I saw this film years ago, when it just was released in the cinemas here in the UK. I was young then and it was almost a painful experience to watch it through to conclusion. I remember it being described once as a horror film. I wouldn't have agreed with that as a genre, but I could see why. I feel that the much later BAISE MOI owes much to the ground that this first tread. I enjoyed it, but through parted fingers at the time. The many scenes that seemed to dwell lovingly on flesh pulled tight till bleeding seemed gruesome in extremis. I think I got it the first time. After that, HELLRAISER was hardly as dread as it hoped to be. With so many films being much the same as the other, I think we need more films like this - if only to give us more choice.
Review of Butterfly Kiss
