[34], Barker drew inspiration for the cenobite designs from punk fashion, Catholicism and by visits he made to S&M clubs in New York and Amsterdam. Clive Barker did not care for the nickname, believing it did not suit the dignity of the villain. Pinhead regains his human memories, regaining his humanity. In addition to prior knowledge, Taylor used Hellraiser comic books as preparation for the film. In Hellraiser: Inferno, another being called the Engineer appears, a faceless and near-mythic criminal played by Ray Miceli. Kirsty also has a boyfriend named Steve in the movie. Downstairs, Kirsty sees Julia's disembodied head calling for help. The character first appeared as an unnamed figure in the 1986 Clive Barker novella The Hellbound Heart. They help him in his quest to become a better artist by showing him the pleasures of deception. [41] Upon asking Barker how he should play Pinhead, Barker told him to "[think] of him as a cross between an administrator and a surgeon who's responsible for running a hospital where there are no wards, only operating theaters. It was only recently announced that Hulu would be creating a series based on the mythology. In Hellraiser (1987), directed and written by Clive Barker, Frank Cotton escapes from the Cenobites, slowly rebuilding his body from the flesh and blood of victims. Kirsty then baits Frank into admitting his true name out loud. The film Hellbound: Hellraiser II showed that restoring a Cenobite's memories of their previous human existence can spiritually weaken them, restoring their humanity and making them vulnerable to attack. Why did Doug Bradley stop playing Pinhead? In keeping with this, Barker and Bradley decided early on that Pinhead had once been a human being before joining the Cenobites: A line from one of Clive's plays swam into my mind: 'I am in mourning for my humanity'. The Cenobites: In the book, four Cenobites appear to Frank, who has knowledge of them from his discussion with the man who sold him the puzzle box. A Cenobite from the novella, described as having his head decorated by a gridwork pattern and jeweled pins, was depicted in the movie as having a similar appearance involving iron nails and operating as the apparent leader of his order of demons. Table of Contents show How is Pinhead described in The Hellbound Heart? The book runs about 164 pages or, in its audio version, three hours long. That blood is absorbed by Frank, wherever he is in the universe, and starts to reanimate his body. And Frank's reward for opening the box is an eternity of pain beyond imagining. Bloodline was beset by numerous problems during production, leading the film's director to request his name be removed and credit given to Alan Smithee. With Clare Higgins, Ashley Laurence, Kenneth Cranham, Imogen Boorman. This was done in celebration of the 30th Anniversary of Hellraiser. All of Hell is then destroyed by an unseen force, including the Hell Priest's remains. Elliott Spencer once again becomes the Hell Priest, but now with greater power and authority. In her latest novel, about three women out for revenge, the best-selling author of 'The Girl on the Train' explores how our actions, justified or not, shape who we are. Doug Bradley was approached to reprise his role of Pinhead, but became hesitant when told that there would be no second draft of the script, which he believed was neither good nor bad, just not finished. Bradley ultimately declined after being told that his salary from previous films would be, in his words, cut down, Pinhead (Hellraiser) Graphite pencil Drawing | by Nikolas Blake, Hellraiser Inferno Lament Box Prop Replica 4K Review. It starred Alice Lowe as Kirsty, Neve McIntosh as Julia, and Tom Meeten as both Frank and Rory. The name was then used in press materials, tie-in media, and on-screen in some of the film's sequels, although Barker himself despises the moniker.[9]. Of the four we know about, he is the leader, but the Cenobites have been around for centuries. It's one of the reasons why Hannibal Lecter is scary, isn't it? However, in Hellbound: Hellraiser II, Pinhead stops the Cenobites from targeting teenage girl Tiffany, who opened the box not out of curiosity or desire but because she had been manipulated to do so by Dr. Channard and Julia Cotton, both of whom wished to avoid the immediate consequences of accessing the Cenobites' realm. Kirsty's hospital stay: In both the book and the film, Kirsty is brought to a hospital after she is found wandering the streets with the puzzle box. Summerskill then uses the Lament Configuration to banish the restored Cenobite back to Hell.[21]. The ending: In the book, Kirsty is allowed to escape the house after the Cenobites capture Frank, where she encounters the man who gives her the box. She starts killing for him to revitalize his body so he can escape the demonic beings that are pursuing him after he escaped their sadistic underworld. The Pinhead name was used in press materials for the films and the various films to follow, as well as tie-in comic books published by Marvel Comics, including a crossover comic with Marshal Law, and a mini-series entitled Pinhead. It agrees that if Kirsty leads them to Frank and he confirms his identity, they will take him back and perhaps leave her alone. Jamie Clayton plays Pinhead in the new movie, and some uncourageous explorers of the outer limits of experience are crying foul. He explains everything to Julia about his condition and his escape. Pinhead, like all of the Cenobites, is