Behind-The-Scenes Stories From 'Hellraiser'

Clive Barker had no film directing experience before starting production on Hellraiser around 1986. Barker needed a film school course, but he met an early roadblock.He met an early roadblock to his education.He went to the local library for a film directing book. They had two copies, but both were checked out. Barker thought, 'I'm screwed; I don't even have a book!'

I sought a book on film directing at my local library. They had two, but both were checked out. I thought, 'Oh, I'm screwed; I don't even have a book!'

Barker added to this story later in a retrospective piece.Barker added to this anecdote later in a retrospective piece.fromThe Guardian:

The crew was very gentle with me. You can only go that far into darkness if everyone is on board. I had Richard Marden, who worked with David Lean, as editor, and Bob Keen, who did special effects on Star Wars, and came up with Frank’s resurrection scene.Star WarsThey developed Frank’s resurrection scene. We had a good working rhythm.

HellraiserWriter/director Clive Barker and actor Doug Bradley first met in school. Bradley played an early iteration of the character Pinhead in one of Barker's stage productions.Bradley played an early iteration of the character Pinhead in one of Barker's stage productions.Bradley played an early iteration of the character Pinhead in one of Barker's stage productions.

Doug Bradley played the lead Cenobite, which felt certain to him. However, producer Christopher Figg mentioned Bradley might play another character. The actor told The Guardian that.The actor told The Guardian:

I was also offered the role of a removals man. For a second, I talked to myself: since Hellraiser was my first movie, I thought being seen on screen as myself might be a good idea. But it was just a brief talk. I knew this unnamed guy with the pins in his head had a certain.HellraiserBecause Hellraiser was my first movie, I thought it might be a good idea to be seen on screen as myself. But it was a brief conversation. There was no doubt in my mind that this unnamed guy with the pins in his head had a certain.je ne sais quoithat a mattress-delivery guy didn’t.

Bradley later said heregretted sharing this anecdote, because it made it sound as though he seriously considered playing the mover over Pinhead, or that, worse, he did not really want to play the now-iconic character.

Prior toHellraiser, there were two big-screen adaptations of Clive Barker's works: UnderworldandRawhead RexBarker wrote the scripts for both films but disliked the final results.

The writer decided he needed to direct the next adaptation to keep his vision. Barker stated.Barker stated:

I directed the first Hellraiser movie in 1986 to protect myself from truly awful adaptations of my short stories, for example, Rawhead Rex.I directed the first Hellraiser movie back in 1986 to protect myself from truly appalling adaptations of my short stories for example, Rawhead Rex.I directed the first Hellraiser movie back in 1986 in order to protect myself from truly appalling adaptations of my short stories for example, Rawhead Rex.Rawhead Rex, which is one of my favorite tales from the Books of Blood.which is one of my favorite tales from the Books of Blood.reduced to a mockery of a picture back in 1985. I decided to direct pictures to protect myself from BS like that.

Barker wanted to call the filmThe Hellbound Heart, after the title of the novella on which Hellraiser is based.HellraiserHowever, the studio backing the film, New World Pictures, thoughtThe Hellbound Heartsounded like a title for a romance novel.Hellraiserwas pitched as a possibility, though the studio still were not keen on it.they still weren't wild about it.

Barker remained open to ideas. A crewmember offered the most sordid title. Barker explained:

An English lady working on set suggested the title be 'What A Woman Will Do For A Good F*ck.'

Barker offered the title.The title was 'Sadomasochists From Beyond The Grave'.Barker used this phrase in an interview.He used the phrase in an interview to describe the Cenobites.The Cenobites' leather gear and body changes show clear inspiration from bondage.

Clive Barker affirmed in an interview that the Cenobites' leather attire and body modifications draw from the world of bondage.He affirmed this in an interview with The Guardian.He affirmed this with The Guardian.The Guardian.Pinhead got inspiration from a New York S&M club Barker attended.

The Cenobites' look, like the pins in their leader’s head, came from S&M clubs. Barker felt emotionally inspired by them too. On S&M’s scale, he places himself around a 6. An underground New York club named Cellblock 28 hosted a very hard S&M night. He saw people pierced for fun there for the first time. The harsh atmosphere informed Pinhead: "No tears, please. It’s a waste of good suffering!"

He got a good reaction from the S&M crowd and still does. He was validating a lifestyle. It celebrated the beauty of these strange secret rituals.

Tiffany, perhaps best known to horror fans, was the psycho female doll counterpart.She was the psycho female doll counterpart to Chucky in Bride Of Chucky.Jennifer Tilly played her in Bride Of Chucky.Bride Of Chucky.Jennifer Tilly read for the part and its sequels.Jennifer Tilly read for the part of Kirsty Cotton, the "final girl" of Hellraiser.Kirsty Cotton is the "final girl" of Hellraiser.Jennifer Tilly auditioned for the role of Kirsty in Hellraiser.Jennifer Tilly auditioned for the role of Kirsty in Hellraiser.

