Hellraiser Movies In Order (Release Date & Chronological)

Screen Rant

By Padraig Cotter

Published Jul 31, 2022

There are ten entries in the Hellraiser movie franchise thus far, and here they are arranged by both release date and chronological order.

Here's the Hellraiser movie franchise in order of release and chronology. Clive Barker came to fame as an author following the publication of his short story collections dubbed the Books Of Blood. His viscerally violent and erotic tales made him popular with readers, but after a bad experience providing the screenplays for movies like Rawhead Rex, he decided to make his own movie. He selected his novella The Hellbound Heart to adapt, which was a twisted love story about a man trying to escape from an order of demons with the help of his former lover - who is also his brother's wife.

The resulting film - renamed Hellraiser - was produced on a small budget and was once set to go straight to VHS. However, it got a theatrical release, with its shocking violence and haunting visuals testing the stomachs of even hardened horror fans. Hellraiser - which introduced the Cenobite demons - was a comfortable success, leading to a run of sequels. However, despite Pinhead becoming a horror icon in his own right, the movies never reached the popularity of other, more audience-friendly franchises like A Nightmare On Elm Street.

That's why later Hellraiser movies went straight to DVD, and the series hasn't had a theatrical outing since 1996. A Hulu reboot of Hellraiser is set to arrive on the platform sometime in 2022.

Hellraiser Movies In Release Order

The Hellraiser series may not have reached the heights of its horror rivals, but it speaks to the enduring popularity of Barker's creation that it has been running for over 30 years regardless. Fans tend to rate the first two entries the highest, though by the time 1996's Hellraiser: Bloodline - where a restored director's cut is impossible - arrived, its popularity had dipped. Starting with 2000's Hellraiser: Inferno (helmed by Doctor Strange's Scott Derrickson), the series went straight to DVD.

Hellraiser (1987)

Hellbound: Hellraiser II (1988)

Hellraiser III: Hell On Earth (1992)

Hellraiser: Bloodline (1996)

Hellraiser: Inferno (2000)

Hellraiser: Hellseeker (2002)

Hellraiser: Deader (2005)

Hellraiser: Hellworld (2005)

Hellraiser: Revelations (2011)

Hellraiser: Judgment (2018)

Hellraiser Movies In Chronological Order

Hellraiser Bloodlines doesnt deserve the bad reputation

The Hellraiser movies are relatively straightforward in terms of story chronology. That said, Hellraiser: Bloodline can be counted as both the first and last entry since it takes place across three timelines. The first story opens in 1796 with the creation of the Lament Configuration puzzle box, and the last tale ends on a space station in 2127 with the destruction of Pinhead. The first three movies follow on from each other quite smoothly in terms of story, but from Hellraiser: Inferno onwards the series essentially tells one-off stories. Hellraiser: Hellseeker does at least throw fans a bone with the return of Ashley Lawrence as Kirsty Cotton, even though that outing is one of the dullest.