"We’ll tear your soul apart" promised Pinhead in 1987 with the release of
ground-breaking horror
Hellraiser… and with audiences demanding to see more of his terrifying visage and
his posse of equally hellish Cenobite pals, Pinhead and co. have continued
to feast on the souls of dedicated horror fans for over three decades!
With the release of two new instalments in the Hellraiser legend,
Hellraiser: Judgement and
Hellraiser: Revelations, we’re now being treated to a double dose of horror from this timeless
franchise, digging ever deeper into its dark mythology. Pinhead may have
risen to the status of horror royalty, up there with Freddy, Jason and
Michael Myers, but he isn’t the only horror villain to have found an
audience with a never-ending appetite for his unholy deeds. Many
franchises have emerged over the years which have continued to make their
mark years later.
To celebrate the release of Hellraiser: Judgment and
Hellraiser: Revelations on Digital Download February 22nd
and Blu-ray March 1st, we’ve taken a look back at some of our favourite
horror creations that have continued to inspire terror since their
inception!
Phantasm (1979 - Present)
A bizarre mix of surreal dream logic and classic gothic horror,
Don Coscarelli’s Phantasm seems an odd starting point
for a franchise, yet the film’s unique weirdness struck a chord with fans
leading to cult status and a string of sequels.
Shot on a shoestring budget, Phantasm introduced the world
to The Tall Man, played by enduring fan favourite Angus Scrimm, a
towering undertaker who stalks a small town, murdering its inhabitants and
transforming them into mutant monsters. When young Mike becomes aware of
the evil in their midst he convinces his brother Jody and local ice-cream
man Reggie to stand up to The Tall Man and his terrifying flying
mechanical death spheres!
All the main characters would return for the sequel, a grander affair with
Universal Studios funding as they looked to cash in on the '80s hunger for
horror hits. While the partnership with Universal didn’t last, a franchise
was born and Coscarelli was able to continue the story, picking up each
film immediately where the last one ended. Three further sequels have
followed, with the last, Phantasm: Ravager, released the same year as the sad passing of series mainstay Scrimm.
Will The Tall Man return? We wouldn’t put it past him…
Hellraiser (1987 - Present)
British master of horror Clive Barker had such sights to show us in
Hellraiser, one of the '80s' most twisted horror films. Based on his novella 'The
Hellbound Heart', Hellraiser was Barker’s first foray into
directing. The series’ main monster is Pinhead, aka the ‘Hell Priest’,
leader of the Cenobites, a breed of demented monsters who dwell in the
darkest regions of Hell and lure sinful humans with the now iconic lament
configuration puzzle boxes.
What started in the first film as a contained but kinky horror film about
murder, S&M sex and doomed souls escaping from Hell slowly morphed
into a dense, gothic mythology as the series progressed with more
monsters, more Cenobites and more Pinhead!
Never afraid to try something new, the series has constantly evolved and
added more layers to Hellraiser lore and the latest twisted instalment
Hellraiser: Judgment is no exception, with its weaving
together of a classic crime and punishment tale with evil new characters
and shocking revelations about the afterlife. In the words of Pinhead, it
‘will tear your soul apart!’.
Child's Play (1988 - Present)
Back in 1988 producer David Kirschner was on the lookout for a
killer doll project, and Don Mancini had just what he was looking
for… Inspired by the rampant consumerism of the '80s and toy lines such as
Cabbage Patch Kids and My Buddy (a doll aimed at boys) everyone’s
favourite psychotic children’s toy Chucky was born!
Brad Dourif starred in the original as deranged serial killer
Charles Lee Ray, who finds himself mortally wounded inside a toy store
after a high-speed police chase. Performing a voodoo ritual, he
successfully transfers his soul into a nearby ‘Good Guy’ doll. When young
Andy Barclay receives the doll as a gift, naming his new best friend
Chucky, a killing spree begins!
An iconic horror favourite, Chucky has run rampant through multiple
sequels with the series' mix of classic slasher tropes and dark humour
proving an ever winning formula. The original film was followed by six
sequels, with Chucky getting a love interest when
Jennifer Tilly joined the series for 1998’s
Bride of Chucky, before getting
a full reboot in 2019
when Mark Hamill took over Chucky duties from Dourif. When will
Chucky rise next? A TV series is due this year with Mancini at the helm
and Dourif and Tilly both involved. We can’t wait!
Puppet Master (1989 - Present)
Created by Charles Band’s Full Moon Features production company,
the original Puppet Master introduced us to Blade and his
band of killer puppets, who have been brought to life thanks to a black
magic spell cast by puppet maker Andre Toulon. The original was set for
theatrical release by Paramount Pictures but ultimately skipped cinemas,
finding its life as a VHS release, making Puppet Master one
of the most successful direct-to-video series of all time.
Throughout the series the puppets themselves have been portrayed as the
good guys, the bad guys, and everything in between, but have always
retained their passion for gory, inventive kills, thanks to some fantastic
stop motion wizardry.
With no less than 11 films in the original series spread across a
sprawling timeline of prequels and sequels, Band’s demonic toys finished
their initial run of films in 2017 with
Puppet Master: Axis Termination. However, the murderous marionettes returned to screens yet again in
2019 for the outrageous reboot,
Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich, with cult movie legend Udo Kier taking up the mantle as Toulon.
With a sequel planned for future release, it seems you can’t keep a good
puppet down!
Tremors (1990 - Present)
Emerging at the beginning of the '90s, the horror-comedy
Tremors pitted Kevin Bacon against a pack of giant
ravenous subterranean worm monsters known as Graboids around the isolated
community of Perfection, Nevada.
Although an initial disappointment at the box office, the film was a hit
on home video and spawned a follow-up in 1996 with
Tremors 2: Aftershocks! It's been a sporadic series to say the least, with gaps of up to 10
years between some entries but with every return to Perfection audiences
have learnt more about the Graboids and their origins as they spread
further afield, wreaking more and more havoc across the USA!
As well as creating the iconic underground monsters, the series also gave
us a beloved character in survivalist gun nut Burt Gummer (played by
Michael Gross), who has returned in every sequel including the most
recent entry from 2020, Tremors: Shrieker Island. Always staying true to its classic formula of tongue-in-cheek comedy
mayhem, Tremors has proved to be an unshakeable addition to
the American monster movie canon.
Hellraiser: Judgement is on Digital Download,
Blu-ray
and DVD now from Lionsgate UK.
Hellraiser: Revelations is on Digital Download and Blu-ray
now from Lionsgate UK.