Hellraiser 1

One of my favorite horror movies and a classic ahead of it's time.Hellraiser is a very imaginitive and unique horror classic.It was made I believe in the late 80's and it delivers the goods;story wise,gore wise and the soundtrack is one of my favorites,done by Christopher young(Nightmare on elm street 2).Move over Stephen King,here comes Clive Barker.

wow.this movie is truly an experience.love it or hate,when it's over it
will probably stick with you for awhile.for me,i thought this movie was
brilliant.it had a great story to it,with great characters.i guess you
would call a it horror movie,but i would call it more of an experience.
there are some gory scenes in the movie,and there are some scenes that
are disturbing and even repulsive.but the gore and guts are done much
more tastefully here than in most 'horror' movies.and there is actually
a story that all of this fits into.i didn't find it gratuitous at
all.there are some things in the movie that could certainly be
offensive to some people.there is some religious themes that some
people would find less than positive.and there a lot themes and images
in this movie that i don't think had been explored much before,if at
all.in my mind,the main villain in this movie(though i don't think he's
really a villain in the usual sense) dubbed Pinhead(for obvious
reasons)is possibly the most iconic(or at least should be)character of
at least the last thirty years.that may sound like an exaggeration,but
the other big name screen villains don't hold a candle to this
character.there was just so much more thought gone that went into the
character.the others,not so much.anyway,if you are able to throw away
all any preconceived notions and see this film for what it is,i think
you will get something out of it.what that something will be is hard to
say,but it might be different for each person.this is all just my
opinion,but for me,i have to give this movie a perfect 5/5 for being a
true cinematic achievement.

Yes my friends here we are again with another cut version of a film on DVD.
How sad the state of the industry.As a consumer I really feel a big let down(i.e.cheated) with these people/companies who are just out to get their bucks and seem to have no remorse or moral sense of obligation to the people who buy their products.Let's look around for a moment.
We have two of tinseltowns' biggest names Lucas and Spielberg.Lucas up until recently refused to release the original theatrical versions of the original Star Wars trilogy.When he finally did(after years of fan "begging") they are in a terribly poor state of transfer,alongside his newer "vision" versions(in pristine condition,thank you very much!).Spielberg has outright refused to release the theatrical version of "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" on DVD ....period.It's gone though quite a few incantations on DVD.But the slipcases of the versions out there won't tell you this isn't the original version.Then we have the huge Star Trek franchise with its' first movie "Star Trek-the Motion Picture".It has not been made available on DVD in it's original theatrical form either.But AT LEAST they tell you up front the one they do have is a new "directors cut".
Then you have MGM that tells you one thing(on the slipcase,on the DVD,etc) but it's another when you buy and watch.Case in point:"The Frankie and Annette" collection(see my review)where the entire collection is supposedly widescreen and it isn't.Then you have a very minor company that re-releases a Laurel and Hardy classic"March of the Wooden Soldiers"(see my review)that is supposed to be one thing and upon close examination not up to the hype of its' creators.And on and on,ad nauseum.
Now we come to Hellraiser.A wonderful movie of its' genre....I would even daresay a classic in some respects.An original in thinking and execution.I liked this movie when I saw it in theaters upon release and watching it on VHS some time after;both were identical in footage.I recently picked this DVD version up and was astonished at how much had been cut out.
Now the print itself is in good shape and the sound has been reworked nicely but Freddy Krueger himself couldn't have done a better slash job than this.
The films impact and meaning has been greatly diminished by the elimination of alot of gory sequences and alot of the eroticisim.It's almost a made for TV release print.There are things you find that don't make alot of sense.For example you see Frank at one point sucking the life out of his sister in law on the stairs.She slumps down there and the action continues.Much later we see a short shot of her now on an upstairs bed(in worse shape than on the stairs)being held in place by the hook chains and holding the cube in her hands.? How did she get there,one wonders?
An example of the eroticism would be to look at the beginning of Hellraiser Two.It starts out with a flashback montage taking actuals clips from the first one.There is a short scene of Frank and the sister in law making out on the upstairs bed.....hmm,you might not recall having seen that in the first one and you would be right;that's because it wasn't in this versions' first one.
The list goes on and on but suffice to say Anchor bay isn't going to be releasing it in its' original form and uncut any time soon.Even the 20th anniversary edition coming out soon apparently has the same print and just a few more extras,that's all.
So my advice to you all is AVOID any print released by Anchor Bay now and in the future unless the slipcover explicitly tells you it is "complete and uncut".Because in this version,as B.B.King so eloquently put it,"the thrill has gone".