(Photo by New World Releasing/courtesy Everett Collection)

All Hellraiser Movies Ranked by Tomatometer

Clive Barker may not have as many movie adaptations as fellow horror author Stephen King, but at least Barker’s directorial debut, 1987’s Hellraiser, is leagues above King’s single directing effort, Maximum Overdrive. Barker also wrote the screenplay for Hellraiser (based on his novella The Hellbound Heart), introducing freaky icon Pinhead, his Cenobite minions, and whipping some sadomasochism onto the modern horror scene. Besides the immediately recognizable look of the prickly Cenobites, the Hellraiser movies other trademark is the puzzle box which offer a fast and torturous track into another dimension. Doug Bradley portrayed Pinhead in the first eight Hellraiser movies, which, like many a franchise, saw diminishing returns with critics and audiences as the series lumbered on. A reboot and new adaptation of Hellbound Heart released in 2022. —Alex Vo

#1

Hellraiser (1987)
69%

#1

Adjusted Score: 73452%

Critics Consensus: Elevated by writer-director Clive Barker's fiendishly unique vision, Hellraiser offers a disquieting - and sadistically smart - alternative to mindless gore.

Synopsis: Sexual deviant Frank (Sean Chapman) inadvertently opens a portal to hell when he tinkers with a box he bought while... [More]

Starring: Andrew Robinson, Clare Higgins, Ashley Laurence, Sean Chapman

Directed By: Clive Barker

#2

Hellraiser (2022)
67%

#2

Adjusted Score: 74648%

Critics Consensus: A gift for long-suffering fans after numerous subpar sequels, David Bruckner's Hellraiser unlocks the puzzle box for getting this franchise back on the right track.

Synopsis: A new take on Clive Barker's 1987 horror classic in which a young woman struggling with addiction comes into possession... [More]

Starring: Jamie Clayton, Goran Visnjic, Odessa A'zion, Hiam Abbass

Directed By: David Bruckner

#3

Hellbound: Hellraiser II (1988)
52%

#3

Adjusted Score: 54118%

Critics Consensus: Hellbound: Hellraiser II retains the twisted visual thrill of its predecessor, although seams in the plot are already starting to show.

Synopsis: Confined to a mental hospital, young Kirsty Cotton (Ashley Laurence) insists her supposedly dead father is stuck in hell, controlled... [More]

Starring: Clare Higgins, Ashley Laurence, Kenneth Cranham, Imogen Boorman

Directed By: Tony Randel

#4

Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth (1992)
38%

#4

Adjusted Score: 39084%

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: After learning in "Hellraiser II" that he used to be British air force Capt. Elliot Spencer (Doug Bradley) -- before... [More]

Starring: Terry Farrell, Doug Bradley, Paula Marshall, Kevin Bernhardt

Directed By: Anthony Hickox

#5

Hellraiser: Judgment (2018)
31%

#5

Adjusted Score: 23733%

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: Detectives Sean and David Carter are on the case to hunt down a gruesome serial killer who is terrorizing the... [More]

Starring: Paul T. Taylor, Randy Wayne, Rheagan Wallace, Alexandra Harris

Directed By: Gary J. Tunnicliffe

#6

Hellraiser: Bloodline (1996)
25%

#6

Adjusted Score: 25277%

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: Three generations of the same family deal with the consequences of unleashing the forces of hell. In 18th-century France, Paul... [More]

Starring: Bruce Ramsay, Valentina Vargas, Doug Bradley, Kim Myers

Directed By: Kevin Yagher, Joe Chappelle

#7

Hellraiser: Inferno (2000)
14%

#7

Adjusted Score: 4513%

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: A Los Angeles detective (Craig Sheffer) wakes to find himself in hell, and his only means of leaving is with... [More]

Starring: Craig Sheffer, Doug Bradley, Nicholas Turturro, Nicholas Sadler

Directed By: Scott Derrickson

#8

Hellraiser: Deader (2005)
13%

#8

Adjusted Score: 4414%

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: A reporter (Kari Wuhrer) investigates an underground group that can resurrect the dead, much to Pinhead's (Doug Bradley) dismay.... [More]

Starring: Doug Bradley, Kari Wuhrer, Marc Warren, Georgina Rylance

Directed By: Rick Bota

#9

Hellraiser: Hellseeker (2002)
0%

#9

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: A shady businessman attempts to piece together the details of the car crash that killed his wife, rendered him an... [More]

Starring: Ashley Laurence, Doug Bradley, Dean Winters, Ken Camroux

Directed By: Rick Bota

#10

Hellraiser: Hellworld (2005)
0%

#10

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: Gamers who participate in an online role-playing game (MMORPG) are invited to a rave whose host plans to show them... [More]

Starring: Doug Bradley, Katheryn Winnick, Henry Cavill, Lance Henriksen

Directed By: Rick Bota

#11

Hellraiser: Revelations (2011)
0%

#11

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: Two college friends unwittingly release Pinhead (Stephan Smith Collins) and his minions.... [More]

Starring: Steven Brand, Jolene Andersen, Nick Eversman, Jay Gillespie

Directed By: Víctor García