A Bloody Good Time 12.18.08: Clive Barker's Column of Blood

Posted by Joseph Lee on 12.18.2008

A look into the history of Barker's involvement in horror films.

Welcome to A Bloody Good Time. Two weeks ago there was a Phantasm Franchise breakdown, and then I had to cancel the column for finals week. I'm sure you all know what that's like. Let's get to same comments.

Poppycock said: I do love me some Phantasm. Shame it's so darn hard to get on DVD. I really wish they could get their act together and get one final movie out. Scrimm is really old now and without him, there's no point. In fact, you need to get most of the cast together which shouldn't be too hard. Scrimm was on Adult Swim a few years back and still is awesome creepy. I'd like to see a part V and be done with it. Because you know as well as I do that in 5-8 years Hollywood will get ahold of this franchise, remake it and stick some god awful teens in all the leads.

You have no idea how close we were to a remake a few years ago. I don't know about placing teens in the leads, but either New Line or Dimension, I forget which, was strongly considering making an epic fantasy (with a horror twist) out of Phantasm. And the DVD's aren't hard to pick up thanks to our friends at Anchor Bay. The first and third have recently been re-released in special editions.

Boo says: I didn't see this franchise until about 5 years ago. I really enjoyed all of them and I think part 2 was really underrated. Never say never on part 5....the Guns n roses album got released right? haha....Too bad we don't have any writers with original ideas like we did in the past.

I disagree on Part 2...although I did love the chainsaw fight, like I said the last time. I honestly don't think Don Coscarelli would get a chance in today's Hollywood scene, if you can claim he's even had a chance. Almost everything he's released has been independent. His ideas are just too out-there for Hollywood. Which is probably why the Phantasm remake never got off the ground (thank God).

This week I've decided to talk about Clive Barker, and his history of being in the world of horror films. He's tried directing, he's had his works made by others. Which were good, which were not so good? What did critics think? You'll remember about this time last year I did a similar column on Stephen King. That took three parts, Barker's won't take nearly as long. King just writes more and his works are sometimes more mainstream. As any fan of Clive Barker can tell you, his stories are nowhere near the mainstream.

Barker was born in Liverpool, England in 1952. He studied English and philosophy at Liverpool University. He's openly gay and has lived for seventeen years with his partner David Armstrong, a photographer. He's won awards for speaking out on gay rights. But that's not what we're here about. It's cool that he is so outspoken, but I think we're interested in what he has written. Barker got his start writing short stories. These were mostly collected in his Books of Blood. His first novel was The Damnation Game in 1985. He's written a small number of books, his most popular being The Thief of Always, Abarat and The Hellbound Heart. He's currently working on The Scarlet Gospels, a novel that will kill off the character of Pinhead forever, along with Absolute Midnight, the third book in the Abarat series. He's also an accolmplished painter.

Beginnings in Film: Barker's first foray into film came in 1973, when he directed a short film based on his story "Salome". In 1978 he would directed a short film based on his story "The Forbidden". Both films had a surreal aura to them and were very experimental. In 1985, he wrote a story for a low budget horror film called Underworld (also known as Transmutations). It was about a mad doctor who kept mutants underground. One year later, he gave the world Rawhead Rex (1986), a movie about a demon moving through the Irish countryside and killing people. It was based on his story of the same name. Both films were directed by George Pavlou.

Fed up with Hollywood taking his stories and turning them into B-movie level crap, Barker decided to go out on his own and direct his first theatrical film.



Hellraiser: In 1987, Barker struck gold. In directing his own work for a theatrical film, he chose The Hellbound Heart and turned it into Hellraiser. The film is generally regarded as one of the greatest horror films of all time (it even made my top 100 list, at #7!). Hellraiser presented a macabre romance, grotesque demons and a world and mythology that made it a cult classic. It was followed with seven sequels. Hellbound: Hellraiser 2 came in 1988, but Barker didn't return to direct. In fact, with each sequel he would have less and less involvement until he was done with the franchise around the third entry, which was Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth (1992). One more theatrical sequel followed, and then the series went straight-to-DVD. A remake has been in the works for a while, but there has been no movement on it.

The Golden Years of the 90's: After Hellraiser, Barker put out some films which either were critically acclaimed or have since become cult classics. Nightbreed, directed by Barker, was based on his novel Cabal. It was about a man who had visions of a city called Midian, a world populated by monsters. The man is framed for a series of murders and soon believes himself to be a monster so he journeys to Midian. His demented psychiatrist, the true murderer (a brilliant turn by director David Cronenberg) follows him to discover the whereabouts of the world. This movie also had Doug "Pinhead" Bradley in a role of one of the monsters. It was a failure critically and financially, but has since grown to cult classic status. Barker wishes to find the reels so he can make a director's cut, as he was unsatisfied with the original version.



His next film would be directed by Bernard Rose, and would be another version of the short story "The Forbidden". Candyman was released in 1992. The film was about a reporter who tries to find out the secret of the Candyman mythology, only she goes much deeper than she intended to when she meets the myth himself. Tony Todd became something of a horror icon with this role, which he would continue to portray in two more sequels: Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh (1995) and Candyman: Day of the Dead (1999). Another sequel has been rumored for years, as has a possible remake with a white Candyman. Kill me now.

After Candyman, Barker returned to directing, with Lord of Illusions (1995) based on the story "The Last Illusion". This film brought one of Barker's beloved characters, private detective Harry D'Amour to the big screen. In this film he is played by Scott Bakula. The theatrical cut was considered a flop, although it currently has 70% on Rotten Tomatoes. I really enjoyed it, and consider it to be one of Barker's better works. I might be biased because I'm both a Barker and a Bakula fan. The character of Harry D'Amour is expected to be in The Scarlet Gospels, whenever it finally comes out.

Absence from Film and other projects: Lord of Illusions wasn't just Barker's last film that he directed, but for the most part, his last film period for a long time. He wasn't involved with any of the Hellraiser or Candyman sequels, which continued to be made as recently as 2005. Barker himself would write stories for video games, such as Undying and Jericho. He also created a television movie based on his comic series Saint Sinner in 2002. Barker was also a producer for the films Gods and Monsters and The Plague. He also contributed two episodes of the Masters of Horror series, those being "Valerie on the Stairs" and "Haeckel's Tale".

Return: This year, Barker returned to film with an adaptation of The Midnight Meat Train, directed by Ryuhei Kitamura (Versus). It's based on his short story of the same name, and it's about a man who witnesses a series of killings on a train. One day he falls asleep on the train and sees it's horrifying destination. I don't want to give my thoughts about this movie just yet (it may end up in next week's column, after all), but it was well-liked critically and horror fans seemed to enjoy it. Barker has more works out in the next couple of years. He's producing a film called Born about killer claymations, with Paul Bettany and Jennifer Connelly attached. Two more works based on his short stories include Book of Blood and Dread. Rumored projects include Tortured Souls, which has been in development hell, the Hellraiser remake and a big screen adaptation of The Thief of Always, which I hope gets off the ground because I really love the book.

It's good to see more Barker stories being adapted, as he has a rich library of stories. One last note, I'm still waiting for The Scarlet Gospels! Finish it Clive!

Here's the trailer for Book of Blood. Next week I will present the best and worst of horror. The top ten terrors return with a look at 2008, but I'll also present the worst three horror films! If you've got any suggestions, respond below...because I've got some movies I want to watch before then and could always use some more blood, especially during the "happy cheery" holidays.