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| Image from the Hellraiser Wiki |
...and now we can talk about who has two thumbs and damns people to Hell in the most excruciating way possible?
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| Image from Comic Vine |
Hellraiser is a series of nine films by Clive Barker that combine the genres of horror and fantasy (see? It's still fantasy). Originally a novella called The Hellbound Heart, it became a series of nine movies called Hellraiser, with the main antagonist the above pictured Pinhead. Pinhead is a special kind of demon called a Cenobite, who, as you can tell from the leather and chains, has a serious BDSM vibe (emphasis on the "M"). He is summoned by the puzzle box pictured above, called the Lament Configuration, which hurls the user into a parallel dimension that combines the real world with his world.
Although pure evil, Pinhead (originally simply called "Lead Cenobite" in the credits of the first film) was once a human being. It may be this fact that sometimes allows the people he attacks to sometimes barter with him, as well as he occasionally showing a just side, and not merely adhering to a strict set of rules about who he does or does not damn to Hell.
His human side is seen the most in the first two films; like any horror genre, the series begins to lose what makes it different so that it can appear like your typical slasher fair. That said, the series does a great job of turning what could have been a Freddy Kruger clone and gone a whole different direction. The victims are not just random high schoolers; they are people who have allowed themselves to be deranged, who have grown bored of all the pleasures of life, becoming unfulfilled from even murdering others. The Lament Configuration calls to those who seek otherworldly pleasures, and unfortunately, they are obliged.
If you need a different kind of horror series to watch tonight, give Hellraiser a shot. Last time I checked, all nine movies are on Netflix streaming.
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