Clive Barker is an English writer, filmmaker and visual artist. He came to prominence in the mid-1980s with a series of short stories, the Books of Blood, which established him as a leading horror writer. He has since written many novels and other works. His fiction has been adapted into films, notably the Hellraiser series, the first installment of which he also wrote and directed, and the Candyman series.
Hellraiser is a 1987 British supernatural horror film written and directed by Clive Barker in his directorial debut, Based on Barker's 1986 novella The Hellbound Heart, the film’s plot concerns a mystical puzzle box that summons the Cenobites, a group of extra-dimensional, sadomasochistic beings who cannot differentiate between pain and pleasure. It stars Andrew Robinson, Clare Higgins, Ashley Laurence, and Doug Bradley as the leader of the Cenobites, identified in the sequels as "Pinhead".
The Hellbound Heart is a horror novella by Clive Barker, first published in November 1986 by Dark Harvest in the third volume of its Night Visions anthology series. The story features a hedonist criminal acquiring a mystical puzzle box, the LeMarchand Configuration, which can be used to summon the Cenobites, demonic beings who do not distinguish between pain and pleasure. He escapes the Cenobites and, with help, resorts to murder to restore himself to full life. Later on, the puzzle box is found by another.
Douglas William Bradley is an English actor and author, best known for his role as the lead Cenobite "Pinhead" in the Hellraiser film series and for narration on various Cradle of Filth albums.
The Cenobites are fictional, extra-dimensional, and seemingly demonic beings who appear in the works of Clive Barker. Introduced in Barker's 1986 novella The Hellbound Heart, they also appear in its sequel novel The Scarlet Gospels, the Hellraiser films, and in Hellraiser comic books published (intermittently) between 1987 and 2017. In the 1987 novel Weaveworld, they are mentioned in passing as "The Surgeons". The Cenobites appear in prose stories authorized but not written by Clive Barker, such as the anthology Hellbound Hearts edited by Paul Kane and Marie O'Regan, the novella Hellraiser: The Toll, and the novel Sherlock Holmes and the Servants of Hell written by Paul Kane.
Nightbreed is a 1990 American dark fantasy horror film written and directed by Clive Barker, based on his 1988 novella Cabal. It stars Craig Sheffer, Anne Bobby, David Cronenberg, Charles Haid, Hugh Quarshie, and Doug Bradley. The film follows an unstable mental patient named Aaron Boone who is falsely led to believe by his doctor that he is a serial killer. Tracked down by the police, his doctor, and his girlfriend Lori, Boone eventually finds refuge in an abandoned cemetery called Midian among a tribe of monsters and outcasts known as the "Nightbreed" who hide from humanity.
Pinhead is a fictional character and the main antagonist of the Hellraiser franchise. The character first appeared as an unnamed figure in the 1986 Clive Barker novella The Hellbound Heart. When Clive Barker adapted the novella into the 1987 film Hellraiser, he referred to the character in early drafts as "the Priest" but the final film gave no name. The production and make-up crew nicknamed the character "Pinhead"—derived from his bald head studded with nails—and fans accepted the sobriquet. 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.
Kenneth Cranham is a Scottish film, television, radio and stage actor. His most notable screen roles were in Oliver! (1968), Up Pompeii (1971), Hellbound: Hellraiser II (1988), Chocolat (1988), Layer Cake (2004), Gangster No. 1 (2000), Hot Fuzz (2007), Maleficent (2014) and Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool (2017).
Hellbound: Hellraiser II is a 1988 supernatural horror film directed by Tony Randel and starring Clare Higgins, Ashley Laurence, Kenneth Cranham and Doug Bradley. It is the second film in the Hellraiser franchise, and draws heavily upon its precursor, Hellraiser, which was released a year before with much of the same cast and crew. Laurence reprises her role as Kirsty Cotton, who is admitted into a psychiatric hospital after the events of the first film. There, the head doctor (Cranham) unleashes the Cenobites, a group of sadomasochistic beings from another dimension.
Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth is a 1992 American supernatural horror film and the third installment in the Hellraiser film series. It was directed by Anthony Hickox and stars Terry Farrell, Paula Marshall, Kevin Bernhardt, and Doug Bradley. Ashley Laurence, who starred in the previous two films, reprises her role as Kirsty Cotton in a cameo appearance.
