For horror fans, there's a lot to love about Clive Barker's early run on Hellraiser. The first two films in the long-running franchise are chock-full of disturbing special effects, memorable kills, and of course the mysterious Cenobites. However, one of the most intriguing aspects of the early Hellraiser films resides within the final act of Hellbound: Hellraiser II (1988). Not only does it buck a fictional trend dating back hundreds of years, but it also gives a little insight into the mind of not only Barker (who executive-produced and receives a "story by" credit on the sequel), but also Hellbound director Tony Randel, who had worked with him on the original film as a production executive and editor. In a 2018 interview with Daily Dead, Randel discussed his work expanding the universe of the iconic Cenobites and the realm they often inhabit, saying the Hellraiser sequel's visual were partially inspired by the work of artist M.C. Escher. Thanks to the brain trust of Barker, Randel, and screenwriter Peter Atkins, Hellbound's vision of hell was born.

When one thinks of "hell," the word likely evokes the imagery established by thousands of years of organized religion. A burning and bottomless pit of suffering often overseen by some iteration of Satan, Lucifer, or a divine adversary (take your pick). By comparison, Barker and company's view of hell witnessed at length in Hellraiser II is a completely different animal. Film protagonist Kirsty Cotton (Ashley Laurence) and mute deuteragonist Tiffany (Imogen Boorman) are drawn into hell near Hellbound's end, but what they witness is a far-reaching sequence of rooms and passages overseen by a symmetrical entity in the sky. This geometric object in the sky is in fact Leviathan, the Lord of the Labyrinth. The overlord's shadowy beams emanate from its body, striking the overwhelmed Dr. Channard (Kenneth Cranham) and allowing Leviathan into his consciousness. Channard is met with a reflection of his many sins. He is betrayed by his pernicious companion Julia (Clare Higgins) and placed into one of the Labyrinth's machines. There, he is mutilated and tortured before being converted into a Cenobite, deeming him worthy of serving Leviathan.

Since the early Hellraiser films, many complementary pieces of media have explored the Labyrinth and Leviathan. Specifically, multiple lines of comic books have expanded on the fictional universe the films set forward. These include stories by Marvel imprint Epic Comics such as Clive Barker's Hellraiser (1989, 2011) and Pinhead (1991), as well as Boom! Studios' Hellraiser: The Dark Watch (2013). Many of these stories featured writing from Barker himself and incorporated inspiration from different Hellraiser mythologies. (The early comics followed the films, while some of the later arcs stayed more in line with Barker's The Hellbound Heart novella.) These comics not only examined the background of Pinhead/The Hell Priest, Chatterer, and many other Cenobites, but they also took a long hard look at Leviathan and the alien dimension of hell.

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Image via Film Futures

According to these materials, Leviathan is an entity that has presided over the Labyrinth for millennia. Obsessed with imposing order on his domain, the Labyrinth contains the souls of the damned, resigned to eternal torture by enduring their most dreaded experiences. We see this in a small capacity in Hellbound, when Kirsty encounters her lecherous uncle Frank (Sean Chapman), who is allured by several women, hidden under sheets and emitting moans of sexual pleasure. However, when approached, the women disappear. Frank is left chasing after carnal pleasures he can never again experience within his own personal hell. One can assume that this is only a small sliver of the Labyrinth's power, and the many other tortured souls within are likely going through their own worst fears as well.

As souls are tormented within the Labyrinth, Leviathan's Cenobites impose his drive for law and order in hell and beyond. However, according to the additional material, the Cenobites are a relatively new development within the Labyrinth. Eons ago, when life did not yet exist, Leviathan ruled over his dimension in perfect order and dark harmony. In a later moment, life was created along with the world we know. Life was chaotic, fleshy, and overwhelming, threatening to push itself into hell and throw it out of order. Leviathan attempted to stamp out the incursion, keeping light from reaching his dark domain. While successful for a time, it wasn't long before life was once again at the gates of hell.

Altering its strategy, Leviathan began reaching out to beings in our world of flesh and sweat and bedlam. Enter humanity, who was taking its first steps in evolution and gaining intelligence and sentience. Reaching out to humans in their dreams, Leviathan began to present them images of machines through the languages of logic and science. It wasn't long before humans followed these dreams and began to kill for survival and sport, donning the skins of animals and battling each other for territory and resources. Over the years, mankind took a verdant and lush world of life and brought it to heel, and Leviathan's whispers ratcheted up. In short order, cities of concrete and steel were erected across the world, resembling the Labyrinth with its twisting, sprawling metropolises. As life was forced into retreat, Leviathan took humans he deemed the most worthy and perverted them into Cenobites, beings subservient to him meant to enforce his will and spread his hellish gospel.

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Image via New World Pictures

What's so unique about this particular view of hell is the concept of order. Where so many depictions of hell show a chaotic lake of fire and brimstone, Barker, Randel, and Atkins' idea of hell is one of regimentation. Every tormented soul is still tortured but within their designated place set forth by the overlord. Attempting to escape is scarcely fruitful, as the Labyrinth is reflected of the mind: A convoluted construct with offshoots in every direction. In the first of many Hellraiser sequels, hell is a place of forced structure. A despotic ruler forces their singular will on others, leaving no room for freedom, expression, or uncertainty. Considering Barker's life and unconventional art, something so orderly is likely anathema to what he believes. The Cenobites may be a partial extension of this as well, former humans who are turned against their counterparts to serve the established system.

In addition, Randel elaborated on this view of hell further in the Daily Dead interview. As an atheist, Randel believed that heaven and hell were internalized within the psyche. And geometry, such as it is, is also linked significantly within the human mind. We look at shapes and designs and find patterns and meaning behind them, assigning our own values and beliefs upon them. According to Hellbound's director, the labyrinth and even Leviathan itself don't possess concrete shapes. Rather, they are reflecting the mind of those viewing it. "The perception of reality is in our heads, and that's what Hellbound is about," he remarked. "It's not a religious hell, because I don't believe in a religious hell ... I went in a totally symbolic direction with it, and to me the best way to portray this place was through geometric images and shapes."

Although Barker has been on the record in saying much of the original Hellraiser was inspired by his days in S&M clubs, it doesn't seem like such a stretch to imagine his concept of hell as something of a social observation. While a world of wanton displeasure is likely terrifying to many, the idea of an authoritarian dystopia where people are forced into their place can be just as frightening. The Labyrinth and Leviathan are solely focused on domination, and we can see aspects of that in our world as well. Dominating nature with roads and buildings, and dominating each other with weapons of war and dictatorial governments. There's so much to unpack with the early vision of Hellraiser, and the concept of restrictive authority being inhuman is only a small silver of the films' subtext. Coupled with Peter Atkins' screenplay and Tony Randel's inverted sense of reality, Hellbound features some the franchise's best and most intriguing imagery.