The Hellraiser Films and Their Legacy (39 page)

The Faceless Killer mask. Original item like many props sold at the Prop Store of London (courtesy Stephen Lane).

Nicholas Sadler was drafted in as Bernie, Thorne’s repugnant informant and drug supplier, who drives around in an ice cream van to attract the young children. His career began with the telefilm
A Town’s Revenge
(Helen Whitney, 1989), playing Billy Dryer. He graduated to
The Cosby Show
in 1990 before starring in the TV version of Stephen King’s
Sometimes They Come Back
(Tom McLoughlin, 1991). Later standouts included
Twister
(1996), Jan de Bont’s phenomenal special effects extravaganza, and the low budget horror movie
Idle Hands
(Rodman Flender, 1999) with
Buffy’s
Seth Green.

Boasting fewer credits were Noelle Evans, who portrayed Thorne’s wife Melanie, and Lindsay Taylor, Thorne’s daughter Chloe. Noelle had previously starred in
Dangerous Proposition
(Brad Sanders, 1998) a character-driven low-budget thriller, and an episode of
Ally McBeal
in 1999. Young Lindsay’s only film role up to that point was as the Little Girl in a 1999 episode of
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
entitled “Gingerbread.” Next came Matt George, who puts in a memorable performance as the tattoo artist and body-piercing expert, Leon, at a parlor Thorne visits. George had featured in an episode of
Red Shoe Diaries
(1995) and
Charmed
(1999) as well as the Zalman King movie
In God’s Hands
(1998).

Michael Shamus Wiles’ screen roles were many and varied, beginning with
Divided We Fall
in 1982 (Jeff Burr and Kevin Meyer). His films included
Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III
(Jeff Burr, 1990);
Up Close & Personal
(Jon Avnet, 1996) with Robert Redford and Michelle Pfeiffer;
Dune
(Joseph D. Kucan, 1998);
Fallen
(Gregory Hoblit, 1998);
Fight Club
(David Fincher, 1999); and
Magnolia
(Paul Thomas Anderson, 1999) with Tom Cruise. Interestingly, he also had a part in David Lynch’s
Lost Highway
as a guard, which further emphasizes the bond between the two pictures, although his character in
Inferno
, the gun-toting cowboy Mr. Parmagi, is definitely more peculiar.

Eighteen-year-old Sasha Barrese was cast as Daphne, the prostitute Thorne sleeps with just before he opens the puzzle box, and who turns up dead in the shower not long afterwards. The former model, born in Hawaii, got her first acting job at the age of just eight in
Homer and Eddie
(Andrei Konchalovsky, 1989) with her mother Katherine Barrese. In 1990 she starred as Young Jezebel in
Jezebel’s Kiss
(Harvey Keith), then appeared as the Random Cute Girl in
American Pie
(Paul Weitz, 1999). Since starring in
Hellraiser V
she has landed parts in Hollywood blockbusters like
The Ring
(Gore Verbinski, 2002).

Kathryn Joosten, bit-part actress from TV shows like
Picket Fences
,
Grace Under Fire
,
Roseanne
,
ER
,
Seinfeld
,
NYPD Blue
and
Dharma and Greg
, took the role of Thorne’s older mother in both the hospital scenes and the flashbacks at the finale, while Jessica Elliot from
Cityscrapes: Los Angeles
(Michael Becker, 1994) played the younger version. Likewise, Thomas Crouch would be Thorne’s father in the present day for the coma scenes and the gunfight at the climax, while Timothy “T.J.” James Driscoll played the younger incarnation.

