“Hellraiser” is a movie directed by Clive Barker, who wrote the book that this is based on. It is sadly another gory horror film but this one utilises special effects to at least do something creative with its violence and monsters. This makes it a few steps above the likes of “A Nightmare On Elm Street” and the dozen or so “Halloween” sequels.

In “Hellraiser”, a man travels to Hell via a mysterious puzzle box where he is brutally tortured but somehow his body escapes. His brother (Andrew Robinson “Dirty Harry”) moves into the house where this happened with his wife Julia (Clare Higgins). The original man, named Frank, had an affair with Julia. After blood touches Frank, he is partially resurrected and now needs Julia to kill some people so his flesh can return.

The main characters are really boring and the survivors at the end of the film just accept all the horribleness that has just occurred with their blank faces. The only interesting ones are the monsters known as the ‘Cenobites’, who are a bunch of masochist demons. They include a man with pins sticking out of his head (Doug Bradley) and my favourite: a guy with no eyes but massive teeth. The effects for them are really good as are the effects for the partially revived Frank. I also like a strange scorpion-like creature that pops up.

“Hellraiser” is like I said, a massive leap over many bloody horror outings but it’s still not good. The first hour works the best as an actual film with Frank’s body being restored but I like the last half an hour more, which is a great showcase of the effects and intriguing violence. At the end of the day “Hellraiser” is just another gross horror film and despite the fact the monsters look interesting, I doubt they’ll be sticking in my mind for too long.