Pleasure and Pain: When Lust Goes Too Far in ‘Hellraiser’
“What’s your pleasure?”
Clive Barker’s 1987 classic Hellraiser begins and ends with this question. Pleasure is what the infamous puzzle box at the center of the franchise seemingly promises whoever seeks it out, though, like most horror movies, that pleasure comes with a price. Whoever solves the box finds themselves in the presence of the inhuman Cenobites, who describe themselves as “demons to some, angels to others.” Rooted in BDSM imagery, the Cenobites, namely their leader Pinhead, have become synonymous with the Hellraiser franchise and have earned places as horror icons along with the likes of Jason Vorhees and Freddy Krueger.
In the first film though, the Cenobites play an important but relatively minor role, as the real villains of the film are Julia and her undead lover Frank, two people who will go to any extent, even murder, to be together. Frank’s lust and endless pursuit of pleasure are what landed him in the Cenobite’s crosshairs, and he uses Julia’s infatuation with him to ensnare her as well, unknowingly sealing their fates.
Frank is a hedonist with a seemingly insatiable sexual appetite and shamelessly and guiltlessly seduces Julia, his brother’s fiancé, in the lead up to her wedding day. Though Julia finds this sexual encounter borderline intoxicating, for Frank it’s just the latest in a long string of disappointments. To fill this perpetual empty void in his soul, Frank seeks out the puzzle box, which he believes will grant him the gratifying sexual experience he’s always wanted. Of course, Frank discovers that the puzzle box summons the Cenobites, who are all too eager to show him their unique idea of pleasure involving chains, hooks, and tearing Frank limb from limb.
As for Julia, her husband Larry is the exact opposite of his brother: strait-laced, white bread, and too wrapped up in his own mundanity to notice that Julia is unhappy and unsatisfied in her own marriage. When they move into Larry’s parents’ old place and discover that Frank may have been squatting there, Julia can barely contain herself at the thought of seeing Frank again, but Larry doesn’t even bother to hide his disdain for his brother and his lifestyle of debauchery. Julia dreams of Frank stopping by again for another sexual tryst, not knowing that Frank’s own lust has resulted in him literally being ripped apart in that very house.
When a drop of his brother’s blood brings Frank back to life, Frank begs Julia to bring him more victims, claiming that with each life he becomes more whole. This Frank is a far cry from the good-looking young man that Julia met previously, and is now grotesque, nothing but muscle and sinew, and in one shot literally sits in a pile of his own bodily fluids, completely ignorant of his own depravity. Horrified at first of what Frank has become, Julia soon agrees to help and begins seducing men to take home to feed him. With every new murder, Julia believes that the thing that was once Frank will become closer to the man she knew, but Julia is too blinded to see that Frank has literally been ripped bare, exposed for what he truly is — something that merely consumes, endlessly promising everyone, including himself, that the next one will be the thing that makes him feel complete.
Then there are the Cenobites, once human but now twisted and perverse seems to be exactly what they wanted. There’s no guiding morality for the Cenobites; they just simply do what they’ve always done by showing whoever solves the box their unique idea of pleasure. They’re extreme versions of BDSM doms/dommes minus any safe word. Not only have the Cenobites completely mutilated themselves, but they’ll do worse to anyone who summons them. Much like Frank, the Cenobites are predators, using their puzzle box to lure victims with the false promise of sexual rapture, but in the end, it’s all about the Cenobites fulfilling their own pleasure. Both the Cenobites and Frank consume other people for their own gratification, literally dehumanizing their victims before moving on to the next in their endless quest to fill their bloodlust.
Of course, it all comes to a head at the end when Frank sets his sights on Kirsty, his niece. Julia stops being useful to him once she gets in the way of another potential sexual conquest, and she becomes what she always was: just another thing to be devoured and tossed aside. Kirsty very well could have been Frank’s next target had the Cenobites not intervened, and even then, it’s just a temporary reprieve for her as her apparent saviors just wanted her for themselves. Once again, like Frank, the Cenobites’ ravenous appetite proves to be their undoing as Kirsty uses their own box to banish them. Even though the Cenobites give the appearance of control and discipline, in the end, even they are just as much a slave to their lust as Frank and are bound by the very box they use to lure victims.
The BDSM imagery in Hellraiser is no coincidence; this is a film about control, and the control one’s lust can have over them. Each character is just a link in one long chain. Frank’s endless quest for sexual fulfillment has made him a slave to his own desires, and he destroys not only himself but his own brother and Julia as well in pursuit of this. The Cenobites are nothing more than the manifestation of the desires that control Frank and the temptations that ultimately destroy him. Julia, seeking to escape her unhappy marriage, allows Frank to sink his hooks into her and drag her along a path to self-destruction. The bonds in this film are mental and emotional as well as physical because almost every character in some way is bound by their own lust, bit-by-bit sacrificing more of themselves while chasing an imaginary sexual high. Frank, Julia, and the Cenobites are cautionary tales on how the endless consumption of others for one’s own pleasure twists a person until they no longer recognize themself. Not only do these characters dehumanize others in order to fill the void in themselves, but they themselves are dehumanized by their boundless lust and the control it has over them. That lust is personified in a small box that promises so many things by asking one question…
“What’s your pleasure?” 🩸
About
James Reinhardt is a screenwriter and podcaster with nine years of experience in the film industry and four years of experience scaring people professionally in the haunted house industry. Follow him on Twitter @JamesReinhardt.
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