Hellraiser
Now this is rare – I actually remembering being truly terrified by this movie, like, you know, that early childish “My First Horror Movie” fear that kinda almost thinks Pinhead is real fear? And the weird thing is – it’s kind of still there. I couldn’t help turning the lights down completely midway because I got so into the feeling and I wanted to see how far I could still go into it, and the answer is … far. This is a movie, like The Exorcist, that genuinely feels like it has evil in it. It’s something in the way the worlds and layers are conveyed, not to mention Doug Bradley’s bone-chilling performance as Pinhead – who, let’s face it, does very little but stand, stare, and threaten – makes me still utter “shit!” each time another wall opens and my stomach drops through my feet.
I was originally planning to only half-watch this installment by way of a set-up to the sequels, most of which I haven’t seen, over the next few days; but it’s so long since I last watched it – not to mention the thing it does similar to the Friday the 13th series, one always forgets how relatively minor a role the legendary villain plays in the first installment – this in itself felt like a first time viewing. In parts it’s as clunky as its evidently low budget … but the underlying concepts and ideas more than compensate. That it can still scare me so after 20 years really says it all.