# Hellraiser the best horror movie ever? Refute with your pick. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 5, 2002, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hellraiser-the-best-horror-movie-ever-refute-with-your-pick/127160 "2002-09-05T17:27:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![elf6c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c57346/32.png) [@elf6c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elf6c)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2002, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hellraiser-the-best-horror-movie-ever-refute-with-your-pick/127160/1 "2002-09-05T17:27:43Z")
In this thread here (crosses fingers): [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=134035](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=134035) It was posted **twice** that Hellraiser [http://us.imdb.com/Title?0093177](http://us.imdb.com/Title?0093177) is the best horror movie ever. Is this a whoosh humor attempt by Coldie? If not I can think of two better without much effort: The Exorcist [http://us.imdb.com/Title?0070047](http://us.imdb.com/Title?0070047) An American Werewolf in London [http://us.imdb.com/Title?0082010](http://us.imdb.com/Title?0082010) Your picks, thoughts, corrections, clarifications and input is requested. šŸ˜‰ ---
**Author:** ![Milossarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Milossarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Milossarian)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2002, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hellraiser-the-best-horror-movie-ever-refute-with-your-pick/127160/2 "2002-09-05T18:04:20Z")
Gotta go with the Exorcist. That movie sticks with you for days afterwards, and makes you think about things that you donā€™t otherwise think about. One of my personal all-time faves is a small-time Canadian movie called [Black Christmas](http://www.pitofhorror.com/features/blackxmas.html). A lot of the plot elements in this movie are now cliches (ā€œThe calls are coming from inside the house!ā€), but this was the first one to have them. A couple of American movies were made that were absolutely **direct** rip-offs of this one, and they werenā€™t nearly as good. The bad guy in this movie, the obscene phone-caller, is one of the freakiest bad-guys ever. The shit he says during those phone calls makes your hairs stand on end. ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2002, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hellraiser-the-best-horror-movie-ever-refute-with-your-pick/127160/3 "2002-09-05T18:14:46Z")
Perhaps I was just young & impressionable when I saw it, but [Dawn of the Dead](http://us.imdb.com/Title?0077402) had me positively shaking in my seat, and my knees were weak & rubbery walking out of the theater. I also place [Phantasm](http://us.imdb.com/Title?0079714) high up on my list mainly because of the orb. At the time I saw it, I lived in a high rise apartment building with looooooooooooooong hallways and I went into a cold sweat walking all the way down to my door. I wasnā€™t especially moved by The Exorcist, and Hellraiser didnā€™t start scaring me until the sequels came out. ---
**Author:** ![Skip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@Skip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skip)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2002, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hellraiser-the-best-horror-movie-ever-refute-with-your-pick/127160/4 "2002-09-05T18:30:02Z")
I need to nominate John Carpenterā€™s version of **The Thing** , which already has itā€™s own fan thread, and for good reason. ---
**Author:** ![BlackKnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eb8c5e/32.png) [@BlackKnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlackKnight)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2002, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hellraiser-the-best-horror-movie-ever-refute-with-your-pick/127160/5 "2002-09-05T18:30:39Z")
I found Exorcist to be quite boring. Hellraiser was cool as hell, as was the second in the series. The third sucked, and fourth (Bloodlines) was okay, and Hellraiser: Inferno was surprisingly good. So yeah, another vote for Hellraiser. (Although I admit there are plenty of horror movies Iā€™ve not seen.) ---
**Author:** ![samarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4da419/32.png) [@samarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samarm)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2002, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hellraiser-the-best-horror-movie-ever-refute-with-your-pick/127160/6 "2002-09-05T18:58:43Z")
Comical horror: ā€œBrain Deadā€ Greate one-liners, loads of blood and guts, makes me laugh all the way through. Suspense horror: ā€œWhat Lies Beneathā€ has got to rate highly in this category IMHO, I love supernatural horrors and this one made me jump in quite a few places. These are are just a couple that spring to mind, theres loads more but it would take to long to list them. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2002, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hellraiser-the-best-horror-movie-ever-refute-with-your-pick/127160/7 "2002-09-05T19:26:21Z")
