How well do you remember Clive Barker's Hellraiser?

By: Torrance Grey
Estimated Completion Time
5 min
How well do you remember Clive Barker's Hellraiser?
Image: The Movie DB

About This Quiz

This S&M-themed horror movie established writer Clive Barker as a director in his own right and spawned a raft of sequels. How much do you recall about the debut of the pin-faced monster and his crew? Find out now!
Which of these marquee stars did Hellraiser feature?
Sean Bean
Sean Connery
Patrick Stewart
it didn't have any big names
Casting unknowns can be a good thing, but Hellraiser didn't seem to benefit. The New York Times, in particular, criticized the film's "singularly uninteresting actors."

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In what country does Hellraiser open?
China
Spain
Morocco
Adventurer Frank Cotton is buying the puzzle box that will be his downfall. The merchant serves him sweet Moroccan-style mint tea, showing classic Middle Eastern hospitality before, you know, ruining the man's life.
The USA

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Where is the rest of Hellraiser set?
Canada
Ohio
Connecticut
Um, probably England?
The evidence seems to indicate England. Larry Cotton's wife Julia has a British accent, and two other characters refer to her being "back." But nearly all of the supporting cast have American accents. Furthermore, there are some indications in the dialogue that these American characters were intended to be British. Possibly there were last-minute changes in the script.

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Who moves into the house at No. 55?
Larry Cotton, his wife Julia, and his brother Frank
Larry, Julia, and Larry's daughter
Just Larry and Julia
Larry's daughter, who is central to the plot, finds a room in town. It's just Larry and Julia moving into the old family house -- unaware that Frank is, sort of, in residence already.
Just Larry and his daughter

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What is Larry's daughter's name?
Anna
Claire
Kristy
Kirsty
Probably her name is short for "Kirsten." Nobody calls her this is the movie, though. In Barker's original novella, the daughter character was an ex-girlfriend, instead.

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What does Julia find in Frank's makeshift bedroom that intrigues her?
an old dagger
Frank's diary
the puzzle box
a series of explicit photos
Julia might be checking to make sure that Frank's partner isn't recognizable as her. We find out later that she and Larry's brother were having an affair.

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Who's at the door when Julia opens it?
Kirsty
Frank
Pinhead
no one
At first, it appears that Julia opens the door to Frank -- restored from his ripped-to-shreds condition. But despite appearances, he's not really there -- this is just the beginning of a vivid fantasy on Julia's part.

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Right after the fantasy sex, what does Julia promise to Frank that she'll do?
leave Larry
kill Larry
find Frank some blood to speed his resurrection
anything
This vague promise on Julia's part will eventually lead to her finding him victims, whose blood Frank will drink to complete his resurrection. Frank must have something going on to inspire this kind of loyalty!

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What is the name given to Pinhead and those like him?
Cenobites
The word "cenobite" simply means a member of a communal religious order. Barker's Cenobites are considerably different, as they were inspired by his visits to S&M clubs.
Hierophants
Eremites
Lycans

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What begins Frank's resurrection?
Julia says an incantation in the upstairs bedroom
blood falls on the floorboards of the upstairs bedroom
This happens because Larry cuts his hand, which means the whole thing could have been avoided had he gone into the bathroom for a towel and some Bactine, instead of upstairs seeking his wife. See what being a baby about a minor injury will get you!
the puzzle box is burned, allowing him to escape the Cenobites' realm
Larry twists the puzzle box into a new configuration, allowing Frank to escape the Cenobites' realm

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At what kind of business does Kirsty find work?
a supermarket
an art gallery
a pet shop
We only see Kirsty at the pet shop once. She's troubled by a homeless man who enters the shop, sticks his hand into a terrarium full of insects, and begins eating them. Eww.
a fish-and-chips place

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Why, according to Frank, did he seek out the puzzle box?
he loves challenges
it was financially very valuable
he'd experienced all earthly sensual experiences and was in search of otherwordly ones
Frank's story is a case of "be careful what you wish for." When the Cenobites appear, they drag him into a world of "indistinguishable" pain and pleasure -- maybe mostly pain, as he's eager to escape.
he was hired to find it by an antiques dealer

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With what does Julia attack the men she picks up?
an ice pick
a hammer
Julia seems to only stun the men, it's Frank who kills them. Exactly how he does so isn't shown, but it probably isn't pleasant.
a gun
a knife

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Why does Kirsty come to the house on the day she sees Julia enter with her third victim?
she's worried about her father
her father has asked her to make nice with Julia
Kirsty sees Julia enter with the third man she brings home for Frank to kill. Apparently Julia sees Kirsty outside, but like a true ice queen, she simply closes the door without any sign of guilt or shame.
she needs to borrow money
we never learn this

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How does Kirsty get away from Frank in their first encounter?
she plunges her hand into his unprotected insides
she threatens to tell the Cenobites where he is
she throws the puzzle box out the window
technically, both #1 and #3
Kirsty wouldn't have gotten her hands on the box if she hadn't first plunged her hand inside him. Up to that point, Frank had her pressed up against the wall, calling her "beautiful" -- an ickily sexual moment between uncle and niece.

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What does Kirsty do after she escapes the house?
she goes to her boyfriend Steve's place
she goes to the library to research the puzzle box
she passes out and wakes up in the hospital
The staff at the hospital are rather heavy-handed: They won't let Kirsty call her father and they even lock her in her hospital room. What is this, a hospital or a jail?
she tries to find her father

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What is the nurse watching on the TV set in Kirsty's room?
a soap opera
an episode of "St. Elsewhere"
the local news
images of flowers unfolding
This odd detail allows the TV to flicker and then broadcast static when the Cenobites are about to appear. It's like an outtake from "White Noise," except that movie hadn't been made yet.

