Hellraiser

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Year:	1987
Country of origin:	UK
Director:	Clive Barker
Genre:	Demons
Starring:	Andrew Robinson, Clare Higgins, Ashley Laurence
Rating:	5/5
IMDB link:	http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093177/
Tagline:	It will tear your soul apart.
Favourite line:	"Jesus....wept."

The finest British horror movie ever made?
Well, yes (even though there was American money behind it).
This is Clive Barker's directorial debut, though you wouldn't know it, and the movie is based loosely on his own 'The Hellbound Heart' novella.

The plot:
There's this box, see, called The Lament Configuration, and opening it summons a bunch of sado-geared demons from Hell called Cenobites. Their role is to introduce any who summon them to all forms of physical and mental extremity, pain, pleasure, torment, joy, in equal measure. Thing is, one of their victims appears to have escaped their clutches, and when he turns up in an old English house after having been resurrected by the blood of his brother, they are eager to get hm back.

Some outstanding moments really lift this above the norm - Franks resurrection, the first glimpses of his skinned persona, the Cenobites appearances - and Barker imbues the whole thing with a real sense of menace.
Flawless and stylish, this is horror at its best.