However, later adaptations of Barker’s work have been amongst the best.
Book of Bloodis a rare film in which nothing works.
Candyman) whose own mother met her death at the madman’s hook.
After Dark Films
Where have we seen that before?
(The stories have been swapped, somewhat ill-advisedly, on home media versions of the film.)
Some praise is due, however, for the flashback to Candyman’s demise that comes near the end.
It’s a sequence Condon makes as nauseating and horrific as it should be.
It’s just a shame that its edgy ingenuity didn’t stretch to the rest of the film.
(Distressingly, the strongest passage of the film is actually what occurs during the end credits.)
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DaCosta is a formidable director, but here the material seems to have gotten away from her.
But few would argue withJamie Clayton’s chilling portrayal of the Priest (a.k.a.
Pinhead), the villainous Cenobite leader.
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As director David Brucknertold EW of casting Clayton, “She was scary as hell!
Honestly, it was the most frightening read that I had seen by a mile.”
Namely, the decision to choose two Barker stories and then insert an original has a negative impact overall.
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wife Dorothea (Famke Janssen).
Lord of Illusionsis, to date, Barker’s last time in the director’s seat.
Barker was unhappy with the film despite its close relation to his original tale.
SyFY
Ryuhei Kitamura’s energetic production comes the closest to matching the operatic spectacle ofCandymanthan any other Barker adaptation.
Of course, being a Clive Barker adaptation, the studio was unhappy with the finished product.
However, thecontroversy behindTheMidnight Meat Train’s releasehas only strengthened its cult status.
Universal Pictures
And the scenes in which he and Madsen engage in intellectual battles-of-wits are the best in the picture.
Barker’s trippy underworld creature feature was admittedly the filmmaker’s stab at a “Star Warsfor monsters.”
At its best, it feels like a cross betweenLabyrinthand an earlyPeter Jacksonfilm.
Jamie Clayton in ‘Hellraiser’.Spyglass Media Group
Hulu
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‘The Midnight Meat Train’.Everett Collection
Everett Collection
Everett Collection
Doug Bradley as Pinhead in 1987’s ‘Hellraiser’.Everett Collection
