One of Henry Cavill’s Earliest Roles Is This Lesser-Known ‘Hellraiser’ Movie

Once upon a time, a horror icon near the end of his career made a movie co-starring an actor on the verge of becoming a megastar. In 2005 came Hellraiser: Hellworld, the eighth movie in the franchise and the last time Doug Bradley would be under the makeup to play Pinhead. Let’s just be honest: Hellraiser: Hellworld was an awful movie. Still, it’s a horror film that matters in that it’s a goodbye to Bradley, who, no matter how bad the Hellraiser movies got, always made Pinhead terrifying. It also matters because it’s one of the first roles for a skinny British 22-year-old named Henry Cavill. That’s right, the future Superman and star of The Witcher and Argylleonce went toe-to-toe with Cenobites. Spoiler alert: it didn’t end well for young Cavill this time, but it was a notable stepping stone on his way to megastardom.

‘Hellraiser: Hellworld’ Marked the Last Appearance Of Doug Bradley as Pinhead

The first Hellraiser, released in 1987, written and directed by Clive Barker, and based on his novella, The Hellbound Heart, is an all-time horror classic. Pinhead (Bradley) and his Cenobites, hellish beings released when summoned through the Lament Configuration box, were a much welcomed addition to the genre, injecting excitement into a watered down era where everything had become about slashers. After that first film, however, the quality began to go down. Following the fourth film, 1996’s Hellraiser: Bloodline, the franchise was damned to direct-to-video. Still, Bradley stayed on, making it through eight entries, up to 2005’s Hellraiser: Hellworld.

Bradley’s last outing as Pinhead isn’t in a film worthy of his skill or the character. The premise is interesting enough, which has a group of people becoming addicted to Hellworld, an online game in which the host of the game is luring them to the Cenobites. It’s not a bad idea, but it’s horribly executed as noted by Rotten Tomatoes giving Hellraiser: Hellworlda 0% on the Tomatometer and a 22% by the audience. It’s described as weak, boring, moronic, and without a story. It’s a shame, as another horror legend, Lance Henriksen, is one of the leads as the host. It also co-stars a young Henry Cavill prior to his iconic role in Man of Steel.

Henry Cavill Faced off With a Cenobite in ‘Hellraiser: Hellworld’

Hellraiser: Hellworld is one of Cavill’s earliest roles. In the film, he plays a ѕєχ addict named Mike. With his thick dark hair, black leather jacket, and, of course, that chiseled chin, he looks like a movie star in the making. Mike is not a likable character as he doesn’t take a friend’s tragic death seriously and makes fun of a picture of a nun. We know he’s going to be a goner, and we’re fine with it. He’s lured to a party by the mysterious host. There, a beautiful woman wearing a mask gets Mike to follow her. She takes him to a chair where she gets on her knees in front of him and, well, you can guess what happens. Mike gets on his phone and makes a joke about his friend “blowing him off.” Later, the now unmasked woman tells Mike he owes her one. Alone in a secluded area, the woman disappears. Mike begins to get nervous when he finds himself being surrounded by jars of fetuses. He dismisses them as props, but then he finds a dead body and the head of his friend in another jar. The woman reveals herself to be a Cenobite offscreen. Before he dies, Mike gets to make one last joke saying, “Not good,” before a hook comes down and rips into his flesh. He writhes and screams in pain, putting on a believable performance. You can see the talent there that would later make Henry Cavill a superstar.

As he dies, Pinhead walks into the room, looks at Mike’s bloody corpse, and says, “This is just the beginning.” Oh, was it ever for Cavill. Alas, this is as close as we’d get to Pinhead and the future Superman sharing a scene together, but we do see Mike come back as a Cenobite with a hole in his chest and a stitched up face. It’s a shame, but there is no record of Henry Cavill ever talking about his role in Hellraiser: Hellworld. We can’t blame him for not wanting to mention it, but it’s a surprise that it hasn’t come up in an interview.

Henry Cavill Plays a ѕєχ Addict in ‘Hellraiser: Hellworld’

 

Henry Cavill recently made headlines when, during his promotion for Argylle, he told the Happy Sad Confused podcast that he wasn’t a fan of ѕєχ  scenes in movies and didn’t understand them. Maybe that’s why he was such a great Superman. We could see how much he loved Lois Lane (Amy Adams) without the two shown getting naked in Metropolis. Cavill said that ѕєχ scenes are often overused and not necessary and leave him feeling uncomfortable.

Watch Henry Cavill pretend to get some action in Hellraiser: Hellworld and you can see an actor who isn’t a fan of doing ѕєχ scenes, even if it’s not a graphic one. His character shows little interest in the woman he’s with and Cavill seems awkward. It’s not until that scene is over, and he gets to act with the actress through dialogue alone, that he comes alive again. It’s hilarious that one of the best looking and most desired men alive is so uncomfortable when it comes to love scenes, especially as it sure looks like he got over that awkwardness with the hot action in The Witcher. Perhaps playing a ѕєχ addict getting down with a Cenobite helped him get through it. After all, if you can do that, you can do anything.