever was not even supposed to be a villain in the first place? Well, shocking but yes, it is what it is! The character is actually far more complicated and multi-layered than you would imagine, and complicated doesn’t necessarily translate into evil. He merely abides by the laws of Hell, and he doesn’t really come after people who did not seek out the Cenobites willingly in pursuit of the dark pleasures.
Pinhead has the unique ability to identify honesty and dishonesty in people, and his torturous methods only came in for the latter. He is the best judge to determine who is actually worthy of the unspeakable torture regime and is not the mindless evil force that many deem him to be. When you consider the personality of Elliot Spencer truly separated from Pinhead, is when you get the true estimation of the evil within! In fact, Clive Barker always viewed Hellraiser more as a love story than anything else because it was all about a woman who was willing to go to any extremes for her lover.
Clive Barker did not give in to the demands of the producers
Clive Barker was a novice filmmaker making his debut with Hellraiser, but he wasn’t one without a voice. This was clear when he defied the orders and suggestions of the producers when they wanted Pinhead to be a light-hearted character. The idea was to make things funny with witty one-liners and a subtle touch of comedy instead of the seriousness of the narrative.
Clive Barker was rigid on his stand that he wanted to create an equivalent of something like a Dracula, who would scare the audience instead of making them laugh. He left no stones unturned to stick to his idea, and we certainly appreciate how Pinhead eventually turned out instead of some outrageous laughing stock!
Clive Barker was a genuine novice while making Hellraiser
First-time directors are known to feel jittery, but this was a very different case. Here, we had a director who did not know some basics of filmmaking technicalities and learned through the process. Clive Barker was an author and his short stories had found a few takers who adopted them. His short story collection called the Books of Blood and his novel titled The Damnation Game had already spawned two movies, Underworld and Rawhead Rex. He was not happy with how the movies turned out, and Hellbound Heart was a script that was very close to his heart.
Hence, when the time came for making a movie out of it, he chose to take up the responsibility himself. However, he had no idea about the intricate details of direction, and he was helped by the crew and assistants. He went to libraries to read up on direction methods, and his eagerness to learn certainly helped because the final result is a perfect movie with a neo-gothic atmosphere, completely original monsters, and a perfect storyline!
Real actors were cast instead of pretty faces
Horror movies back in the 80s were often not really about the acting skills. You would see some pretty faces cast for the skin show and then they would be killed off in dramatic fashion. What separates Hellraiser from many such contemporaries was the vision of the director.
Clive Barker was very particular about the kind of actors that he required for the movie. His focus was always on quality acting performances, and for this, he roped in genuine actors who could portray a wide variety of emotions. It certainly was a masterstroke because the cast lived up to his expectations and delivered a classic that would be remembered for a very long time!
Doug Bradley almost did not play Pinhead
Who else could have portrayed Pinhead as well as Doug Bradley did? The answer is pretty simple. Nobody! Much of the credit for Pinhead going on to become a major horror icon is reserved for Doug Bradley and his impeccable mannerisms. However, there was a major chance that he wouldn’t even have played the role.
Clive Barker happened to be a childhood friend of the actor, and he gave him the choice of playing the lead Cenobite or one of the movers who bring in the mattress in the first few minutes of the movie. Doug Bradley initially chose the latter because he was not very comfortable with the idea of his real face not being shown on camera. Luckily, for all of us horror nerds, he was eventually convinced to play the role, and it launched his career like he himself couldn’t have imagined!
Doug Bradley did pay a price for the heavy makeup!
It is pretty evident that for Doug Bradley to slip into the role of Pinhead, a special effort in terms of makeup was required. This meant that very few people on the sets ever knew who the actual guy was behind all that makeup. After the filming wrapped up, there was a party, where none of those present could recognize Doug Bradley, much to his disappointment. When they all kept ignoring him, he started wondering if he somehow offended them during filming.
Eventually, he realized the real reason behind the ignorance, and after the grand success of the first Hellraiser movie, nobody forgot his actual face ever again. In fact, from the next movie onwards, he became the figurehead of the franchise, and the following movies even revealed his real face on-screen on a few occasions, when he was portrayed as Elliot Spencer before becoming a Cenobite.
The Low-Budget bugs bit the film hard
Hellraiser was by no means an extravagant effort, and while the budget was not really cash-strapped, there was no room for splurging on some of the details that Clive Barker had envisioned. The $1 million allocations were eventually not enough because of the ambitious nature of the film, and the director had to downscale some of his original vision.
