Passes the Bechdel test
Hellraiser
1987. Directed by Clive Barker, written by Clive Barker.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
6 women characters. 5 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 7 scenes out of 185. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In those scenes, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 3 out of 3.
The film
When Kirsty's father, Larry, and stepmother, Julia, move into Larry's childhood home, Kirsty and her boyfriend take a room nearby. Unfortunately for all involved, Larry's house is already occupied: before the family's arrival, Larry's disreputable brother, Frank, used a supernatural puzzle box to summon a gang of other-dimensional demon sadists. Now, Frank requires a series of blood sacrifices to escape the clutches of Pinhead and the cenobites.
- Released
- 18 Sep 1987
- Genres
- Horror, Thriller
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 6.9 / 10
- Metascore
- 56 / 100
- Awards
- 2 wins & 6 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Larry 148 lines, man
- Julia 138 lines, woman
- Kirsty 129 lines, woman
- Frank 83 lines, man
- Steve 42 lines, man
- Prudhoe 27 lines
- Cenobite 18 lines
- 2nd Man 14 lines, man
- 1st Man 9 lines, man
- Female Cenobite 9 lines, woman
Full cast, 22 people
- Andrew Robinson as Larry
- Clare Higgins as Julia
- Ashley Laurence as Kirsty
- Oliver Smith as Frank the Monster
- Sean Chapman as Frank
- Robert Hines as Steve
- Doug Bradley as Lead Cenobite
- Nicholas Vince as Chattering Cenobite
- Simon Bamford as 'Butterball' Cenobite
- Grace Kirby as Female Cenobite
- Anthony Allen as 1st Victim
- Leon Davis as 2nd Victim
- Michael Cassidy as 3rd Victim
- Frank Baker as Derelict
- Kenneth Nelson as Bill
- Gay Baynes as Evelyn
- Niall Buggy as Dinner Guest
- Dave Atkins as Moving Man 1
- Oliver Parker as Moving Man 2
- Pamela Sholto as Complaining Customer
- Sharon Bower as Nurse
- Raul Newney as Doctor
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 4 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 10% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 185
Hover, tap or tab to a bar to see those scenes: where they happen and who's talking.
Show the numbers
| Scenes | Women's lines | Men's lines |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 4 | 4 | 7 |
| 5 to 8 | 9 | 15 |
| 9 to 12 | 4 | 5 |
| 13 to 16 | 0 | 3 |
| 17 to 20 | 3 | 4 |
| 21 to 24 | 11 | 22 |
| 25 to 28 | 8 | 16 |
| 29 to 32 | 2 | 3 |
| 33 to 36 | 11 | 5 |
| 37 to 40 | 0 | 3 |
| 41 to 44 | 5 | 7 |
| 45 to 48 | 3 | 14 |
| 49 to 52 | 13 | 6 |
| 53 to 56 | 19 | 26 |
| 57 to 60 | 5 | 8 |
| 61 to 64 | 14 | 13 |
| 65 to 68 | 1 | 1 |
| 69 to 72 | 9 | 4 |
| 73 to 76 | 14 | 1 |
| 77 to 80 | 1 | 5 |
| 81 to 84 | 0 | 3 |
| 85 to 88 | 12 | 16 |
| 89 to 92 | 0 | 3 |
| 93 to 96 | 4 | 5 |
| 97 to 100 | 1 | 2 |
| 101 to 104 | 10 | 14 |
| 105 to 108 | 7 | 9 |
| 109 to 112 | 12 | 17 |
| 113 to 116 | 0 | 0 |
| 117 to 120 | 2 | 0 |
| 121 to 124 | 0 | 0 |
| 125 to 128 | 0 | 1 |
| 129 to 132 | 0 | 0 |
| 133 to 136 | 10 | 11 |
| 137 to 140 | 2 | 2 |
| 141 to 144 | 16 | 11 |
| 145 to 148 | 2 | 2 |
| 149 to 152 | 28 | 11 |
| 153 to 156 | 0 | 0 |
| 157 to 160 | 0 | 0 |
| 161 to 164 | 8 | 0 |
| 165 to 168 | 18 | 15 |
| 169 to 172 | 4 | 1 |
| 173 to 176 | 0 | 3 |
| 177 to 180 | 7 | 10 |
| 181 to 184 | 8 | 2 |
| 185 to 185 | 1 | 1 |
The evidence
- Straight from the script
- Counted from the script and the credits
Tap an exhibit to open it.
Exhibit A: the passing scenes
The scene our parser counted as passing, word for word.
KIRSTY: Have you got a towel? JULIA: Kirsty. KIRSTY: Hi. I got soaked. JULIA: There's a towel in the bath- room.
EVELYN: Oh it was. It was wonderful. JULIA: I'm glad you enjoyed it. EVELYN: See you again soon.
EVELYN: Yes. You must. We're so happy you're back. JULIA: That's nice. Well ... goodnight. EVELYN: Does it still hurt?
KIRSTY: Well, I didn't mean to open that thing. You can go back wherever you came from. FEMALE CENOBITE: We can't. Not alone. KIRSTY: This isn't for real.
KIRSTY: 'Bye. FEMALE CENOBITE: Good.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 48 are women's.
288 lines from women, 307 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
6 women and 16 men in the cast. 5 women and 6 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 4 of 660.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 13 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 42% of the words (1,260), men 58% (1,770). Women have 48% of the lines, so their lines run shorter than men's.
Exhibit E: the test the other way
Two named men talk to each other about something besides a woman. It passes the reverse test.
Conversations between two named characters
Two women
15
Two men
7
Exhibit F: behind the camera
3 of the 12 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 16% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Clive Barker (man)
- Written by
- Clive Barker (man)
- From the novel by
- Clive Barker (man)
- Produced by
- Christopher Figg (man)
- Shot by
- Robin Vidgeon (man)
- Edited by
- Richard Marden (man), Tony Randel (man)
- Music by
- Christopher Young (man)
- Production design by
- Michael Buchanan (man)
- Costumes by
- Joanna Johnston (woman), Jane Wildgoose (woman)
- Cast by
- Sheila Trezise (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
1 women, 5 men, 14 not listed
-
Production
2 women, 5 men, 2 not listed
-
Sound
0 women, 4 men, 4 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
2 women, 1 men, 4 not listed
-
Directing
0 women, 4 men, 2 not listed
-
Art
0 women, 1 men, 4 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 2 men, 2 not listed
-
Visual Effects
0 women, 1 men, 3 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 26 on average. Men: 32 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Ashley Laurence 21, Clare Higgins 31
Men
Sean Chapman 26, Simon Bamford 26, Robert Hines 29, Doug Bradley 33, Oliver Smith 35, Andrew Robinson 45
Exhibit H: the money
It made 14.6 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $1 million
- Box office
- $14.6 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 185 scenes and 660 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