genderless, though described as having a feminine voice. Near the novel's climax he dons Lucifer's armor and is powerful enough to destroy entire armies with his chains, only Lucifer was powerful enough to stop him. What short story is Hellraiser based on? The later films in the franchise were all direct release to home video or video on demand. It is revealed that Pinhead originated as Elliott Spencer, a captain in the British Expeditionary Force suffering from PTSD and survivor guilt. [20], In Hellbound: Hellraiser II (1988), Clive Barker worked on the film's plot and acted as executive producer but did not direct or write. [3] Separating humanity from the Cenobite has freed Pinhead from Hell. His preferred method of attack is to summon hooks and chains that mutilate victims, often tearing them apart. Pinhead is the main character and villain of the Hellraiser Franchise. Years later, during the scripting of Hellraiser, the same design was applied to Pinhead's face to give the same effect. They show Kirsty a skinless corpse upstairs, which they claim is Frank. These comics followed the canon of the first three films, taking place sometime after the events of the third. Kirsty finds herself entrusted with the puzzle box and says she does not want it, but the voices of the Cenobites tell her she has no choice and now belongs to the box. The protagonist Kirsty also wonders if other puzzle boxes might open doorways to Heavenly dimensions. The 2022 film reboot serves as another (and Truer to the Text) adaptation of the novella. Barker drew influence from classical cinematic depictions of Count Dracula, in particular as portrayed by Christopher Lee. I decided to amp up the dirtiness of Pinhead's visage, make it more self-inflicted, bloodier and more brutal". In the films, the character is first referred to as "Pinhead" onscreen in Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth, a nickname proposed by glib protagonist Joey Summerskill. Cyclical storytelling: Last but not least, Hellraiser raises the possibility that these events have happened beforesomething not even hinted at in The Hellbound Heart. The Lament Configuration or LeMarchand Configuration is one of the most notorious puzzle boxes in the world. Later, Kirsty arranges for Spencer's memories to be restored. Due to an accident, several drops of Rory's blood land on the spot where Frank had ejaculated prior to being snatched into the Cenobites' realm. In comics published by Marvel during the 1990s, Barker plotted and oversaw many stories that followed the canon of the Hellraiser movies, starting with the comic series Hellraiser, and later including the spin-off titles Pinhead and The Harrowers. The Hell Priest dons Lucifer's armor, increasing his own power but inadvertently resurrecting the Devil in the process. Clive Barker did not work on the stories for the subsequent films. Angels to others". [25], In Hellraiser: Hellworld (2005), Pinhead and the Cenobites are horror film characters and have become the basis for a successful MMORPG called Hellworld. Fun fact: In the book Hellraiser was based on, "The Hellbound Heart", Pinhead was a woman. [40] When he read the script for the first time, Bradley stated on interview that he saw Pinhead as a cross between Oscar Wilde and Nol Coward. [33], Described by Doug Bradley as stronger than Jason Voorhees and Michael Myers,[12] Pinhead is an extremely powerful being with supernatural abilities. [14] In that novel, published in 2015, the character was given the official title and rank of "the Hell Priest". Now, Hellraiser (2022) brings the Cenobites, led by a new Pinhead (Jamie Clayton), and their mysterious and malicious puzzle box (known as Lemarchand's Box), to our present day. Finding Pinhead's mannerisms and demeanor to be unique among horror icons, Taylor tried to capture that in his performance: "It's about the stillness. Barker insisted Pinhead's personality to be more evocative of Christopher Lee's portrayal of Count Dracula: "Part of the chill of Dracula surely lies in the fact that he is very clearly and articulately aware of what he is doing you feel that this is a penetrating intelligence and I don't find dumb things terribly scary I find intelligence scary, particularly twisted intelligence. A year later, Elliott Spencer appears on Earth, human once again and no longer fully remembering his existence as a Cenobite. So I'm going to 'off' him, and I want the audience to say, 'Good'". He escapes the Cenobites and, with help, resorts to murder to restore himself to full life. While Rory is at work, Julia begins picking up men whom she lures into the attic and sacrifices them to Frank, whose body becomes more substantial and whose consciousness more stable with every sacrifice. Kirsty's friend and surrogate daughter Tiffany recruits Spencer into the Harrowers, humans who oppose the Cenobites and hunt down Lamarchand puzzles. [27][28] In the film, Pinhead is involved in the affair regarding Nico, Steven and Emma, each of them opening puzzle box. But after comparing the book (a novella consisting of 164 pages) to the movie, I thought . Still, Pinhead, the Cenobites, and the world of Hellraiser and The Hellbound Heart live on. Gary Tunnicliffe, who was responsible for the Pinhead makeup in the last four films, improvised a new design for Pinhead called Project Angel: Recreating an Icon, the photos of which he published in Fangoria. The Hellbound Heart. Jaded, Frank hears rumor of a mysterious puzzle box (the Lament Configuration) which