Comic Review

Title: Hellraiser #1 (of 8)

Written By Clive Barker and Christopher Monfette; Art By Leonardo Manco

Publisher: BOOM! Studios

Release Date: March 23^rd, 2011

24 Pages plus Bonus Material; Three Covers

Reviewed By Adam A. Donaldson

There are a total of nine movies in the Hellraiser film series, and since the first film debuted over 20 years ago, they’ve been steadily dwindling in quality. It’s gotten so bad that the latest film, which is scheduled to be released direct-to-video later this year, will be without its signature star: Doug Bradley. Bradley has played lead villain, the Cenobite Pinhead, ever since the very first film, but apparently the script for this new film is so messed up that Bradley would have no part of it. He’s made a mint off Hellraiser, and even he’s saying enough’s enough.

The shame of it is that the first movie is still terribly effective at giving the average viewer the creeps. The difference being that horror master Clive Barker was the one that adapted his short story, “The Hellbound Heart,” for the first Hellraiser film. Perhaps it’s with Barker’s presence on the franchise again that the equilibrium can be restored, but opening the pages of the first issue of Hellraiser from BOOM! Studios, there was cause to be concerned.

To me, the problem with many of the Hellraiser films is their over-reliance on the demonic Cenobites, bizarre creatures in BDSM leather that bring humans to their realm (AKA: Hell) to explore the extremes of pleasure and pain. If you watch the original Hellraiser, which was also directed by Barker, the Cenobites are used sparingly as more or less bookends for the story. In latter films, the story became all about the Cenobites, exploring their origins, their ethics, and their tenuous grasp on whatever’s left of their humanity.

What drew me to this new Hellraiser comic was the fact that Barker was its co-writer, and what made me hesitant about it was the fact that so much of the first issue was dedicated once again to the Cenobites. The angle this time is that Pinhead in particular finds himself subject to ennui. Nothing interests him anymore, there are no more surprises. In the Cenobite realm he retreats to a secret chamber and communes with the spirits of the damned through some kind of pipe organ. Pinhead asks to be allowed to return to the Earth as a human and seek redemption, but if he fails in the quest he returns to Hell forever damned.

At this point, things started getting interesting for me. The notion of a tortured Pinhead seeking salvation by becoming human again is intriguing, and shows that Barker and his co-writer Christopher Monfette are trying to develop a new type of Hellraiser story beyond some malcontent opening the cursed Lament Configuration and letting the demons loose.

The other cool move by Barker and Monfette is making Kristy Cotton a main character in this story. The heroine from the original film, and two subsequent sequels, appears to be still haunted by her repeated run-ins with Pinhead and the gang. Now living as an isolated artist, it seems that the Cenobites are still on her thoughts as judged by some of her paintings. I appreciated that Barker tipped his hat to film series continuity when he really didn’t have to do that. Kristy references her ill-fated marriage to Trevor Gooden from Hellraiser: Hellseeker and has a memento from her time at the Channard Institute with Tiffany in Hellbound: Hellraiser II.

The book lays out some intriguing elements: Pinhead’s search for self-improvement, Kristy’s continued haunting, and a mysterious “she” that’s going out of her way to destroy the Cenobites’ portholes to Earth and a potential “consequence” if all the “Apocrypha” are destroyed. In the end, Pinhead’s servant Samuel delivers a message to Kristy’s mailbox. Was he acting on Pinhead’s behalf? What does Pinhead want with Kristy? Is she the one pursuing a not-so secret war against the Cenobites?

Surprisingly, the book left me intrigued and almost compelled enough to read the second issue. This is going to be an eight-issue limited series, so it might not be that big of a commitment, and I’m perfectly willing to give the next book another read before making further judgments. Clearly, Barker knows what it is he wants to say, and he’s found an excellent collaborator in Leonardo Manco whose gritty style compliments Barker’s dark and complex world beautifully.

Hellraiser is a must read for slasher fans, and is probably the closest thing that the franchise will get to a satisfying facelift outside of a Barker approved remake of the film.

Written by :

Adam