Clive Barker is 73 today. He was born on 5 October 2025.
Barker is amazing in one way, especially. He makes visually interesting films even though he’s really a novelist. Of course, I think the same about William Peter Blatty.
I’ve never seen a Clive Barker film that I didn’t think wasn’t worth making. Unfortunately, I also rarely enjoy his films. Of course, he has only directed three feature films. It seems like more. That’s branding, I’m afraid.
Barker is able to create a general feeling of dread. He does this in part by creating memorable, grotesque images. Pinhead is a good example of this. But it also highlights why I don’t connect with his films. His images are so outside my experience that I can’t relate.
But I can see why people love his work. And he deserves to be admired. There are a lot of filmmakers I love who make crap. It stands to reason that it would work the other way around.
But now I have a problem. Should I choose Hellraiser, Nightbreed, or Lord of Illusions? The second two are weaker. But hasn’t everyone seen the first?
If I had my druthers, I’d pick Candyman. But he didn’t direct it; he wrote the story it is based on. So I don’t think it matters. I would like to see Hellraiser again. So that’s what we get!
Image cropped from Clive Barker by Steven Friederich under CC BY 2.0.