Watching Hellraiser while thinking about David Cronenberg

I am currently trying to close some gaping Bildungslücken, embarrassing holes in my knowledge about things I really should know about.

So I sat down the other night to watch Clive Barker’s Hellraiser. It was late at night and most of the lights had stopped working due to a broken fuse, temporarily beyond repair. Furthermore I was alone in a flat that isn’t mine. So far so good.

I admit to not having a clue about the plot, or anything else for that matter, apart from the iconic picture of the man with the needles in his head. Yes I was taken by surprise by the gore. I get grossed out pretty easily and am continuously astonished by the power of unconvincing special effects. The idea is enough. I screamed at the breaking of a wrist in The Fly and cried with disgust watching Videodrome. It works for me. I squeal, cringe and close my eyes. Then I rewind and watch it again, feeling a sense of duty after making a commitment to watching the film not shouting at it. It’s the film’s turn to talk.

I didn’t finish Hellraiser. It was the lurking in dark corners of the utterly revolting brother that pushed me beyond what I was able to deal with. I could not decide whether he appalled me more with or without skin. I am tempted to say with. What scared me most was that I could not work out why I got so frightened. The story is silly and the hooks tearing off the flesh aren’t in the least bit believable effects. I was impressed at the level of repulsion I felt at the creepy sexual tension between the woman and the leaky skeleton. I did not stop watching because I thought the film was bad, I stopped because I was afraid of not getting any sleep after watching it.

Speaking of The Fly and Videodrome. I have for quite some time tried to figure out why I like the films of David Cronenberg so much. It is a late blooming love affair as it only started recently with Eastern Promises, a film that still reigns high among my all-time favourites. I developed a personal obsession with the film after having to convince so many people about its brilliance and succeeding with quite a few. As a result I started to revisit all of his films. I am fascinated by Cronenberg because his films affect me in ways few others do. Dead Ringers had me glued to the screen and once it was finished I was so shaken that I never want have to sit through it again. That is meant as a compliment.

His films involve you, they are dark and compelling. They suck you into your own attraction with what goes against yourself. They aren’t pleasant films but they are brilliant in their physicality. Cronenberg takes the emotional power of the cinema as far as possible, his films hit you right in your gut, momentarily shutting off your intellect by overpowering your senses. It is this tangibility that generates the fascination. They connect right back to the feeling you had as a child finding a dead bird. Horrified as you might be, you can’t leave it alone curious as to how it would feel if you touched it. It is also the shock of something fundamentally beautiful turned into something ugly and frightening. Cronenberg peels away the beauty without destroying it. Like Naomi Watts cannot stay away from Viggo Mortensen and the mob world she stumbles into in Eastern Promises, I will forever return to the films of David Cronenberg.

One of these days I will return to Clive Barker and his Hellraiser as well. Preferably in the morning or at least after the lights have been fixed.