Author, director, and playwright Clive Barker came to prominence in the 1980s with his collection of stories Books of Blood. In the decades since, he has branched into several different artistic mediums, most notably film, and has long possessed a surreal style of horror. His works are diverse in both the written form and behind the camera. Recently, Barker's short story "The Forbidden" was adapted a second time into the film Candyman, itself a reboot of a movie of the same name released in 1992. A new Candyman movie hitting theaters has undoubtedly introduced fresh audiences to his unique approach to horror, and those viewers may be wondering where they can find more of his work.
Fortunately, many of Barker's adaptations have hit streaming services and have been widely distributed, and there are more than a few to choose from.
Hellraiser (1987)
Arguably Barker's most famous adaptation, this film is a silver screen portrayal of the 1986 novella The Hellbound Heart. Barker directed the movie himself, and it garnered significant success despite being somewhat divisive between audiences and critics. With regard to story, the narrative is centered around a young woman named Kirsty Cotton (Ashley Laurence) who is caught in a horrific bind due to the actions of her mother Julia (Clare Higgins). Julia was having an affair with Kirsty's uncle Frank (Sean Chapman), who met a terrible fate attempting to solve a puzzle box known as the Lament Configuration. Upon his failure, Frank was torn apart by chains and presumed dead. However, Frank managed to escape the depths of hell as a desiccated monster (Oliver Smith), relying on Julia to seduce and murder men for Frank to feast on in hopes of restoring his body and the two reuniting.
Pursuing Frank are the mysterious and masochistic Cenobites. The most vocal of these three creatures is known as The Hell Priest according to Barker and Pinhead (Doug Bradley) according to most fans as well as the film's production crew. This character would prove enduringly popular and would become the face of a franchise spanning nine more movies as well as spinning off into comic books and novels. Pinhead was even recently featured in the horror video game Dead By Daylight as a playable killer.
The original Hellraiser is much more than a simple horror movie, as it inspects elements such as the "lusty/wicked woman" archetype, religion, women's agency, the pleasure-pain dynamic, greed, ambition, hedonism, and sexuality as the "connective tissue" in the battle between good and evil.
Many of Hellraiser's sequels were commercial and critical failures, but incoming TV and film remakes hope to turn the tide of the franchise's reputation. Regardless of how the sequels have panned out and how the remakes will fare, the original Hellraiser film is still worth a watch for the gratuitous scenes of violence and the mysterious air that the Cenobites bring in their time on-screen.
Nightbreed (1990)
Intertwining the genres of horror and fantasy, Nightbreed is an adaptation of Barker's novella Cabal and was once again directed by the author himself. The story follows a psychotherapy patient named Boone (Craig Sheffer) as he attempts to find a city from his dreams known as Midian, where monsters are welcomed and not stigmatized. He is constantly being told by his therapist Philip Decker (David Cronenberg) that he is a serial killer, when in fact it is Decker that is perpetuating a string of murders.
Boone manages to find Midian after an accident that leaves him hospitalized, and he is initially not given refuge. However, after being gunned down by a police squad sent by Decker, Boone is resurrected and is formally brought into Midian's fold. He works to convince the city's populace that they must fight back against those that pursue him, as they would threaten the security of all who reside in Midian.
The movie was a commercial and critical flop in its initial theatrical run, but has since become a cult success and had a director's cut released in 2014. The film also has several tie-in comic books and two video games that coincided largely with the original theatrical release.
Nightbreed may not be a perfect movie, but the examination of the patient-doctor relationship is an interesting theme in the film's writing. The creatures of Midian, very on-brand in appearance for Barker, are also visually striking.
Books of Blood (2020)
Returning to Clive Barker's literary roots, Books of Blood is an anthology horror movie that stands as the second adaptation of his pivotal short story collection after 2009's Book of Blood. The stories are divided around the focus on three particular characters, Miles (Etienne Kellici), Jenna (Britt Robertson), and Bennett (Yul Vazquez).
The "Miles" story concerns Miles' mother Mary (Anna Friel), who wishes to communicate with her departed son and is duped by a sham psychic named Simon (Rafi Gavron) not just into attempting to communicate with Simon, but also into a relationship. Simon's deceptions are eventually revealed to Mary, and Miles reaches out to her with a suggestion on how to amend the situation.
The "Jenna" storyline concerns the titular character, a college student struggling with mental illness. Her refusal to take her medication and her onset paranoia find her fleeing her home and seeking solace in a bed & breakfast owned by an older couple. It is soon revealed that the two proprietors are performing some incredibly unethical administrations on the guests, and Jenna is spared this fate by an unexpected savior who confirms that her paranoia was warranted. This particular story has a twist ending that speaks volumes about Jenna's struggle with her own demons and the grief she hides from viewers for much of the segment.
With respect to the "Bennett" story, the protagonist is a man hired to collect a debt from a bookseller who owed a significant sum of money to some less-than-savory characters. The bookseller, in a bid to spare themself, informs Bennett of the "Book of Blood," which is allegedly worth a million dollars. Bennett, intrigued, seeks the book out but is soon plagued by several supernatural events. As he discovers the book itself, the three narratives featured within the film come full circle.