Ashley Laurence finally won the role.

The writer/director said the studio initially lacked interest in his film. This shifted midway through filming.

Robin Vidgeon, Barker's director of photography, told him studio reps liked the film so far and wanted control. Barker and Vidgeon created a gory solution to stop them from interfering with his vision.Barker and Vidgeon came up with an appropriately gory solution.Barker found a messy solution when executives tried to meddle with the production.

Barker explained:

Three reps arrived wearing new Burberry coats. Robin and I shifted the schedule for something very bloody. One of them might have gotten their Burberry stained, and they left after fifteen minutes. I ignored them until later.

At the end of Hellraiser,Andrew Robinson ad-libbed his most famous line in Hellraiser.The evil Frank took his brother's identity by wearing his skin. The Cenobites found out. He died for the second time in the story, but first uttered his famous line: "Jesus wept."

This wasnot the line.Clive Barker did not write the line originally. Actor Andrew Robinson wrote the new dialogue himself. Barker confirmed.Andrew Robinson wrote the new dialogue himself. Barker confirms.Robinson had many suggestions for his character and created the line, "Enough of this cat and mouse sh*t."

Peter Christopherson and John Balance formed Coil, a provocative industrial band active in the mid-1980s. Barker contacted the band to provide the soundtrack for Hellraiser.Coil, comprised of musicians Peter Christopherson and John Balance, was a provocative industrial outfit active in the mid-1980s. Barker approached the band to provide the soundtrack for Hellraiser.. They agreed and gave the new director a few piercing magazines.They agreed and gave the new director a few piercing magazines.The magazines aided his Cenobite research.

Barker later called Coil's score "bowel-churning."They took it as a compliment.New World Pictures had other plans. The studio rejected the music, not for being disturbing, but because it lacked commercial appeal. They hired Christopher Young to compose a traditional string score.

Balancelater statedHe and Christopherson pulled out of the deal themselves, "about 10 minutes before [the backers] said we were going to pull out, anyway." He added:

They would have made something brilliant, but they would not have continued. They changed everything and treated the actual film people poorly. They kept us uninformed a lot. We said we had enough... They just wanted normal film music. They did not want anything too scary, which is sad and ridiculous for a horror film.

Coil eventually released their unused soundtrack material. This drew a cult following. BalancenotedFans often ask Barker for soundtrack copies, more so than for the novella the movie is based on.

HellraiserThe film features many scenes of graphic gore. But when the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) asked for cuts, they cared less about the blood and guts than about the flashback love scene between Frank (Sean Chapman) and Julia (Clare Higgins).

Barkerexplains:

Instead of the scene now, we shot another. It was much more explicit and fleshy, but it showed illegal activities in several states around America! I thought it worked well. New World raised no objections, but we had to re-shoot the material.

Barkeralso statedthe MPAA actually pushed for more violence in the scene instead:

I shot a hotter flashback sequence than they let us cut in.... Mine was more explicit and less violent. They wanted to swap one kind of undertow for another. I had a much more explicit... encounter between Frank and Julia, but they said no.

New World Pictures apparently feltHellraiserwouldwork betterin US markets if the setting shifted to an unnamed American city, instead of Britain, where Barker and his team shot the film. This also meantdub overseveral actors' lines to hide their British accents.

Barker regretted this because he felt the story was "so English."

The name "Pinhead" does not appear in Barker's original novella or script, and hedoes not likethe sobriquet:

That character is a priest of Hell... My original script did not even name the Cenobite. Pinhead was the name the special effects guy used. I thought, 'Wait, you named my villain Pinhead?' because I did not think it sounded dignified. But it appeared on the call sheet, and it stuck.

Pinhead is now one of the most known horror characters. Barker, however,was not confidentin his design during filming:

When Doug walked on stage, I thought, "Oh, my god, that's a revelation." I did not. I thought, "This is a screw-up. People will laugh!"

Doug Bradley had concerns.He had similar reservations.:

My memories of filming my first scene involve all that sense of power and majesty I built in my head crumbling to dust.

I spent six hours in the make-up chair. Latex covered my head. I wore a full-length skirt. Contacts were wrong for my prescription. I could not see my starting mark. I kept tripping over my skirt. They used clothes pegs to hold it up.

If you told me then that in thirty years I'd be talking to newspapers about this performance, I would have thought you were staring mad.

Clive Barker needed to suggest an affair between a living woman and a skinless, resurrected man. He wanted to show audiencesHe wanted the full extent of Frank and Julia's relationship.Barker wanted more explicit relations with post-resurrection Frank and Julia.

Barker said, "A key moment in the script never made it into the film," where characters engage in post-resurrection sex. The writer/director explained Julia's reason:

She had done all those murders. I felt it was vital they should consummate their perverse affair. New World in LA said they did not see why. I told them, "They might be villains, but we must give them a moment, we must give them their moment of epiphany."