That's a great scene :)

I'm surprised I'm not dead because I know a lot of people that love that movie.

In time...

There's another movie that I'm not particularly keen on that I'm not even gonna bring up because it's a classic.

I can see why you didn't particularly like Hellraiser. I wasn't keen on it either the first time I watched it, but I gave it another shot and loved it.

I was very mixed on Hellraiser -- loved the box to other dimension concept and interactions. But the human characters & their interactions left a lot to be desired, especially the mom and the undead ex-lover.

Yeah they focused too much on that but I actually think the box and the cenobites work better when they're not the main focus or else you end up with Hellraiser 3

That was by far the worst of the first 4 movies. They turned Hellraiser into a fucking slasher series!

Yeah and tried to make Pinhead into a witty Freddy Krueger type which didn't work at all.

I agree, 9 times out of 10 the Cenobites shouldn't be the main focus; so the human main characters have to offer something to draw you in & to care about them. With Hellraiser I didn't find much of anything with the main characters to latch onto -- I didn't care about them. Eventually I cared about & identified with the daughter, but only through her interaction with the box & Cenobites.

As has been said many times, & I wholehearted agree, the key for a horror film is for the audience to care about & empathize with the characters so they experience the horror with them. Otherwise you might as well page through a Fangora magazine.
I want more from the characters, to make it a story, not a exploitumentary.

I agree with you, there's more there (masochism) then meets the eye, but with the ex-lover, I didn't find it particularly engaging.

I agree sex is a staple in Horror, but only in the sense it's a staple in life and all films - "sex" as in "mate interest" is a staple in all fiction film. I would say Horror film simply focuses more on the visceral side of everything, including sex. If a film offers nothing but the boobs-gore, boobs-gore button pushing formula, I don't think that makes it more classic Horror, & certainly not a better film. (Not talking about Hellraiser.)

Netflix has uploaded a ton of Hellraiser' films. I've only seen Hellraiser. Can anyone recommend the best ones, story/character-wise?