[Freaks](http://us.imdb.com/Title?0022913). ---
**Author:** ![monster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@monster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monster)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2002, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hellraiser-the-best-horror-movie-ever-refute-with-your-pick/127160/8 "2002-09-05T19:30:36Z")
Serpent and the Rainbow is pretty creepy. Remember the ā€œDonā€™t let them bury meā€¦Iā€™m not deadā€ scene? \ I havenā€™t seen it in a while, but I recall Prince Of Darkness being pretty scary as well. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2002, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hellraiser-the-best-horror-movie-ever-refute-with-your-pick/127160/9 "2002-09-05T19:30:47Z")
**Psycho** , by far the best. **Hellraiser?** The movie about the Evil Rubikā€™s Cube? The one with the head full of undriven nails, and also the woman who kills guys by beating them over the head with a hammer? It sounds like a match made in Hell ā€“ howcum she never used that hammer on Pinhead? ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2002, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hellraiser-the-best-horror-movie-ever-refute-with-your-pick/127160/10 "2002-09-05T19:30:47Z")
ā€œFreaksā€ was all the creepier because the characters were real people. ā€œGoogle goggle, Google goggle, one of us, one of us!ā€ I also started a thread a looonnnggg time ago about the Snow sisters, who played the pinheads in the film. My vote for best horror movie goes to ā€œBride of Frankenstein.ā€ Not terrifyingly frightening, but well-made with a little touch of humor. ā€œWe belong deadā€¦ā€ ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2002, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hellraiser-the-best-horror-movie-ever-refute-with-your-pick/127160/11 "2002-09-05T19:44:45Z")
No woosh, I really do think itā€™s the best horror ever. Honourable mention goes out to Brain Dead, although one could argue that itā€™s closer to comedy than to true horror. ---
**Author:** ![Atreyu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5e9695/32.png) [@Atreyu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atreyu)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2002, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hellraiser-the-best-horror-movie-ever-refute-with-your-pick/127160/12 "2002-09-05T20:10:57Z")
As I said in the thread that the OP linked to, **Hellraiser** was a bloody disturbing movie. But it didnā€™t _scare_ meā€¦just creeped me out. The movie that scared me the most was **The Exoricst** , which has already been mentioned. Saw that movie for the first time when I was about 12 or 13, and I havenā€™t seen it in its entirety since. That flick scared the hell out of me. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2002, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hellraiser-the-best-horror-movie-ever-refute-with-your-pick/127160/13 "2002-09-05T20:19:37Z")
Better horror movies than Hellraiser? Off the top of my headā€¦ Night of the Living Dead Dawn of the Dead The Exorcist John Carpenterā€™s The Thing The Shining Invasion of the Body Snatchers Jaws Alien Aliens The Sixth Sense An American Werewolf in London The Birds Psycho Dead Alive (aka Braindead) The Haunting (1963 version) Evil Dead (One or two, basically the same movie) Man, Hellraiser doesnā€™t even rate. ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2002, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hellraiser-the-best-horror-movie-ever-refute-with-your-pick/127160/14 "2002-09-05T20:27:21Z")
**Hellraiser** , if not THE greatest horror film ever, is certainly in the Top Five. To be truly great,a film, or any piece of art for that matter, needs to address larger issues and touch the audience in a visveral manner. **Hellraiser** is far more than just a movie about pinheaded demon and a woman who kills men with a hammerā€“it delves into the connection between sex and death, pleasure and pain, and the darker needs that drive our sadomasochistic urges. The key to the movie, for me, is when Kirsty asks, ā€œWho are you?ā€, and Pinhead replies, ā€œAn angel to some, a demon to others.ā€ The Cenobitesā€™ implements of torture rip apart the body and mind, and take their victims into a zone where agonizing pain is indistinguishable from orgasmic pleasure, where, indeed, ā€œit hurts so good.