CW: gore, blood, suicide
It’s my favorite time of year! Fall is the best…cozy clothes, crackling wood fires, warm tea, and it’s also the time when I force my husband to watch horror movies with me. Over the last few years we’ve enjoyed the early classics of the genre (Frankenstein, Dracula, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari), the horror cinema of the 1960s and 70s (The Wicker Man, Dawn of the Dead, Invasion of the Body Snatchers), and current day remixes of the genre (The Cabin in the Woods, Get Out, Us).
Not only are stained glass windows present in many films of this category, but sometimes they are prominent—almost integral—to the plot, visual effects, or atmosphere in which our protagonists flee the big bad. I’ll have more to share this month than others; there are just so many options to choose from!
First up is Hellraiser. The original. I was inspired to watch after listening to an episode of Unspooled, a podcast dedicated to discussing some of the greatest movies of all time. At the end of the Midsommar episode, Amy Nicholson teased the next episode as one she thought would be the ultimate scarepiece: Hellraiser. The other host, Paul Scheer, hadn’t seen it. The date was set.
Ok, so Paul and I agreed that Hellraiser isn’t as glorious as Amy thinks, but rather a pretty bananas, schlocky movie with a few fun themes and interesting horror touchstones. But! The stained glass of the main house (where over 70% of the movie is set) was so noteworthy!
I learned that, in order to save money, the scenes depicting the Cotton family house were filmed in a real house in London. It was appropriately disheveled at the time of production, so little needed to be done to make it fit the rundown look from the plot. According to Amy Nicholson on Unspooled, the reason the house was up for sale for cheap was because someone had committed suicide in the garage by carbon dioxide poisoning.
The stained glass manifests throughout the entire movie, with most panels visible in just the first few scenes set here. The front door, hall windows, and even upper sections of bay windows, are filled with simple lead came panels with singular floral designs centered among square panes of textured clear glass. At times, the red and green bursts of color twinkle behind the characters during scenes of suspense and tension.
Throughout the movie, the windows themselves seem to become background characters, welcoming guests into the home and surrounding our protagonists. Even the upstairs attic window, covered hastily with paper for privacy, mimic the stained glass look.
Enjoy this collection of the best screen grabs from Hellraiser, and don’t get too frightened!
No copyright infringement intended.
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One of the first scenes of the Cotton House.
Glass on both levels of the stairwell.
Always in the background.
From the exterior, lit from inside.
Oh, this guy.
The house exterior. Look close and you can see the glass windows all around!
The paper “stained glass” in the attic, showing off our gooey friend Frank.