The Hellraiser Films and Their Legacy (25 page)

From left to right: writer Pete Atkins, director Anthony Hickox, producer Lawrence Mortoff and effects man Bob Keen.
Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth
publicity still (photograph credit: Keith Payne).

His supporters, on the other hand, felt that it would make a huge difference that he wasn’t directing one of his own screenplays. In any event, the opportunity itself arose immediately after the filming of
Waxwork II
because of a good turn Hickox had done. After giving movie insurance broker Buckley Norris a small role in the film as the judge, Norris repaid the favor by mentioning Hickox during dinner with Larry Kuppin. Hickox received the phone call in the middle of the night asking if he would like to do
Hellraiser III
, “And I was like, yes, I wanna do
Hellraiser III
please. And that was basically it.”
²¹
But the director did admit to being concerned not only about the rigors of having to start another film so soon after one had wrapped but also about his change in style: “This represents a major U-turn in my directorial approach. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t worried about pulling it off.”
²²
What did help was Hickox’s admiration for the first two films, something that would give him a pointer as to how to pitch number three.

The next step after securing both the writer and a new director was casting. With only two actors from the previous films returning—Bradley as Pinhead, and Ashley Laurence as Kirsty (her scenes were filmed on a barren dubbing set with a video camera long before the movie began shooting)—the task of filling the vacant roles remained. It was something Hickox found both exciting and frightening: “It was scary, but there was an amazingly good response because people want to be in
Hellraiser
movies. We basically auditioned people. Terry Farrell came in first and she was great.”
²³
So great that the director started dating her after they worked together on the movie, Hickox having something of a reputation at the time for romancing his leading ladies. The beautiful twenty-eight-year-old Iowa-born actress had already starred in a number of TV shows and films. She first appeared as an Elite Model in Robert Goralnick’s
Portfolio
(1983), reflecting what she did for a living before acting. Next came a part as Laurie Caswell in the TV series
Paper Dolls
in 1984, then as Nicki Phillips in
The Cosby Show
in 1985. She featured in
The Twilight Zone
and
Family Ties
, both 1986, and
Beverly Hills Madam
with Faye Dunaway.

She gave up her promising career to live with actor Mickey Rourke for a few years, but was ready to start again by the early nineties. Hickox had wanted Farrell to star in
Waxwork II
but it clashed with a commercial assignment, so he promised if the lead in anything else came up he’d contact her, little realizing that would be a
Hellraiser
movie. For the young actress it would mark something of a comeback, and would almost immediately springboard Farrell to her most prominent role as Dax in
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
. Speaking about her character, she said she saw Joey as “A driven career woman who has not come to terms with her father’s death. It is because of his death in Vietnam that she has a connection with Elliott. He is able to come into her world in her dreams.”
²⁴
To prepare for her role she studied tapes of TV reporters and read a book by famous journalist and television producer Linda Ellerbee.

The substantial part of J.P. Monroe went to thirty-year-old Kevin Bernhardt, who had something of a soap opera background. Bernhardt had starred in
General Hospital
as a temporary replacement in 1984, then as Dr. Kevin O’Connor (1985–1986) and in
Dynasty
as Father Tanner McBride during 1989. The intervening years saw him feature in the European films
Le Feu sous la peau
(Gérard Kikoïne, 1985) and
Escuadrón
(José Antonio de la Loma, 1987), as well as Charles Norton’s actioner
Kick or Die
(1987). Genre fans would also remember him for a stint on the appalling
Superboy
television series in 1989. Bernhardt had the same dark good looks as Sean Chapman, which was quite appropriate as the characters of Monroe and Frank have much in common.

For Monroe’s girlfriend and pivotal character, Terri, they plumped for relative newcomer Paula Marshall, who in spite of playing a woman younger than Joey was in fact the same age as Farrell. Coincidentally, Marshall had also been in
Superboy
, though much later than Berhardt, but it wasn’t her first brush with a comic book hero. Her inaugural role was as John Wesley Shipp’s girlfriend in the pilot of DC’s
The Flash
(1990). Subsequent TV work took in the crime series
True Blue
and
Mancuso, FBI
(both 1990), and she would later go on to star in
Grapevine
,
Life Goes On
, and coming of age show
The Wonder Years
(all 1992). Marshall’s look combined just the right amount of vulnerability and attitude. It was an important casting decision, because along with Bradley and Farrell she would make up the third member of the nucleus of characters at the very heart of
Hell on Earth
. As Hickox explained: “This one was really driven by Doug and Terry and Paula. If they didn’t work, that movie would be a disaster.”
²⁵
The director was so impressed that he used her again, not once, but twice, in
Warlock: Armageddon
and
Full Eclipse
(both 1993).

For Joey’s cameraman and friend, Daniel “Doc” Fisher, Lawrence Kuppin had the perfect actor in mind. A friend of his, Ken Carpenter, had just the look they were after: a rough and ready jobbing technician, one of the unsung heroes of the media that holds the reports together. Carpenter’s first taste of film work, and of genre work, was on Brian De Palma’s
Phantom of Paradise
(1974), a rock reworking of the famous
Phantom of the Opera
story, with, aptly, elements of Faust included. In this he played another behind the scenes hired hand, almost prophetic considering Doc’s calling. On TV he was A.L. Alexander in
The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case
(1976), but there was a considerable gap before 1989’s children’s adventure
Spirit of the Eagle
(Boon Collins). Apparently Hickox thought that the tall, bearded man was too cleaned up for the film—a process which involved a hair trim—but he still managed to retain that earthy, hard-working appearance. The movie would also mark his first time playing a monster, when Doc is transformed into the Camerahead Cenobite, of which Carpenter enthused, “It’s incredible. I’m fascinated with what I have to play with in this movie. I sat there in awe as they were applying my make-up ... and I thought, I’ve become another person. I don’t know who I am....”
²⁶

Veteran actor Clayton Hill was chosen to play the priest who opposes Pinhead in the church scene. Hill had started in show biz at a very early age, singing in beer gardens with a three-piece combo when he was just six years of age. When he was a teenager he sang on the radio station WTAE-Pittsburgh, then after the army and drama school he took the role of lead zombie in George A. Romero’s
Dawn of the Dead
(1978), for which he also served as weapons coordinator. He worked again with Romero for
Nightriders
in 1981, as second assistant director. Adding further strings to his bow, Hill also did some stunt work and location scouting for films.