Sadly, veteran actor Carmen Argenziano was to be shamefully wasted as the captain at the police precinct, featuring in just the one scene where Thorne plays back the tape of Bernie’s murder. Argenziano came complete with a lengthy credits list, beginning in 1970 with
Cover Me Babe
(Noel Black), and would take in
The Godfather Part II
(Francis Ford Coppola, 1974),
Sudden Impact
(Clint Eastwood, 1983),
The First Power
(Robert Resnikoff, 1990),
Broken Arrow
(John Woo, 1996), and
Blue Streak
(Les Mayfield, 1999), in addition to countless TV roles in shows like
Quincy
,
Hill Street Blues
,
L.A. Law
, and
JAG
. His most famous role, and the one for which he would be recognized in genre circles, was as Samantha Carter’s (Amanda Tapping) father in the hugely successful spin-off series from the movie
Stargate
(Roland Emmerich, 1994), renamed
Stargate: SG-1
(1997).

Other actors signed up were Christopher (
Enemy Action
(Brian Katkin, 1999)) Neiman as the pathologist; Christopher (
The Landlady
(Robert Malenfant, 1998)) Kriesa as the older detective; Brian Sostek in a quirky turn as the Crime Lab Technician; J.B. Gaynor from
The Contract
(Steven R. Monroe, 1999) as young Joseph Thorne; Winifred (
The Naked Gun
[David Zucker, 1988]) Freedman as Front Desk Nurse; Michael Denney, who played a demon in Derrickson and Boardman’s
Love in the Ruins
, switching to a Security Guard; Ray Miceli as The Faceless Killer; Kazuhiro Yokoyama and stuntman Akihiro Noguchi as the karate-kicking cowboys; Lynn Speier and Trisha Kara as the Wire Twin Cenobites; and Michael Regan as the uncredited Chatterer Torso (Regan would go on to executive produce Gary Tunnicliffe’s short
Hellraiser
film,
No More Souls
).

In terms of Crew, Gary Tunnicliffe returned thanks to his superb make-ups for
Bloodline
. On this occasion he’d work in conjunction with the visual effects supervisor, Jamison Goei, on certain shots, such as the Torso Chatterer, which had to have its lower body removed digitally. Goei would also be responsible for the excellent cracking and shattering of Thorne’s frozen wife and child, chained to a pillar near the end of the movie, although again this was in tandem with live effects such as Thorne snapping off his daughter’s arm (calling to mind the superb work with the T-1000 in
Terminator 2: Judgment Day
). One of the few things Tunnicliffe wasn’t overly happy about was the Wire Twins’ make-up. “They were compromised by money.... I would love to go back and re-work the jaw that holds up the wire pulls, as during the day it got stretched and their jaws got kinda long and wacky,” he said in an interview afterwards.
¹¹
Nonetheless, these two women, who perform a highly sexual and graphic “under the skin” massage on Thorne that is possibly the highlight of the movie, have become definite fan favorites. Their serpent tongues, also provided by Goei, might well have contributed to their appeal.

Cinematographer on the shoot would be Nathan Hope, who had worked only on
Suckers
(Roger Nygard, 1999) and
Nice Guys Sleep Alone
(Stu Pollard, 1999). He would ensure at least the slick look of the picture, with cool, icy blues and stark lighting for the snow scenes, and sepia tones blended with tinges of green for the Thorne childhood flashbacks. In charge of production design would be Deborah Raymond, whose credits included
Scanner Cop
(Pierre David, 1994);
Leprechaun 4: In Space
(Brian Trenchard-Smith, 1996);
Wishmaster
(Robert Kurtzman, 1997, written by Peter Atkins); and
Ringmaster
(Neil Abramson, 1998). She would be responsible for some great sets on what—it has to be said—was a shoestring budget. Possibly her most important contribution would be young Joseph’s room that he keeps returning to throughout the movie.