The final scenes, in particular, took a major hit because a cost-effective approach had to be adapted for these moments. The scene where Kirsty uses the puzzle box to send the Cenobites back was filmed after striking a deal with a friend, who agreed to help out without pay. The light beams that you see surrounding the box and even the Cenobites were hand-animated, and the crude nature of the effects in this scene can be noticed by the experts.
Some major cuts were required for the R-rating
Clive Barker and the producers in particular, were keen for an R-rating for a wider viewer base for the movie. However, as you can imagine, Hellraiser was a movie that often blurred the thin line between sensuality and horror. This meant some rather explicit moments that prompted the Motion Picture Association of America to allot an adults-only X rating initially.
The makers had to oblige to the demands and go for some major cuts, where the more violent and provocative moments in the film were chopped off. This was the case for the earliest UK video editions as well, and the scenes with gore and violent murders had to be toned down considerably. There was apparently a steamy scene between Julia and Frank, which was too much for the censor boards, and it was only after ensuring all these cuts that the movie finally got its desired R-rating.
There was a person in charge of the maggots and cockroaches that were used
It must have been a really weird job, but it surely was a real one. On the sets of Hellraiser, it was important for an expert to handle the cockroaches in particular because there was a law in England which stated that cockroaches of both sexes wouldn’t be allowed on the sets. This was to eliminate the risk of any unwarranted infestation that would have to be taken care of later.
Clive Barker hired someone for the job, and he had to separate the male ones from the female ones that they had to work with. They also used some bizarre tricks on the sets, such as putting the roaches in the fridge to chill them so that their movements would be slow. The same was done with the maggots, and it did work out quite nicely. Later, the British Board of Film Classification also had to be proved that no rats were harmed during the making of the movie before it was allowed to be released. What would be horror movies without their quirky side!
The silent Cenobites were supposed to speak!
You must have noticed this about the Cenobites they aren’t particularly chatty! In fact, only two of Hellraiser’s Cenobites could speak – Pinhead and the Female Cenobite. This was not how things were planned, and even the source material contained multiple dialogues among the Cenobites. The novel version shows two other Butterball and Chatterer being capable of speaking, but Clive Barker could not recreate the same for the movie.
The major handicap in doing so was the special makeup that was required for the characters. The actors behind the thick makeup were not audible when they spoke, and even their facial movement was compromised. Thus, the additional dialogues all went to Doug Bradley’s Pinhead, and a few were allotted for the Female Cenobite. It would have certainly assigned more of a character if the other Cenobites could speak, but that was not to be!
Major crossover opportunities were missed with Hellraiser
The horror fans have enjoyed watching Freddy and Jason having a go at each other, and the same could have happened with Pinhead as well. The early drafts of the Freddy vs. Jason script contained Pinhead, and it was supposed to pan out after the two notorious horror villains wound up in hell. The idea was eventually dropped, and Newline cinema failed to get the rights to Pinhead, which would have made things possible. Even the thought of Jason, Freddy, and Pinhead fighting it out is a mouth-watering prospect so it certainly was a big loss for the fans!
Hellraiser was once thrust into the world of Sherlock Holmes!
What happens when the world’s greatest detective meets the strongest warriors of hell? Well, to learn more you have to read the book by Paul Kane, where he clubs the world of Sherlock Holmes with that of Hellraiser. This book is titled Sherlock Holmes and the Servants of Hell, and the story takes you through a haunting journey, where one of the detective’s cases takes him to the cursed puzzle box that is the root cause of all evil.
It offers a nice challenge to Sherlock after the death of his arch-rival Professor Moriarty, but it also throws him a few opponents who aren’t exactly human! It is a must-read for all Hellraiser fans out there, and the twists and turns in the narrative promise to be captivating enough.
Hellraiser was a real game-changer in horror flicks, and even today its supreme importance is acknowledged by the horror fans. We are all excited for the upcoming Hellraiser movie, which is being directed by David Bruckner and based on a story by David S. Goyer.
It is supposed to be a reboot of Clive Barker’s 1987 classic, and it is reportedly going to be close to the source novel, The Hellbound Heart. Jamie Clayton as Pinhead will surely be very different, but if things go right we must just end up with a Hellraiser movie that rejuvenates the franchise once again!