With Barker serving as producer this time around, Hellbound: Hellraiser II saw Hellraiser producer Tony Randel taking over the reins, while Barker’s old chum Peter Atkins wrote the script. Channard (Kenneth Cranham) and before you can shout ‘Pinhead’, Julia has been resurrected and the doors to Hell have been flung wife open.

No wonder they became an instant hit with horror fans around the world, guaranteeing them a swift return to the big screen…Īrriving in cinemas the following year, Hellbound: Hellraiser II picks up where its predecessor left off with plucky survivor Kirsty (Ashley Laurence) waking up in a psychiatric hospital following the traumatic events she has suffered. These leather-clad sadomasochists from beyond the grave are so unlike anything that horror cinema had given us before (or since) that you can’t help but be equally fascinated and terrified by them. While Hellraiser is certainly not perfect (Barker’s first-time director status shows through on several occasions), even after all this time it remains an audacious piece of cinema that still packs a hefty punch thanks to its intelligent storytelling and unusual (but compelling) mix of grotty domestic drama and shocking gore.Īnd then there are the Cenobites themselves.

And, recently resurrected sans skin, Frank needs Julia to kill for him, in order for him to become fully human-again… The ‘twisted’ part concerns the fact that Frank has spent the past few years being tortured by Cenobites, inter-dimensional demons (to some, angels to others) who specialise in mixing pleasure and pain. Adapted from Barker’s own 1986 novella The Hellbound Heart, the film served up a twisted love story about bored housewife Julia (Clare Higgins) and thrill-seeking brother-in-law Frank (Sean Chapman). Released into cinemas in 1987, Hellraiser saw horror author (as he was then) Clive Barker make his director debut. Limited to just 5,000 copies (although the films themselves will no doubt receive individual releases in the future), Hellraiser: The Scarlet Box offers brand new restorations of Hellraiser, Hellbound: Hellraiser II and Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth, plus a cornucopia of goodies that even manages to put those from the old DVD boxset to shame. Now, a little over a decade later, Arrow Video has finally given those same fans a chance to ditch their DVDs and upgrade to hi-def with its own deluxe boxset. This devilishly good Blu-ray boxset has such sights to show you.īack in 2004 Anchor Bay gave UK-based fright-fans a real treat with its Hellraiser: Limited Edition 4-Disc Lament Configuration DVD boxset, which collected together the first three films in the long-running horror franchise alongside a bumper crop of bonus goodies.

Hellraiser chronicles