Editing would be handled by relative newcomer Kirk M. Morri, whose only experience was on TV with
Jeopardy!
and
Assault on Dome 4
(Gilbert Po, 1996). He would need to add essential suspense and pace to what is largely a thriller film. For sound design, Derrickson hired Creative Café and sound designers Peter Brown and Byron Miller to come up with the movie’s vital auditory scares. Said the director: “Those guys gave 150 percent—honing and working it to build the best sound design they could. That was one way to make this movie feel bigger than it actually is.”
¹²

Last, Walter Werzowa was chosen to provide the music—after working on
Tales from the Crypt
, supplying additional music for the final fight scene in
Mortal Kombat
(Paul W.S. Anderson, 1995) and the main title music for the Arnold Schwarzenegger vehicle
Eraser
(Chuck Russell, 1996). His new
Hellraiser
theme would be a world away from those used in the past, but still incredibly powerful with its use of strings and drum base, not to mention a choir, harking back to
The Omen
. His cool jazz riffs recall those composed by Angelo Badalamenti for Lynch’s
Twin Peaks
TV series, with cymbals, violins and trumpet used to excellent effect. The movie would also feature the song “From Eden,” performed by MOD: I.

The popular Wire Twins from
Inferno
. Replica figures by NECA (courtesy NECA; photograph credit: Nicolle M. Puzzo).

As is to be expected when any director is left to his own devices, the shoot went quite smoothly; compared with all the trouble on
Bloodline
this was a new direction for the series in more ways than one. Bradley’s scenes took just three days to shoot, for which he flew over to L.A., and when he got there he was able to talk to Derrickson about Pinhead’s phrasing. The director told him that writing for the character had been the hardest thing they had faced, so with his permission Bradley was allowed to change aspects of it to more accurately reflect the Pinhead audiences had grown to expect. “He’s a Shakespearean actor at heart,” said Derrickson, “and he added quite a few lines to that final speech that made it a lot better.”
¹³

But despite its brevity this was a shoot Bradley was unlikely to forget, thanks to a very special celebration on-set. On his third and final day at work, Gary Tunnicliffe presented him with a mock telegram from Her Majesty the Queen. The effects artist had calculated that it was Bradley’s 100th day in the Pinhead make-up, so the crew was celebrating accordingly. At lunchtime there was champagne and a cake in the shape of Pinhead’s face with candles in place of the nails. Some old friends dropped by as well, including Peter Atkins and production designer Steve Hardie from the early
Hellraisers
. “Steve brought me the most fabulous present,” said Bradley. “He gave me a framed piece of Pinhead’s face with a huge, two-foot long nail and a big gout of blood dripping off the end of it. It’s quite impressive.”
¹⁴
Additionally, the cast and crew were given Access All Areas Pinhead badges, and Bradley got a certificate for all his hard work over the years. “I wasn’t expecting any of it,” he admitted.
¹⁵

The film wrapped on schedule, but Derrickson still didn’t know whether it was going to be given a theatrical release like the previous
Hellraisers
.
Inferno
was shot with both media in mind and was actually transferred in widescreen. As Boardman commented not long after completion: “My impression is that Dimension didn’t necessarily know, either, because some of the movies they’ve done before have gone theatrical and some have not.”
¹⁶
This turned out to be the case.
Hellraiser: Inferno
was the first in the series to debut on TV screens at home—in November 2000. Although the “direct to video” label no longer has the stigma attached to it that it once had, due in no small part to the boom of the DVD industry, it was nevertheless a disappointment for followers of the series not to see the new release playing at their local cinema.

But this would be the start of a trend that saw the next three films premiere in exactly the same way.

20

A WORLD FULL OF RIDDLES

Crime and Punishment

Hellraiser: Inferno
is at its heart a crime film. The central character is a policeman who is attempting to fathom out who has killed Jay Cho. He is also trying to track down the serial killer responsible for kidnapping a child and cutting off his fingers one by one, with each digit representing a kill. Yet it is not a straightforward crime drama by any means. Its roots lie firmly in the film noir genre, a term used by French film critics of the 1940s to describe American thrillers derived from the kind of hard-boiled fiction written by Raymond Chandler, James M. Cain and Cornell Woolrich.
Inferno
adheres to this mode of filmmaking in several ways, not least in its overriding sense of pessimism and social malaise.