HORROR BUSINESS Episode 23: Clive Barker-sode (HELLRAISER and NIGHTBREED)

Greetings pinheads, butterballs, and all things in betwixt, and welcome back to Horror Business, the podcast that has such sights to show you. Thanks as always for listening, and we have a great episode for you! First and foremost we want to give a shoutout to our sponsors over at Lehigh Valley Apparel Creations, the premiere screenprinting company of the Lehigh Valley. Chris Reject and his merry band of miscreants are ready to work with you to bring to life your vision of a tshirt for your business, band, project, or whatever else it is you need represented by a shirt, sweater, pin, or coozy. Head on over to www.xlvacx.com to check them out. Thanks! This episode we are talking about works of English horror maestro Clive Barker, specifically Nightbreed and Hellraiser.  We begin by talking about what we’ve seen recently. We were fortunate enough to catch the ‘80s classic Night Of The Comet at the Mahoning Drive In’s third annual Zombiefest, (more info on the drive in and upcoming events can be found here) and we discuss the social messages of the film and how it was much better than either of us remember it. We discuss Alien: Covenant, and then discuss the concept of personal taste and aesthetic preferences when it comes to film and how differences in such taste is handled oftentimes. We then talk about the recent film Colossal and how the actual film differs drastically from how it was marketed. First up is 1990’s Nightbreed. We open up by talking about how each of us got into the work of Clive Barker, his particular style of writing, and the impact he’s had on the genre of horror and fantasy. We talk about the symbolism present in Nightbreed (anti-colonialism, LGBTQ issues) and Justin discusses how growing up the movie resonated with him as a symbol for getting into punk. We talk about the difference between the theatrical cut and the directors cut, in particular the ending, Boone’s hallucinations, and the increased screen time for the monsters in the directors cut. The performances of the actors in the movie and the theme of small towns embracing a fascist attitude towards anything remotely different is briefly examined. The concept of ones “true face”, i.e. our inner selves versus the self we project outwards to society is discussed. Up next is arguably Clive Barker’s most famous film, 1987’s Hellraiser. We discuss the various themes of this movie, including Frank’s hedonism as a metaphor for addiction, the interchangeability of pleasure and pain, and the concept of morality under duress. The aesthetic choices of the film are examined, including the look of the Cenobites, the way the house seems ominous and illogical, the ‘uniquely gross’ look of the film overall. The performances of the actors, particularly Sean Chapman, Ashley Laurence, and Andrew Robertson, are discussed, and finally the cultural impact of the original film and how unorthodox it was and indeed continues to be are discussed. Justin closes out the discussion with two humorous (or so he thinks) anecdotes involving Hellraiser.   As always thanks to everyone and anyone who checked this episode out, or shared a tweet/shared a post on FB/gave us love by recommending us to someone. We love you forever for listening. Any questions, comments, suggestions for movies and guests, or if you yourself want to join us for a movie viewing or even an episode, can be sent to [email protected]. We would love to hear from you! Thanks always to Justin Miller and Doug Tilley for their technical contributions and fliers, Mike Smaczylo for the awesome fliers, and also thanks to Josh “Downtown Larry Brown” Alvarez for the theme song, Chris and LVAC for the support and buttons (check them out at www.xlvacx.com), and a HUGE thank you to anyone who retweeted us or shared something on Facebook that we posted. Follow us on Twitter at @thehorrorbiz666, like us on Facebook at facebook.com/thehorrorbiz66, and remember to rate, review, and subscribe to us on ITunes. In fact, if you write us a review, email us with your mailing address and we’ll send you some free pins and stickers! Check out www.cinepunx.com for more info on some of our other podcasts and how you can donate to our Patreon! Until next time…thanks!