Pinhead would have to be in the top five most famous horror villains in cinematic history if we made a list. Clive Barker’s timeless creation has evolved through a series of films and comic book stories, but the audience’s admiration has never waned.
Since his debut appearance in Hellraiser, this lead villain has been a popular favorite among horror aficionados. He is the Cenobites’ leader, and the character would not have been the same without Doug Bradley’s brilliant handling of the challenge.
Pinhead was a fascinating monster who was marketed as the face of the Hellraiser films, even though he only had a minor role. Pinhead is known for being the harsh servant of hell, yet he is more than the everlasting Cenobite. In truth, he comes from a remarkably human family, one that will perplex you.
Pinhead has been the most popular Cenobite throughout the Hellraiser franchise, and his narrative is a fitting complement to his striking design. So, what is it about Pinhead that has made him a movie horror icon? In this video, we will look at Pinhead’s beginnings and tell you about his unique backstory. Keep your eyes peeled for this one since we have got a lot of sights to show you!
Pinhead is a Cenobite
When we speak about Pinhead the first reference that comes to mind is the leader of the Cenobites. He is a Cenobite as well, one of the grotesque extra-dimensional entities that are mutilated and brainwashed for a world of torture and pain. All the Cenobites, except Angelique, have a human origin, and the opening of the forbidden puzzle box summons them into the world.
Every time someone solves one of these puzzle boxes, a group of Cenobites is summoned, and the fate of the person depends on whether or not he is worthy of becoming a cenobite. In case he is not, he will be taken to be tortured for all eternity in hell, or he will be slaughtered right then.
If he is worthy then he would be taken to hell and altered through mutilations and other terrible procedures. The blood would be replaced by a blue fluid, and the person would cease to have any memory of his past life. What emerges from this twisted process is a demented entity that takes pleasure in torture and pain.
Pinhead is one of these Cenobites and even he is bound to the rules of the puzzle boxes. He is a trusted soldier of Leviathan, and he acts according to the set rules. There have been brief instances where he tried to break free of the bondage, but it did not last very long.
He Became Pinhead Due To His Harrowing Time In The War
If every Cenobite has a human origin so does Pinhead! Before becoming the maniacal bloodthirsty hellish creature, Pinhead used to have a normal human life. This is indicated in Hellbound: Hellraiser II when one of his old photographs gives him a few flashbacks of his former life.
He was a British guy named Elliot Spencer and he served his country during the First World War. He became a captain in the British expeditionary forces, and his time in the war left him scarred. In one of the battles he witnessed over sixty-thousand British troops killed or injured, and the gruesome deaths took a toll on his mental stability.
Watching his fellow brothers in arms die such horrible deaths made him question humanity altogether. This is when his faith can no longer stand the test of the morbid reality and he starts believing that God has failed humans.
While dealing with his post-traumatic stress, Spencer wanders the world, indulging in a hedonistic lifestyle. Finally, he comes across the Lament Configuration in British India. This is the awakening that makes him understand the true pleasures of pain and suffering. He summoned the Cenobites and joined their ranks, soon becoming a powerful leader. He no longer had any recollection of his human life, and he started to believe that he had always been a demonic force.
The Boom! Studios Comics Had Expanded the Origin of Pinhead
Clive Barker had already shown the promise of his works through the first few Hellraiser movies, but he extended the lore further while plotting the Boom Studios Comics. This storyline borrows from the first three movies, but also makes some interesting additions to the story. For instance, we get to know more about Pinhead in his human form.
Contrary to the earlier version, where we see he is traumatized by the horrors of the war, Elliot Spencer has been portrayed as a disturbing character. He was always a sadistic person, and he derived immense pleasure from torturing his wife in front of his daughter Danielle.
In fact, he was also attracted to his own daughter although it was thought that even he considered being too demented to act upon. However, this did not stop him from tormenting Danielle. He would often make love to his wife in the presence of his daughter, while at other times he would dress up in women’s underwear in front of her.
The events of World War I certainly had a deep impact on Spencer, but he was no saint before! On one occasion, he observed a tree with dead bodies hanging from it, and he felt that it was a beautiful sight! Such terrible sights during the war enhanced his belief that there was no order in the world. After he found the Lemarchand puzzle box, he was intrigued by the world of Cenobites, and Leviathan was impressed by his personality. He made him the new Hell Priest, and he also had to go through a test, where he was lured with his daughter whom he lusted for. Spencer thought it was an illusion, but it was certainly a part of reality because Danielle even gave birth to a daughter whom she abandoned later.
Pinhead as an Aztec God
There have been many versions of Pinhead’s past life, and the first two films did no more than project him as a faceless demon. However, the second film did drop a few hints about his human origin, and the 1993 comic series shed some more light on the monster’s past life. According to this mini-series, Pinhead is simply the reincarnation of an ancient deity.
It suggests that Pinhead is the new face of the Aztec god Xipe Totec. This was an agricultural god, but there is an element of pain associated with his practices. He would flay himself to feed humanity, and he performed actions like peeling his skin off to reveal a golden body under the skin.
This Aztec God, according to his followers, had an appetite for violence and thrived upon human sacrifices just like the Cenobites did. They also credit Xipe Totec with the invention of the concept of war, just so that it could be a tool for humans perishing all the time.
