Hellraiser

Lumivision has released two editions of Hellraiser, one a boxed Deluxe Collector’s Edition containing the movie plus extensive supplemental material, the other a movie-only widescreen edition. The company has issued only 5,000 copies, 2,500 autographed by Clive Barker identified by the catalog number LVD9536. The other 2,500 issues are identified by the catalog number LVD9546. Every disc is individually numbered from 1 to 2,500. The Deluxe Collector’s Edition is packaged in an attractive bold black box and features a gatefold jacket for the CLV and CAV discs and a softbound reproduction of Clive Barker’s complete screenplay along with sketches by Barker, done in 1986. The second side of the CLV feature contains an interesting collection of domestic and international trailers, and TV spot trailers. The single-side CAV disc contains a featurette which includes interviews with writer/director Barker and the actors. There are also scenes from the original and other storyboard designs, a complete early draft of the screenplay including scenes never filmed, and an extensive still frame archive of behind-the-scenes, special effects, make-up and promotional photos and artwork. Barker’s running commentary appears on one of the analog tracks.

Hellraiser is a horror lover’s “hideous treat.” By using a mysterious Chinese puzzle box called the Lament Configuration, Frank Cotton’s curiosity raises the hellish and infamous Pinhead (Bradley) and his Cenobites—servants of the Lament Configuration. Frank escapes the Cenobites by feasting on bloodshed in the house that his brother Larry (Robinson) and his wife Julia (Higgins) moved in to. But when Kirsty (Laurence), Frank’s niece, gets possession of the box, she leads the Cenobites to their escaped prisoner, before they decide to take her instead.