Read Online The Hellraiser Films and Their Legacy by Paul Kane - Free Book Online
Authors: Paul Kane
Tags: General Fiction
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to Channard and Kyle. It should be clear by now that there would be no storyline at all if Kirsty wasn’t returning to Hell for her father. The fact that she doesn’t find him is, for her, disappointing, but does allow her to settle things once and for all with Julia and Frank.
There is a scene that has only recently been restored to the film, where Kirsty finds a replica in Hell of her old home, comforting and bathed in warm yellows. There are photographs on the sideboard, including a black and white one of Kirsty as a young girl with her real mother. Blood then pours out from under the photographs, covering the sideboard and filling up the picture she’s holding, which has turned into a photograph of Julia. Kirsty drops the picture, shattering the glass and frame, cockroaches spill from the drawers and the sideboard falls over in an outpouring of blood. Some might say it is an unnecessary scene, but it is a powerful one nevertheless, and Ashley Laurence’s acting rams home the destruction and heartache Julia—and by extension Frank—has caused.
It also aptly parallels the scene a little later when Kirsty walks through a copy of the front door at Lodovico Street. This time she finds herself in Frank’s Hell, filled with the obligatory candles which first guided him here when he solved the puzzle box. From arched openings, ghost women emerge on stone slabs beneath see-through material to tease and titillate, disappearing once the sheets are lifted. Frank appears, again wielding his phallic flick-knife, in an attempt to pick things up where they left off. He is still announcing himself as Uncle Frank, still desiring the forbidden. “That’s why I sent for you, Kirsty.”
This actually works better than in the second draft scene where Larry and Frank cohabit the same body. Here, instead of Larry taking his revenge by lifting his brother onto a wall of his own knives, thus giving him a taste of his own medicine and metaphorically raping him, Kirsty must take revenge for herself and for her father. It is vital that she do so, because only then will she have come of age. In both the wedding flashback and the photograph with her mother, Kirsty is shown as a little girl—vulnerable and ripe for Frank to abuse: “Don’t be naughty, Kirsty, or I’ll have to punish you first.” But her journey into Hell and third confrontation with Frank enables her to shed the trappings of childhood completely. “Grow up,” Frank barks at her, but she has already done that. The fact that she teases him herself, then turns the tables by setting the sheets and Frank on fire, shows that she now has the maturity to best him without having to rely on brute force.
This rites of passage theme is a momentous one and affects not just Kirsty, but Tiffany. Their relationship changes as the movie progresses. To begin with, Kirsty sees someone who is alone and subject to the evil forces at work: she basically sees herself. The pair could be sisters, and indeed they do mirror each other at times, especially when they both cry out for “Mommy” (Tiffany during the flashback sequence in the hall of mirrors, Kirsty while looking at the old photographs). In addition, they have both been the target of mistreatment, Kirsty by her uncle and Tiffany at the hands of Channard, another false patriarch with only manipulation in mind. However, the age difference between the girls makes a huge difference. Even though Tiffany is her guide in Hell, Kirsty is able to take on the mantle of big sister to keep Tiffany safe, at certain points even becoming the mother figure—not unlike Ripley and Newt in Aliens —particularly when Julia is around.
Paradoxically, Julia’s relationship with Kirsty has been a volatile one. Julia never had the nurturing instinct, preferring instead to gratify her sexual needs with Frank. This is why any attempt she makes to adopt the mother persona always fails. When she takes Kyle into the slaughter room, she says, “Oh you poor
There is a scene that has only recently been restored to the film, where Kirsty finds a replica in Hell of her old home, comforting and bathed in warm yellows. There are photographs on the sideboard, including a black and white one of Kirsty as a young girl with her real mother. Blood then pours out from under the photographs, covering the sideboard and filling up the picture she’s holding, which has turned into a photograph of Julia. Kirsty drops the picture, shattering the glass and frame, cockroaches spill from the drawers and the sideboard falls over in an outpouring of blood. Some might say it is an unnecessary scene, but it is a powerful one nevertheless, and Ashley Laurence’s acting rams home the destruction and heartache Julia—and by extension Frank—has caused.
It also aptly parallels the scene a little later when Kirsty walks through a copy of the front door at Lodovico Street. This time she finds herself in Frank’s Hell, filled with the obligatory candles which first guided him here when he solved the puzzle box. From arched openings, ghost women emerge on stone slabs beneath see-through material to tease and titillate, disappearing once the sheets are lifted. Frank appears, again wielding his phallic flick-knife, in an attempt to pick things up where they left off. He is still announcing himself as Uncle Frank, still desiring the forbidden. “That’s why I sent for you, Kirsty.”
This actually works better than in the second draft scene where Larry and Frank cohabit the same body. Here, instead of Larry taking his revenge by lifting his brother onto a wall of his own knives, thus giving him a taste of his own medicine and metaphorically raping him, Kirsty must take revenge for herself and for her father. It is vital that she do so, because only then will she have come of age. In both the wedding flashback and the photograph with her mother, Kirsty is shown as a little girl—vulnerable and ripe for Frank to abuse: “Don’t be naughty, Kirsty, or I’ll have to punish you first.” But her journey into Hell and third confrontation with Frank enables her to shed the trappings of childhood completely. “Grow up,” Frank barks at her, but she has already done that. The fact that she teases him herself, then turns the tables by setting the sheets and Frank on fire, shows that she now has the maturity to best him without having to rely on brute force.
This rites of passage theme is a momentous one and affects not just Kirsty, but Tiffany. Their relationship changes as the movie progresses. To begin with, Kirsty sees someone who is alone and subject to the evil forces at work: she basically sees herself. The pair could be sisters, and indeed they do mirror each other at times, especially when they both cry out for “Mommy” (Tiffany during the flashback sequence in the hall of mirrors, Kirsty while looking at the old photographs). In addition, they have both been the target of mistreatment, Kirsty by her uncle and Tiffany at the hands of Channard, another false patriarch with only manipulation in mind. However, the age difference between the girls makes a huge difference. Even though Tiffany is her guide in Hell, Kirsty is able to take on the mantle of big sister to keep Tiffany safe, at certain points even becoming the mother figure—not unlike Ripley and Newt in Aliens —particularly when Julia is around.
Paradoxically, Julia’s relationship with Kirsty has been a volatile one. Julia never had the nurturing instinct, preferring instead to gratify her sexual needs with Frank. This is why any attempt she makes to adopt the mother persona always fails. When she takes Kyle into the slaughter room, she says, “Oh you poor
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