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When Frank is making noise upstairs, how does Julia distract Larry?
she pretends to faint
she makes his favorite meal
she starts a pointless argument
she seduces him
Unfortunately, the act is not consummated. A poorly-timed appearance by the as-yet-skinless Frank assures this.

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What does Frank do at the foot of Larry and Julia's bed that upsets her?
brandishes a knife
weeps
mutilates a rat
Earlier, Frank was nailing rats to the wall. Whether or not animals were actually harmed, this plot point might not go over well nowadays, when animal rights have become more mainstream.
just stands there and stares

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Why does Kirsty solve the puzzle box in her hospital room?
she's bored from being locked in
she thinks it might be a weapon against Frank
she wants to show the doctor she isn't mentally impaired
this is never explained
One thing her solving the puzzle does show audiences is that Kirsty shares her Uncle Frank's wits. She certainly isn't much like her poor, dim father Larry.

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How many Cenobites appear when Kirsty solves the puzzle box?
two
three
four
They're informally known as Pinhead, Butterball, the Female, and the Chatterer. The beast called the Engineer doesn't show up until later.
five

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At the hospital, how does Kirsty get the Cenobites to let her go?
she convinces them that solving the puzzle box was an accident
she promises to lead them to Frank
Kirsty does try the "it was an accident" line, but the Cenobites are unimpressed. Pinhead doesn't even promise to let her go permanently. He says "maybe" they'll consider it.
she promises to return the puzzle box to Morocco
she simply bolts when the nurse opens the door

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Why does Kirsty go back to the house after she's been attacked there by Frank?
she left her car keys there
she's worried about her father
she is leading the Cenobites to Frank
both #2 and #3
Concern for her father seems to be foremost in Kirsty's mind. But she's also promised to lead Pinhead and his crew to her uncle.

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Why does Kirsty initially believe that Frank is her father?
he is wearing her father's skin
The audience can tell right away it's not Larry; he's behaving much too creepily toward his daughter. The edge of erotic menace is no accident. Clive Barker's writing is known for that, and "Hellraiser" has not only S&M themes, but also an undertone of incest.
he is wearing a mask
she is under a glamour
the power is out and it's pitch black

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How does Julia die?
a fed-up Larry shoots her when he realizes her betrayal
Kirsty pushes her down the stairs
Frank stabs her by accident
At least, we're pretty sure it was an accident; Kirsty was in the way until the last second. But Frank shows no regret over stabbing his lover, saying "Nothing personal."
she falls from the second-story window

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How does Kirsty defeat the Cenobites?
she reads a spell from one of Frank's esoteric books
she returns the puzzle box to its original configuration
This allows for a rather drawn-out climax, because each Cenobite must be vanquished separately, with a different manipulation of the box. And, of course, Kirsty drops it a lot, and desperately scrambles for it, and so on.
she uses holy water and a cross
she doesn't: the homeless guy saves her

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Who turns up at the end to help Kirsty?
her real mother
her boyfriend Steve
Steve doesn't actually do much. The banishing of the Cenobites is all on Kirsty. But he provides moral support, which makes him a good boyfriend.
a good Cenobite
her father, who miraculously survived

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What does Kirsty do with the box afterward?
turns it over to the police
turns it over to a Catholic priest
throws it into a bonfire
It's not quite clear where Kirsty does this. There are several fires burning in what looks like a vacant lot, where she and Steve end up with the cursed box.
keeps it

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Why isn't the box destroyed in the bonfire?
it flies out as though a supernatural force launched it
the fire department arrives and puts out the fire
the strange homeless man rescues it
We've seen the homeless man twice before. Once is when Steve and Kirsty are out walking; the second time is in the pet shop. All that had to be leading somewhere.
it is simply impervious to flame

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What does the homeless man change into after retrieving the box?
a Cenobite
an angel
a winged, skeletal creature
Perhaps the homeless man had to metamorphose so that Kirsty and Steve couldn't just run after him and wrestle the box away. Or maybe it was a way to cram one more "creature effect" into a film in love with them.
a bat

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Where does the puzzle box end up at the movie's end?
under the floorboards of the house
in Morocco with the merchant who sold it to Frank
The merchant is selling the box to another customer, allowing for sequels. Which, of course, there were.
in a children's toy shop
in a trash bin

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How is Pinhead named in the closing credits?
as Pinhead
as Needle Face
as Lead Cenobite
This is a little confusing -- evidently in Barker's story, the most powerful Cenobite is the Engineer. This character appears in the movie, though, as an Alien-esque creature with no spoken lines. So the lead role was thrust onto the more articulate Pinhead. Or, excuse us, Lead Cenobite.
as the Engineer

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What name did Clive Barker first suggest for the film?
The Cenobite
Hellbound
Pinhead
Sadomasochists from Beyond the Grave
Initially, the movie was to be called The Hellbound Heart, like Barker's novella. The studio was afraid the word "heart" made it sound like a romance, though. Likewise, they rejected "Sadomasochists" for its explicitly sexual tone.

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How many sequels did Hellraiser inspire?
five
six
seven
eight
Yup, the final tally stands at nine films. Poor Clive Barker signed away the rights to the characters and storyline, not realizing how profitable they would eventually turn out to be.

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Another Clive Barker story was the basis for which movie about an urban legend. What was this 1994 film called?
Candyman
Candyman was based on Barker's story The Forbidden. Actors Virginia Madsen and Tony Todd anchored the story about a killer who appears when a person faces a mirror and chants his nickname, Candyman, five times.
Children of the Corn
Ginger Snaps
Urban Legend

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The Movie DB