Female Cenobite

The Female
Hellraiser character
From left to right: Butterball, Pinhead, The Female, and Chatterer
First appearance Hellraiser
Created by Clive Barker
Portrayed by Grace Kirby
(Hellraiser)
Barbie Wilde
(Hellbound: Hellraiser II)
Information
Aliases Female Cenobite
DeepThroat
VoiceBox
Species Cenobite
Gender Female
Significant other(s) Pinhead
Chatterer
Butterball
Pseudo Pinhead
Cenobites
Primary location "The Labyrinth"/Hell

The Female Cenobite is a Cenobite appearing in the movies Hellraiser and Hellbound: Hellraiser II, and in Clive Barker's comic book sequel to Hellbound published by BOOM! comics in 2011. The role was played by Grace Kirby in the first film and Barbie Wilde in the sequel.

Appearance

Like the other Cenobites, she is clad in black leather and is mutilated. In the original film, several wires peel back the skin around her neck, causing her to have a raspy, whispery voice. She is given deeply sunken facial features with bluish skin and a few hairs left on her head. In the sequel four of the wires holding her throat open have been removed, leaving just one frame, and her skin tone is made white with no hairs on her head. When she is killed at the end of the second Hellraiser film (after Channard throws a knife into her open neck wound), she reverts to her original human form, revealing that she had once been a pretty woman.

Design

Clive Barker recruited his cousin, Grace Kirby, for the role.[1]:22 The Female Cenobite was inspired by scarification and body piercing in National Geographic articles. The make-up took three hours to apply, caused her discomfort, and prevented Kirby from sitting.[2] When Kirby declined to return, Wilde took over the role.[1]:59 Wilde speculated that the producers were interested in her because of her background in mime, which was commonly believed in the industry to help with performing under prosthetic make-up. Wilde's different facial features contributed to the change in appearance for the character.[3] Paul Kane, author of The Hellraiser Films and Their Legacy, describes her throat wound as representative of male fears of female sexuality. Kane says the crew gave the character various obscene nicknames referencing this.[1]:43

The Female Cenobite originally did not have a backstory, and Wilde said Hellraiser II director Tony Randel's description of her character's motivation amounted to, "You're dead." Gary J. Tunnicliffe later made the character a former nun. In 2009, Wilde contributed to The Hellbound Hearts, a collection of short stories inspired by Clive Barker's original novella. Wilde says her story, about a nun who willingly sacrifices her humanity to become a Cenobite, is about a non-specific female Cenobite, not necessarily the one she portrayed in Hellraiser II.[3]

Merchandising

In 2004, NECA released a Female Cenobite action figure.[4]

Reception

In ranking the character fourth in their list of ten best Cenobites, Shock Till You Drop praised both actresses' acting and said that she brings "a charming nastiness" to the films.[5]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Kane, Paul (2013). The Hellraiser Films and Their Legacy. McFarland & Company. ISBN 9781476600697.
  2. ↑ Timpone, Anthony (1996). Men, Makeup & Monsters: Hollywood's Masters of Illustion and FX. Macmillan Publishers. p. 170. ISBN 9780312146788.
  3. 1 2 "Talking With the Dead: 13 Questions with Barbie Wilde, "Female" Cenobite and The Venus Complex Author". Horror Society. 2013-06-04. Retrieved 2016-05-25.
  4. ↑ "Officially Licensed Models:NECA Toys - Hellraiser Series One, Two and Three". The Official Clive Barker Website. Retrieved 2017-05-25.
  5. ↑ Nicol, John (2016-01-15). "10 HELLRAISER Cenobites Ranked From Worst to Best!". Shock Till You Drop. Retrieved 2016-05-25.
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