About

Hellraiser is a horror film franchise created by Clive Barker. The films center around a set of extradimensional beings known as the Cenobites, seemingly demonic creatures who are summoned by various characters throughout the series by opening a puzzle box known as the Lament Configuration. The Cenobites torture characters who open the box in pursuit of the ultimate conflation of pain and pleasure. Though the films are agreed to have waned in quality since the franchise debuted in 1987, the Cenobites, and particularly their leader colloquially known as Pinhead, have remained a staple of popular culture online.

History

Hellraiser, an adaptation of Clive Barker's novella The Hellbound Heart, debuted on September 10th, 1987.^[1] The story centers around Frank Cotton, a criminal and sex addict who once had an affair with the wife of his brother Larry, Julia. Frank opened the Lament Configuration to seek the Cenobites' ability to produce the ultimate pain and pleasure and was torn to pieces by the Cenobites. However, blood brings Frank back to life, and the film finds Julia murdering men to revive him and continue their affair while Larry's daughter Kirsty discovers the secret of the Lament Configuration.

Over the next twenty-one years, nine more Hellraiser films were released, though most agree they significantly dipped in quality after the second installment, Hellbound.^[2] Many later installments went straight to video and were adapted from original scripts rejiggered to fit the Hellraiser franchise. However, throughout the franchise's troubled run, Doug Bradley's portrayal of the lead Cenobite, canonically known as The Hell Priest but colloquially known as Pinhead, remained a horror icon thanks to his deep voice and memorable lines. Bradley did not star in 2011's Hellraiser: Revelations or 2018's Hellraiser: Judgment.

In 2022, Hulu released a reboot of Hellraiser starring Jaime Clayton as Pinhead. Though the film received mixed reviews,^[3] critics largely agreed that it was one of the strongest films in the franchise in years.

Online Presence

Hellraiser, particularly Pinhead and other Cenobites, have remained a popular subject of memes, fan art and cosplay online. Older examples of Hellraiser online content include Lady Gaga memes and My Little Pony fan art (examples shown below).

Examples of more recent Hellraiser memes include a May 7th, 2022 tweet by @WeirdBongs^[4] using the "I Meet Someone" template (shown below, left) and a September 21st post referencing the Little Mermaid Remake Controversy by Redditor stickermaps in /r/memes^[5] that gained over 3,000 points in one month (shown below, right).

Hellraiser has a devoted subreddit with over 6,700 subscribers^[6] as well as its own Wiki page.^[1]

Search Interest

External References