Peter G. Boynton secured the part of Joey’s father, who still haunts her dreams. His first role was in
Big Apple Birthday
(Nick De Noia, 1978) as the Frog Prince. Boynton appeared in
The Catlins
TV series as Beau Catlin (1983–1984), before taking a role in Luis Aira’s
Miloha
a.k.a.
The Pool
(1987). Aimée Leigh
—
sometimes created as Aimee Lee—joined the cast as Sandy, the blonde whom Monroe has sex with before discarding her. Her portfolio consisted of an uncredited part in Russell Mulcahy’s cop thriller,
Ricochet
(1991), alongside Denzel Washington and Ice T. According to Hickox and Bradley,
²⁷
she apparently hadn’t read the script, and wasn’t at all happy about the bedroom scenes with Bernhardt. She was eventually talked around, but only if the actor covered her breasts with his hands—which, if anything, adds an even more perverted twist.

As for other minor parts, this wasn’t “Blond Nurse” Sharon Hill’s first medical role, as she had starred as the unfeasibly-named Nurse Flovilla Thatch in Russ Meyer’s
Beneath the Valley of the Ultra-Vixens
(1979); “Female Cop” Shanna Teare had been a stuntwoman on Hickox’s two
Waxwork
films and
Sundown
; “Male Cop” Bob Bragg had been stunt coordinator on those films as well as many others; “Second Male Cop” Bob Stephens had also worked in the stunt industry—most recently on
Cape Fear
(Martin Scorsese, 1991), while Brent Bolthouse from
Waxwork II
filled in as the DJ, a dual part shared by an uncredited Eric Willhelm as the C.D. Cenobite. Young Bobby Knoop and Hickox’s brother, James, played yuppies, and the go-go dancers were ably brought to life by Tonya Saunders, Angela Thomas, Kim Ball, Cassandra Perry, Anna Marie Isaacs and Flame.

“Of course,” admitted Hickox afterwards, “there were lots of people that were friends of friends and anybody who would actually arrive who could act in Greensboro would be grabbed and put into a part.”
²⁸
There were even producers onscreen. Larry Kuppin is a derelict, and Lawrence Mortoff the tramp who sells J.P. Monroe the statue, not to mention Pete Atkins returning to acting as both the barman and the fire-breathing “Barbie” Cenobite.

On the production side, the crew was made up of virtually all new people. But after working on
Nightbreed
and
Waxwork II
production designer Steve Hardie was more than qualified for the assignment of making places like Joey’s flat and the nightclub a reality. Taking over from Robin Vidgeon was cinematographer Gerry Lively, who had worked with Hickox on
Waxwork II
. Editing chores would fall again to another Hickox regular, Christopher Cibelli, from both
Waxwork
s and
Sundown
, and James Hickox. Costume designer Leonard Pollack had also worked on the first
Waxwork
and
Sundown
. Completing the team was art director Tim Eckel.

Gary J. Tunnicliffes first
Hellraiser
, pictured here with helper Fiona Leech (courtesy Gary J. Tunnicliffe).

It was left to Bob Keen and Image Animation to bridge the gap from the first two movies, but at the same time they came to the project having worked on Hickox’s movies as well. Keen and his crew were the ones primarily responsible for the look of the new Pseudo Cenobites. On board in the make-up department was Paul Jones as make-up effects coordinator, Martin L. Mercer as make-up artist and Gary J. Tunnicliffe as part of the make-up crew. The latter, who had worked on the short-lived forerunner to
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
:
She Wolf of London
(1990), would also be responsible for the Lament Configuration boxes and would play a huge part in the
Hellraiser
story from this movie onwards.

Possibly the most worrying news, though, was that Christopher Young would not be scoring the film. Four years after Barker wanted to use Coil for the soundtrack of
Hellraiser
,
Hell on Earth
was all set to have a full-blown rock soundtrack. The makers gathered together some of the most original heavy metal musicians around to lay down their songs. Obviously, some would be used for scenes within J.P. Monroe’s nightclub, Armored Saint, for example, singing “Hanging Judge.” But others would be there just for the sheer hell of it, including a genuine “Hellraiser” song performed by Motorhead, with lyrics by Lemmy Kilmister and that famous Prince of Darkness, Ozzy Osbourne. Other artists and songs on the soundtrack included “Divine Thing” by the Soup Dragons; “What Girls Want” by Material Issue; “Go with Me” by Ten Inch Men; “I Feel Like Steve” by the Electric Love Hogs; “Waltzing with a Jaguar” by the Chainsaw Kittens; “Baby Universal” by David Bowie and Tin Machine; “Down, Down, Down” by House of Lords; and “Troublemaker” by Triumph. Unfortunately, upon test screenings it was decided to cut back on their usage in the main body of the film, with a cinematic soundtrack taking its place.