thePULSEBy Jason Savio
The hallowed history of horror cinema has seen its fair share of memorable monsters, but only a few have gone on to become icons of the genre. The darkest and grittiest of these visceral visions is Pinhead from Clive Barker’s 1987 Hellraiser. With his unforgettable appearance, the tortured demon became an instant favorite among horror hounds and continued his reign of pleasure and pain through nine sequels. Of course, there is a man behind the mask ~ and that man is Doug Bradley, a polite Englishman who is the polar opposite of his evil on-screen character.
“When I became an actor it was not with any specific intention to be working in the [horror] genre,” says Bradley, as he checks in from the Horror Realm convention in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
So what would attract an actor to the role of Pinhead? While film critics are notorious for panning the horror genre, Bradley, who got his start in theatre alongside Barker in Liverpool in the 1970s, has a very differnt perception of it.
“Horror for me is and always has been all about imagination,” says the veteran actor. “It explores all elements of fantasy, and you look at the building blocks of horror and it’s life and death and resurrection and blood and sex; all the interesting bits of the human condition are in there.”
It comes as no surprise then that Bradley’s most popular film, Hellraiser ~ which celebrates its twenty-fifth anniversary this year ~ contains all of these elements and remains relevant and a cult uber-classic even today.
”I think it’s an outstanding story and its themes are universal,” explains Bradley about the audience’s ongoing interest in/obsession with the film. “All of the ideas and themes that Clive is exploring in Hellraiser [are] themes that were being explored in the middle ages, [and] if we’re all still here will be exploring in two hundred years’ time.”
Bradley has a long list of other films he has been involved with as well, including the upcoming Wrong Turn 5 and Scream Park. He also produces his own collection of audiobooks entitled Doug Bradley’s Spine Chillers.
What are his thoughts on the surge of horror movie remakes over the past decade? “I hate it,” he says. “As far as Hellraiser specifically, I would be very pleased if it wasn’t remade.’’ That statement, of course, begs the question, if he were to be offered the role of Pinhead again in another sequel, would he accept?
“It has been [about] ten years since I last had the glue and latex on my head, so I guess at this point I wouldn’t be expecting to play the character again,” says Bradley. “But, if the right script came along, I wouldn’t be opposed to it. Never say never.”
Be sure to visit Doug Bradley at this year’s Rock and Shock at The Palladium and the DCU Convention Center.
Also visit www.Dougbradley.com.
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In deference to our interview with the one and only Doug Bradley, we decided to share some of our favorite Pinhead quotes:
“Do I look like someone who cares what God thinks?”
“Your suffering will be legendary, even in hell.”
“You solved the box, we came, Now you must come with us. Taste our pleasures.”
“Just come here and die child, while you still have the option of doing it quickly.”
“Oh, no tears please, for it’s a waste of good suffering.”
“Down the dark decades of your pain, this will seem like a memory of Heaven.”
“Pain has a face; allow me to show it to you. I am pain.”
“Demons to some, Angels to others.”
“We have such sights to show you!”
And of course, the unforgettable “We’ll tear your soul apart.”
Admit it, Pinhead rules!
Photo courtesy of Doug Bradley at Flashback Weekend 2011 courtesy clayguy.com