For an anthology, tying all three narratives together gives it a similar structure to Trick R' Treat (2007), and it serves both films particularly well.
The Midnight Meat Train (2008)
Directed by Japanese filmmaker Ryuhei Kitamura (Alive), this film stands as an adaptation of Clive Barker's 1984 short story of the same name. The story follows a photographer named Leon (Bradley Cooper) who vies to capture the unvarnished underbelly of New York City. To this end, he commits incredibly dubious acts such as photographing a sexual assault before saving the victim. His pursuits take him to the city's subway system, where he follows the slayings of a serial killer known as the "Subway Butcher," a man named Mahogany (Vinnie Jones). Leon's pursuit of Mahogany quickly becomes obsessive, inevitably leading him into the clutches of the very killer he was pursuing.
This movie may seem like a straightforward slasher flick, but its third act narratively goes in a very curious direction with a twist that many may not see coming in the slightest. All in all, with a solid cast that also includes the likes of Brooke Shields, Ted Raimi, and Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, paired with quality horror set pieces, the film was generally well-received by critics. Cinematical even remarked that the film was the best Barker adaptation since Hellraiser.
Dread (2009)
Based on another short story of the same name originally collected in Books of Blood, this particular horror movie examines the nature of fear itself. College students Quaid (Shaun Evans) and Stephen (Jackson Rathbone) begin a school project to study what it is that makes people fearful and why they dread certain events that have traumatized them. Quaid is personally vested in this and pushes the limits in order to find a way to deal with his own traumatic experience that causes him constant fright. As he delves deeper into his sadistic quest and entangles more students in his experiments, Stephen attempts to stop Quaid before he causes any more harm.
The film can be fairly cerebral despite its straightforward progression, leaving viewers to consider their own fears and dread while also asking the question, how far would you go to remove the most terrifying aspect of your life? Dread has its tropes, but it strikes a solid balance between genuine horror, a non-conventional story concept, and solid production quality work despite the film's comparatively small budget.
Quicksilver Highway (1997)
Horror folk hero Mick Garris (Amazing Stories), long known for his adaptations of Stephen King's written works, took a swing at creating a TV movie that bought together Barker's short story "The Body Politic" and King's short story "Chattery Teeth." Although it is unabashedly a TV movie with regards to production quality, Quicksilver Highway does star the likes of Christopher Lloyd (Back to the Future), Matt Frewer (Watchmen), Raphael Sbarge (The Bird Who Could Fly), and even features a cameo by director John Landis (The Blues Brothers). In this horror-comedy, Lloyd plays a traveler who delights in telling individuals horror stories. The horror stories, in this case, are both "The Body Politic" and "Chattery Teeth," using Barker and King's works as a plot device for the protagonist himself, who frames the stories in his individual sharing of them.
Quicksilver Highway may be lacking for more serious horror fans, but the lighthearted approach to two stories by horror writing heavyweights is a fresh spin compared to many of the more dour adaptations for both writers. Christopher Lloyd's portrayal is delightful, and the subject matter is substantially less grim while still being filled with the passion for the horror genre that Mick Garris is known for.
Rawhead Rex (1986)
Although Clive Barker has written at length over the years about heady topics such as postmodernism, cultural taboos, sexuality, and societal homogeny, Rawhead Rex is a much more direct film in the mold of a monster movie. Adapted originally from the work of the same name contained within, you guessed it, Books of Blood, Rawhead Rex is a schlocky B-movie in most facets. Although Barker wrote both the original story and its adaptive script, substantial changes were made during production, ones that Barker met with significant negativity and blamed for the film's failings.
The story concerns a creature known as Rawhead (Heinrich von Schellendorf), a pagan creature predating Abrahamic religion who is inadvertently awakened by farmers clearing their fields. The creature begins a rampage through the Irish countryside, ensnaring religious scholar Howard Hallenbeck (David Dukes) and his family in the unraveling carnage. The film does have some interesting subtext concerning ancient evil, religion, and sexuality/virility, but it is mostly buried by the typical monster movie hits that were expected during the horror heyday of the 1980s.
Much of the negative reception during the movie's limited run was geared towards Rawhead Rex's design as a monster. It retains a gorilla or ogre-like appearance and was crafted from a single piece of latex over a rushed four weeks according to the effects team. Barker's original concept for the creature was that of a nine-foot phallus with ground meat for a head thus the name "Rawhead." The author's dissatisfaction with the movie was so great that he vowed to be significantly more involved in future projects, setting the stage for his work on Hellraiser.
This is another film that isn't likely to please serious horror aficionados, but lovers of B-horror movies should find plenty to enjoy. It may not scare adult horror watchers, but it's an interesting case study in how adaptations can be mismanaged almost to the point of parody. There's also some incredibly graphic scenes that passed the United Kingdom's strident censorship guidelines at the time, raising even more questions about the journey this particular movie undertook. In fact, a short video named "Call Me Rawhead" was released in which Heinrich von Schellendorf spoke about his time portraying the titular monster that helped give some insight into exactly that.
The movie has garnered some cult appreciation by hardcore fans and Barker has even voiced his interest in remaking the film in his vision, but he cited his work on the upcoming reboot of Hellraiser as prohibitive at the moment.