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Horror fans are unlike any other breed of cinephile. We go to great lengths to unearth little known facts about our favorite feature films. Because of that, it’s a challenge to find trivia that will pass fact checking and interest dedicated fans. But, in spite of that, we have taken it upon ourselves to attempt to unearth some lesser-known details about Clive Barker’s horror film Hellraiser. Read on for five things you probably didn’t know about Hellraiser.
The film wasn’t originally called Hellraiser
The original title was The Hellbound Heart, after the Clive Barker novella on which the film is based. The studio rejected that title on the basis that it sounded too much like a love story. Barker suggested Sadomasochists from Beyond the Grave and that was subsequently rejected also.
Pinhead was originally known as ‘Lead Cenobite’.
The original draft of the screenplay referred to him as ‘Priest’. But that was eventually abandoned and the character became known as lead cenobite. Pinhead was a name that the crew used in reference to the character and it stuck. In subsequent films, the character became known as ‘Pinhead’ and was credited accordingly.
The female cenobite was referred to as ‘Deep Throat’ on set
Because that name carries a variety of connotations, she is credited only as ‘female cenobite’ in the end credits.
Hellraiser was shot inside of a real home instead of on a sound stage
Normally the exterior shots for a film are of an actual house but the interior shots are done on a sound stage. The only room in the home that was recreated on a sound stage in Hellraiser is the attic. The limitations of shooting in a real home are such that many of the scenes were done with a one-camera setup. The lack of multiple cameras is attributed as the reason why many of the scenes are only shown from one angle.
The film earned as much as fifteen times its estimated budget during its theatrical release
Hellraiser‘s estimated budget is $1 Million and the picture went on to gross nearly fifteen million during its US theatrical run.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hellraiser