opens the gateway to a realm of unfathomable carnal pleasures. Studios in 2011, which follow the canon of the first three films, Pinhead becomes disillusioned with his existence and is willing to destroy his fellow Cenobites and other demons of Hell if it means he can achieve his new goals of power. All three appear the first two Hellraiser films, and the BOOM! Solving the box, he is confused and horrified when the Cenobites horribly scarified creatures whose bodies have been modified to the point that they appear sexless and in constant pain arrive. Pinhead, Lead Cenobite, or the Hell Priest, is the main antagonist of the Hellraiser franchise, first appearing as an unnamed figure in the 1986 Clive Barker novella The Hellbound Heart. This character appeared in later Barker prose with the official names "the Hell Priest" and "the Cold Man". In the audio play's ending, there is no mention of the Engineer taking away Julia. Though initially reverent toward her, Pinhead is disillusioned when he sees she manipulates and recruits through seduction rather than pain and force.[22]. She wonders if there are other puzzles, that might find a way to where Rory resides by unlocking the doors to paradise instead of hell. Having the pins of the intersections of the crossroads made it have a surgical severity to it almost. He declares he wants to permanently return to his human form and seek spiritual salvation, then sends anonymous clues to Kirsty Cotton as to the locations of Earth's remaining Lemarchand puzzles. After all, they have such sights to show you! Nico kills Steven after the latter refuses to help him further and Steven contacts Cenobites to get revenge on him. While waiting, she solves the box and inadvertently summons a Cenobite. [18], Captain Elliot Spencer, Pinhead's human incarnation from the film franchise, has a cameo appearance in the novel The Bloody Red Baron by Kim Newman, in which he is working as an agent of the Diogenes Club. [12], After being disappointed with the way his material had been treated by the producers of the 1985 film Underworld, which Barker wrote (and which included a scene in which needles burst out of a character's skull), Barker penned the novella The Hellbound Heart (1986) as his first step in directing a film by himself, introducing the Cenobites whom he also referred to as "sadomasochists from Hell". Frank returns, his body now reduced to a desiccated corpse by the Cenobites' experiments. In Hellraiser: Revelations (2011), Pinhead is physically portrayed by Stephan Smith Collins and voiced by Fred Tatasciore. . He then agrees to let Emma go and takes Nico instead. Several times over the years, Clive has approached me on various HELLRAISER sets and commented that the makeup looked very 'clean' and that it had lost some of 'the decay, the filth'. When she opens the puzzle box, a huge corridor appears in the wall. He is spotted by Kirsty many times, including eating crickets in the pet store, and shows up at the end of the film, turns into a winged demon, and flies off with the puzzle box. Because the box is a doorway to another world, to Hell and its dubious pleasures, ruled over by the sadistic Cenobites. It chases her back to her room, where the bells start tolling and the Cenobites all appear. He escapes the Cenobites and, with help, resorts to murder to restore himself to full life. Studios comics, it is said that Pinhead retains the memories of Elliott Spencer following the events of Hell On Earth, leading him to feel less satisfied and certain of his power and purpose, now desiring more than his life as a Hell Priest in service to Leviathan. But she still has the puzzle box. Frank is taken to the Cenobite realm, a hellish dimension where he will be subjected to an eternity of torture.[4]. But when Frank manages to open it during the ceremony and the beings known as Cenobites appear, he discovers that his idea of pleasure and their idea of pleasure are worlds apart. Sadly though casting a woman as Pinhead has also led to the usual round of complaints from many about a traditionally male role being gender-flipped. Frank Cotton's insatiable appetite for the dark pleasures of pain led him to the puzzle of Lemarchand's box, and from there, to a death only a sick-minded soul. The story focuses on a mystical Puzzle Box (Lemarchand Configuration) and the horror it wreaks on a family which is unfortunate enough to come across it. In addition, those films are chronologically set between the third and a fourth film. A person's identity can be really exciting for a role in many ways, but I have to emphasize that Jamie absolutely killed, that's how we got there".[29]. Clive Barker's The Hellbound Heart COMPLETE AUDIOBOOK The Hellbound Heart is a horror novella by Clive Barker, first published in November 1986 by Dark Harve. The Cenobites wait until Frank reveals his true identity, then snare him with their hooks and tear him apart. She does not wonder about the existence of puzzle boxes that can lead to Heavens as well as Hells. And like the Cenobites in the book, they have no way of keeping track of the souls that escape them, so they are delighted when Kirsty says she can deliver Frank. After Amy is captured by the group's leader, Winter, she learns he is a descendant of puzzle creator Phillip Lemarchand, and believes that it is his birthright to control the box and, thereby, the Cenobites. The Hellbound Heart is the novella which Barker adapted into the successful 1987 movie Hellraiser, which he also directed.