What was the real purpose? The Hellraiser film franchise was created as a horror entertainment series that explores themes of desire, pain, and the consequences of seeking forbidden knowledge.

The overall plot of the franchise focuses on a puzzle box, the Lament Configuration. It opens a gateway to the Hell-like realm of the Cenobite lifeforms. The Cenobites are an order of former humans who have become monsters who harvest human souls to torture in their sadistic experiments.