What does it take to turn Cenobites against each
other? Perhaps even Pinhead's loyal Chatterer isn't immune to betrayal.
The horrifying Cenobite known as Chatterer has been a part of the "Hellraiser" franchise since
the very beginning. Even though he was not referred to by that name, the demon
was featured in the novella that introduced the Cenobites, "The Hellbound Heart." Author Clive
Barker's description is very close to how the character would appear in his own film adaptation:
"Its features were so heavily scarified — the wounds nurtured until they ballooned — that
its eyes were invisible, and its words corrupted by the disfigurement of its mouth."
One major difference between the original fiction and the film adaptation is that Chatterer could
actually speak at first, though most likely he was hard to understand. In the films and comics,
the creature only communicates through the rather disturbing trademark of clicking
his exposed teeth together instead of spewing out garbled sentences.
In the first "Hellraiser" film and its sequel, Chatterer was played by Nicholas Vince,
who made his screen debut with the role. According to Paul Kane, author of "The Hellraiser Films and
Their Legacy," Vince was a drama student enrolled at Mountview Theatre School in London when he met
Clive Barker. One of Vince's classmates was Simon Bamford, who was a member of Barker's theater
group, the Dog Company. Bamford would later accept a role as one of the Cenobites, and it was through
him that Vince met Barker at a party, which led to a discussion about working together shortly after.
In an interview with Devolution Magazine, Vince briefly described his working relationship
with Barker during the years leading up to the production of the iconic horror flick:
"I ended up modeling for the covers of 'Books of Blood' and I think I'm on four out of six,
either my head or bits of my body. So, Clive had known me for nearly three years by the
time 'Hellraiser' came about. He knew I could do physical stuff so he said,
'Would you like to be in a movie? There is some makeup involved.'"
As it turned out, that was something of an understatement.
"The box. You opened it. We came."
Almost nothing is known about Chatterer until the second film, "Hellbound:
Hellraiser 2," which features a brief glimpse of what the creature looked like as a human
before his horrific transformation. After the film's evil doctor antagonist mutates
into the powerful Channard Cenobite, he faces off against Pinhead and his demon followers,
including Chatterer. Even though Channard is outnumbered, he slays each foe,
which reveals their past forms. That's when we see Chatterer as a young boy.
When talking with Devolution Magazine, actor Nicholas Vince admitted he was upset at first
about the way that scene was captured on film. But as he fleshed out his own backstory for
the character, he became more intrigued by the concept of a child Cenobite. He said,
"I realize I was really pissed off that the moment Chatterer changes you didn't get to see me,
you got to see a boy. Over the years I found the idea of a boy growing up in hell fascinating. All
the other Cenobites are revealed to be adults, but a boy? That whole idea was really interesting."
Once Chatterer had become a member of Pinhead's entourage, one of his early victims was the
celebrity Janice Baur. In the short story "Losing Herself in the Part" from "Clive
Barker's Hellraiser" #8, the actress rejects a role offered by director Steven Sigourney
because she cannot relate to the level of pain her character has gone through. In response,
Sigourney hands her the Lament Configuration and asks her to carry out an acting exercise
with it by getting the puzzle box into the Shape of Pain. Intrigued by this new method,
she takes the box home and works on it right away.
Baur's fascination turns dark quickly as she cuts her hands for days to solve the puzzle. She
also begins to have vivid nightmares of Hell. Her descent into madness made her feel ready to accept
the part, but that's when the Lament Configuration opens and sends the actress into Hell. There,
she is tortured by Chatterer and the other Cenobites while Sigourney films it all. Baur
then continues to act in films, but her life is dominated by the creatures of Hell from then on.
In "Hellraiser Nightbreed: Jihad" #1 and #2, the Cenobites initially confront the Nightbreed
in an epic crossover showdown between two of Clive Barker's most popular universes. However,
before long it becomes clear that Alastor, the Cenobite waging war on the Nightbreed,
intends to carry out a complete purge of his foe, which defies Leviathan's will.
In response, the God of Pain and Pleasure orders Chatterer and Pinhead to destroy the heretic
and his followers. When the demonic warriors encounter Alastor and his Cenobite entourage,
he's quickly abandoned by all his followers except for his lover Chalkis, who is bound
to him with a golden chain. Once the couple is defeated, Leviathan reverts them to their human
bodies and the two are hunted down by one of the Nightbreed that they had tried to exterminate.
Pinhead has several followers in his demonic crew throughout the "Hellraiser" series,
but Chatterer is often depicted as the leader's top lieutenant among the Cenobites.
He has appeared in more "Hellraiser" films than any of the others, aside from Pinhead,
so the character has a prominent spot within the nightmarish universe. Even so,
this didn't save him from the cruel wrath of his leader.
"Your suffering will be legendary. Even in hell."
While the first Chatterer was killed off in the second film, he was resurrected 20 years later by
Pinhead in the "Hellraiser" comic series. Pinhead himself was revived once the Pillar of Souls was
fed blood in "Hellraiser 3: Hell on Earth," so their master used the same method to bring back
Chatterer and the Female Cenobite with bloodshed on the very spot where they had met their demise.
Later, in the fifth chapter of "Clive Barker's Hellraiser Omnibus",
Pinhead and the Cenobites confront Kirsty Cotton again and have her in their grasp.
Yet instead of taking the heroine out, Pinhead traps his own followers in his chains despite
their pleas. He then hands Kirsty a knife and she uses it to slay the Cenobite once more.
Pinhead may have been directly responsible for the second death of his servant in "Clive
Barker's Hellraiser Omnibus," but another tale shows how Chatterer finally achieved
gruesome revenge for the betrayal. Over a decade before Gary Tunnicliffe directed the tenth film,
"Hellraiser: Judgment," he released a short fan flick in 2004 called "No More
Souls," which could be considered official canon for the series.
The story takes place in the distant future after humanity has destroyed itself and Hell no longer
has any souls to reap. In desperation over the depletion of such a valuable resource, Pinhead
opens the Lament Configuration to sacrifice himself. The Cenobites then emerge to slay their
master, and Chatterer nails Pinhead's ripped-off face to a Torture Pillar, signifying his true end.