Hellraiser is a terrible movie.

I have never seen a more overrated horror movie than Hellraiser. (Except maybe Event Horizon).

I first saw this movie about 4 years ago and thought it was pretty bad, but after seeing so much praise for it recently I figured. "Hey, maybe it's better than you remember?"

And no.

It's absolutely awful and has very few redeeming qualities about it.

Before I go into the criticisms, I will say that the practical effects are incredible for the most part. When Frank rebuilds himself for the first time, it's insane, creepy and incredibly effective. The Cenobites also look terrifying. Too bad they're in the film for less than 5 minutes of total screentime.

The editing is hilarious. There are moments where Kirsty doesn't even finish her sentence before it cuts to the next line of dialogue. This happens to Larry a couple times too. It's hard to explain my problems with the rest of the editing, but there are many moments where it'll cut to a new scene or new reaction without orientating itself first. It's very rushed.

The movie is paced very poorly. We spend 80% of the film watching Julia lure men into the home for Frank to absorb, and then once Frank does come back, he is killed by the Cenobites within 5 minutes, and the Cenobites are themselves killed within 5 minutes.

The scenes where Julia is luring men takes. so. long. to. get. through. They show the first murder. Then the next couple ones are shown through a montage, as it probably should be, but then Frank still isn't complete, so we have to spend another 30 minutes with fleshy Frank and Julia staring at each other and touching each other's lips, when they could have just killed Larry a long time ago.

I know we're supposed to believe that Julia refuses to let Larry die, but the movie doesn't give us anything to support the idea that Julia actually cares about Larry. It would be much more tense for the audience if we were shown evidence of her actually struggling with the concept of sacrificing him.

The final battle is miserable.

Kirsty grabs the box and before she closes it, Pinhead yells out "No. Don't. Do. That." and dies.

Then we get the Deepthroat cenobite walking slowly up the stairs and causing the house to bleed. Kirsty closes the box, or something since it's actually already closed, and Deepthroat dies.

Then the other two cenobites die in a similar fashion after giving out jumpscares.

It's hard for me to take the cenobites seriously if they're going to be killed within 3 minutes of showing up at the end of the film.

Jurassic Park would be terrible if we spent the entire film building up to the dinosaurs escaping, only for them to be shot and killed within 5 minutes of them getting loose.

Yet, Hellraiser does this twice. With Frank the Monster, and then with the Cenobites shortly afterwards.

There are a lot of corny aspects of this film that I don't particularly like, but I don't really blame the film for having them as most horror films of this time period had a lot of cheesy elements. I'll even give them a pass for shitty acting for the most part, except for some key moments during the climax.

But I feel like it's fair to criticize this movie for its atrocious editing, pacing, and story.

Anyways, if you enjoy this movie that's great. I wish I liked it but I've given it 2 tries and can't get into it.

I've been seeing a lot of praise for this movie and I'm wondering if there's anyone else in this subreddit who thinks it's an overrated film too.