Hellraiser: Deader is a 2005 American supernatural horror film and the seventh installment in the Hellraiser series. Directed by Rick Bota, the original script was written by Neal Marshall Stevens. As with Hellraiser: Hellseeker it began as an unrelated spec script, which was subsequently rewritten as a Hellraiser film. Like Inferno, series creator Clive Barker did not have an involvement in the production. The film stars Kari Wuhrer, Paul Rhys, Simon Kunz, and Doug Bradley.
Hellraiser: Hellworld is a 2005 supernatural horror film directed by Rick Bota. It is the eighth installment in Hellraiser series. The Hellworld script is based on a short story called "Dark Can't Breathe" by Joel Soisson and was originally not planned as a Hellraiser film – it was reworked into that format. Hellraiser: Hellworld was released straight to DVD in the United States on September 6, 2005, after a handful of minor film festival and private screenings.
Hellraiser is a British-American horror media franchise that consists of eleven films, as well as various comic books, and additional merchandise and media. Based on the novella The Hellbound Heart by English author Clive Barker, the franchise centers around the Cenobites which includes the primary antagonist named Pinhead.
Kirsty is a fictional character from the Hellraiser media franchise. Created by writer Clive Barker, Kirsty first appears in the 1986 novella The Hellbound Heart. Her full name is identified in the sequels as Kirsty Singer, before being adapted in the 1987 film adaptation Hellraiser as Kirsty Cotton. The character served as a major focus in the original film and its sequel Hellbound: Hellraiser II, later playing a supporting role in Hellraiser VI: Hellseeker. In all of her appearances in the film series, she was portrayed by actress Ashley Laurence. The film describes her as being Larry Cotton's daughter, while in the novel she is simply a friend of his.
Nicholas Vince is an actor, writer, and film maker who was born in West Germany and lives in South London. He trained at Mountview Theatre Academy, and shortly after graduating he met Clive Barker, modeling for him and later being cast as The Chatterer Cenobite in Hellraiser in 1987 and in its sequel Hellbound: Hellraiser II in 1988. He subsequently played Kinski in Barker's 1990 film Nightbreed. Since 2016 he's been Patron of the London Horror Festival, the UK's original and largest festival of live horror performance. In 2016 he was awarded the "London Horror Society Award for Outstanding Contribution to UK Independent Horror" and in 2018 a "Lifetime of Torment Award" at Texas Frightmare.
Bradley Lavelle was a British-based Canadian actor.
Hellraiser: Judgment is a 2018 American horror film written and directed by Gary J. Tunnicliffe, based on the characters created by Clive Barker. The tenth installment in the Hellraiser film series, the film stars Damon Carney, Randy Wayne, Alexandra Harris, Heather Langenkamp, and Paul T. Taylor, and centers on three police detectives who, investigating a series of murders, are confronted by the denizens of hell. The film expands the fictional universe by introducing a new faction of hell: the Stygian Inquisition. While the Cenobites offer sadomasochistic pleasures to humans that enter their dominion, the Inquisition processes the souls of sinners. Tunnicliffe plays the Inquisition's auditor, a prominent role in the film.
Chatterer is a fictional character appearing in the Hellraiser film series. He is a Cenobite, an order of extradimensional sadomasochists who experiment in extreme forms of hedonism. His name comes from the constant clicking of his teeth, his only means of communication. He serves the Cenobites' leader Pinhead. Chatterer has become a fan favourite character in the Hellraiser franchise.
Hellraiser is a 2022 supernatural horror film directed by David Bruckner, with a screenplay by Ben Collins and Luke Piotrowski, from a screen story co-written with David S. Goyer. A reboot of the Hellraiser franchise, the eleventh installment overall, and the second adaptation of the 1986 novella The Hellbound Heart by Clive Barker following the 1987 film, the film stars Odessa A'zion as a young woman recovering from addiction who ends up with a mechanical puzzle box that can summon the Cenobites, humanoid beings who thrive on pain being pleasure. Jamie Clayton, Adam Faison, Drew Starkey, Brandon Flynn, Aoife Hinds, Jason Liles, Yinka Olorunnife, Selina Lo, Zachary Hing, Kit Clarke, Goran Višnjić, and Hiam Abbass appear in supporting roles.