Pinhead and his uncomfortable piercings
You would think that Clive Barker had his way with the character of Pinhead, but that wasn’t the case. The creator had the idea of showing Pinhead with a body full of piercings. This was rejected by the others involved in the making because they felt that it would take much of the terror out of this character.
In fact, Barker had imagined a version of Pinhead that would have a piercing below the navel. It was supposed to indicate that he had genital piercings as well, but that aspect of Pinhead’s character did not quite turn out as planned.
When Kirsty Cotton Becomes Pinhead
This is another one of the innovative comic book stories where they literally made the most improbable situation a possibility. Kristy Cotton is not just someone restricted to the movies, and the comic book lore is vast and extensive. In this instance, Kristy Cotton is shown to have a new life after moving past the trauma of her experience with the cenobites.
The love of her life is a stable loving man, but she needs to put the ghosts of her scarred past to rest. We see her having sketched Pinhead, the nightmarish vision of her life. Meanwhile, we also see another side of Pinhead – the Hell Priest is tired of the monotony of his life. He is bored of the same old torture methods, and the same way of life that has been continuing for ages now. When a young girl accidentally summons Pinhead, he still rips her apart like you would expect him to. However, there is an air of disgust about the whole procedure. We can tell that he is craving some kind of change.
On the other hand, Kristy has gathered a group that is willing to try their luck one more time with the puzzle box. When they fail miserably, Kristy has simply lost too many of her loved ones. The so-called villain and the protagonist now have a common ground. Pinhead can escape his life of boredom, and Kristy can fill in the void and be reunited with the ones she has lost. They agree to the strangest barter system ever.
Kristy helps Pinhead get rid of the nails on his head, and Pinhead summons the tentacles that strip him of his Cenobite appearance. Kristy is dressed in the Cenobite uniform, and the pins that were plied out of Pinhead are now positioned on Kristy.
Pinhead gets back to his human identity Elliot Spencer, but there is a shocking revelation when we find out that Elliot is no less of an evil than Pinhead is. He leaves the premises of hell, but not before warning Kristy about the horrors that are about to unfold.
We watch all her friends and her lover emerge as demonic creatures, and they bear no resemblance to what they used to be! But Kristy has one last revenge for Elliot Spencer, and she rips him apart, just like Pinhead used to do to his victims. Back in the real world, two people find Elliot in a pool of blood, and he seems to be dying from the goriest of injuries!
So How Powerful is Pinhead?
The Hell Priest is certainly one of the most powerful horror villains of all time, but how does he compare against the likes of other horror icons. Well, according to Doug Bradley, Pinhead is much stronger than Michael Myers and Jason Voorhees, and that is saying something!
His supernatural strengths and incredible methods of attacking with hooks and chains make him a dreaded force – one that mutilates his victims and tears them apart. The chains function according to his whims and fancies, and they can even change their shape according to his desires. For someone who enjoys pain, you can imagine that Pinhead is tough to defeat! A gunshot or a direct assault will merely be a pinprick that he derives pleasure from!
Pinhead has the ability to create new cenobites from dead and living victims, and this means that he can always expand his forces. However, Pinhead also has his limitations. All his activities in the physical world are limited to him being summoned by the Lament Configuration.
Unless the puzzle box is solved, he has no role to play in the world. He does have to abide by the rules set, and we have seen instances where he stops the other cenobites from torturing a girl, who was tricked into summoning the cenobites.
The fact that Pinhead has no memory of his past life as Elliot Spencer ensures that he is spiritually weakened. Despite such minor shortcomings, Pinhead is still way too powerful, and the rightful leader of the Cenobites.
Hellraiser: Judgment – The Mortal Pinhead
It took them a long time, but finally, they brought this storyline to the big screen. In Hellraiser Judgment we are taken into an advanced human world, where they have learned to close the gateways to hell.
Thus, harvesting their souls for eternal punishment has become an increasingly difficult task. Pinhead is one of the main guys from the Cenobite sect, and he discusses the possibilities with the Stygian Inquisition, a new sect set up to adapt to the new methods. Back on Earth, three detectives are investigating a peculiar case of a serial killer who kills based on the Ten Commandments.
In the climactic moments of this film, Pinhead is punished by God and expelled from hell. He is forced to walk the Earth as a mortal once again. The movie was trashed by viewers and critics alike, but this aspect of the story is intriguing nonetheless.
Hellraiser 11: The Plans revealed
So far we have had ten films in the Hellraiser franchise, with Gary J. Tunnicliffe’s Hellraiser: Judgment being the last entry. He had plans for a sequel to this movie, and he gave away what he had in mind for Hellraiser 11! In case you haven’t watched Hellraiser: Judgment, the movie deepens the lore of the Cenobites and portrays them as one of the many factions of hell’s forces.
The movie ends with Pinhead losing his pins, powers, and title. He walks the Earth as a mortal once again, and the sequel would have focused on human Pinhead. There would obviously have to be someone who would fill in Pinhead’s shoes as the leader of the Cenobites.
In the meantime, there would be plots and plans to get Pinhead back to his rightful position. In the middle of this crisis would be an innocent family, who would be tricked into these circumstances.
What seems to be an interesting storyline never became a reality because the #MeToo scandals ruined Dimension Films. Tunnicliffe himself has admitted that despite new projects like a reboot and TV series being planned, it is unlikely that Hellraiser 11 would ever get the green light! While we regret the unfortunate demise of such a genius storyline, we certainly hope that the character of Pinhead can live up to his glory and expectations in the projects to come!