ā€ Barkerā€™s screenplay covers the same themes of pain, pleasure, dominance, and submission that de Sade and von Sacher-Masoch wrote about. ---
**Author:** ![Avalonian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee7513/32.png) [@Avalonian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avalonian)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2002, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hellraiser-the-best-horror-movie-ever-refute-with-your-pick/127160/15 "2002-09-05T20:34:49Z")
I wouldnā€™t consider _Psycho_ a horror film, at least not in the sense of the other movies being discussed here. The genre recognized as ā€œhorrorā€ generally involves some element of the supernatural. _Psycho_ is more of a thriller, with no supernatural elements. Excellent film, but not really horror, IMO. _Hellraiser_ā€™s definitely one of the best. Great premise and stylishly done. The sequels got successively worse, but the first film was quite good. Kubrickā€™s _The Shining_ was also a masterpiece. No, it wasnā€™t a literal rendition of Kingā€™s excellent novel, but Kubrickā€™s film is intense and creepy in its own right, and has some of the most memorable horror imagery ever committed to film. Who can forget the twins in the hallway, or the blood gushing out of the elevator? _Jacobā€™s Ladder_ could be called a horror film, and if you choose to call it one, then it is one of the best also. Subtle and chilling, and with a great deal of depth. Iā€™ll second **monster** ā€™s inclusion of _Serpent of the Rainbow_, too. This is probably Wes Cravenā€™s best film, but woefully overshadowed by the likes of _Nightmare on Elm Street_ and _Scream_. And Peter Jacksonā€™s _Brain Dead_ (or _Dead-Alive_) is a classic black comedy, disgusting and hilarious. So yeah, _Hellraiser_ is definitely among the best horror films for me, but the best ever? Tough call. ---
**Author:** ![Avalonian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee7513/32.png) [@Avalonian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avalonian)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2002, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hellraiser-the-best-horror-movie-ever-refute-with-your-pick/127160/16 "2002-09-05T20:38:19Z")
Ah yesā€¦ someone mentioned the original version of _The Haunting_ā€¦ thatā€™s another great one. Also, _The Changeling_ is an impressive piece of work. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2002, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hellraiser-the-best-horror-movie-ever-refute-with-your-pick/127160/17 "2002-09-05T20:40:41Z")
Well, I havenā€™t ever seen Hellraiser, I saw Bloodlines which was a good bad movie. I think Clive Barker is one of the worst writers in history, but the movie might be good. Imajica was one of the cheesiest pieces of crap ever penned. That said, Iā€™ll put down my picks. The Shining and Cujo terrified me as a child, but I saw them both very young, like maybe 9 or 10. The Shining I canā€™t watch because of that fucking tricycle going from floor to carpet floor to carpet, thatā€™s fucking creepy in and of itself. I am not a big horror movie fan, usually the more realistic a movie can be the more frightening I find it, so stuff that always resounds with me are frightening rednecks having grown up in New Mexico. So: Texas Chainsaw Massacre Kalifornia are the two on my list. Texas Chainsaw Massacre fulfills every paranoia you ever feel when you are out on a dirt desert road 100 miles from civilization. You never know what kind of freak chooses to live out there. Kalifornia, cuz I knew Early Graves many times in my life. Erek ---
**Author:** ![erislover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/71e660/32.png) [@erislover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erislover)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2002, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hellraiser-the-best-horror-movie-ever-refute-with-your-pick/127160/18 "2002-09-05T20:41:10Z")
**Jacobā€™s Ladder** ā€¦ man o man. The original **Night of the Living Dead** ā€¦ I can stand watching it, and sometimes it strikes me as funny, but watch me NOT go outside at night without rushing to the car anyway. Zombies in general really terrify me; I have nightmares about them once a year or so. Ugh. ---
**Author:** ![Avalonian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee7513/32.png) [@Avalonian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avalonian)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2002, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hellraiser-the-best-horror-movie-ever-refute-with-your-pick/127160/19 "2002-09-05T20:41:28Z")
Oh, and **Miller** ā€¦ I might agree with _Alien_ being a horror movie, despite the science fiction/suspense trappings. It has all the right elements. But _Aliens_? Thatā€™s an action flick. Doesnā€™t even approach horror. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2002, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hellraiser-the-best-horror-movie-ever-refute-with-your-pick/127160/20 "2002-09-05T20:44:30Z")
Oh my fucking god, how could I be so remiss and not include ā€œThe Cubeā€!!! Erek [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hellraiser-the-best-horror-movie-ever-refute-with-your-pick/127160.md?page=2)