Reader’s Ride: Hellraiser Colin Middleton is a rally-going scooterist and his custom ‘work horse' scooter is based on his favourite film, the iconic '80s horror movie Hellraiser.
Colin Middleton is a self-taught scooter mechanic who doesn’t need to rely on anyone in the event of a breakdown. He’s also a regular rally-going scooterist and his old-skool attitude is… ‘you broke it, you fix it’!
This approach might seem pretty blunt, but Colin’s been scootering for long enough to know his craft. Over the years he’s had several machines of various guises, but this time he wanted a change to a full-blown custom scooter, which would be based on his favourite film, the iconic ’80s horror movie Hellraiser. “I’d previously had a cut-down scooter, which was based on a skinhead theme and was called This is England. My full-frame scooter was up for a change and that had also had two skinhead themes. Gatch had been involved in the work on my previous scooters and I contacted him to see what ideas we could come up with.”
Open the box
To briefly explain the storyline of the film: it involves the resurrection of Frank, who’d previously opened the door to an alternate dimension through a puzzle box and had his body torn to pieces by creatures known as Cenobites. Years later, Frank’s brother Larry moved into their late mother’s abandoned house with his new wife, Julia. An accident caused some of Larry’s blood to spill on the attic floor, which triggers Frank’s resurrection. To complete his resurrection, he requires more blood which Julia provides by luring men back to the house while Kirsty, Larry’s daughter, discovers Frank’s puzzle box. Kirsty starts to play with the puzzle box, which leads her to meet with the Cenobites, who are led by Pinhead.
All the characters in the movie are all individuals who at some stage in their lives opened the box. They couldn’t distinguish between pleasure and pain, and they ended up getting more than they bargained for, which opened the gateway for me to start developing the art.
Having decided that he wanted the scooter to be themed on his favourite film, Colin handed the body panels over to Gatch to set about the work. “The scooter couldn’t be painted black; that would have been a cop-out. But with Colin being a rally-going scooterist who clocks up the miles I knew that I would need to use darker colours around the areas which would be most prone to wear and stone-chips,” Gatch explained.
With plenty of gore and influential characters in the film there were a lot of opportunities for the artwork, so a careful balance had to be achieved. To support this, the contrast of the paint with the murals needed to be planned to make sure that it would bring out the best in the delivery of the theme and the artwork.
“All the characters in the movie are all individuals who at some stage in their lives opened the box. They couldn’t distinguish between pleasure and pain, and they ended up getting more than they bargained for, which opened the gateway for me to start developing the art,” explained Gatch.
Terrifying
The puzzle box is a portal to another dimension and in the movie the individual’s darkest desires are being read while they’re opening it; as the box opens they’re taken to a place where they’re led into a terrifying interpretation of their secret indulgences. As hooks on chains grab and tear their flesh, the physical pain and suffering enhances the mental pain and suffering.“I could have had blood splattered all over it! But I wanted the scooter to deliver the darkness of the people who’d opened the box and interpret their personal hell. The black on the scooter represents hell, which is a format of the dark thoughts in those people’s minds staying away from the biblical interpretation. In this interpretation, hell is a by-product of self-indulgent desires,” said Gatch.
Bodywork
In order to deliver and connect the theme throughout the scooter Gatch used the intricate fretwork of the puzzle box to link the artwork together. On the front of the legshields murals appear of Pinhead and Dr Channard, while on the toolbox appears the only element of gore showing a mural of Chattermouth’s teeth and Butterball. On the engine side panel are disturbing images of a Cenobite and Pinhead; while over the spare wheel the side panel delivers intimidating images of two Cenobites, one with its throat torn apart and held open with hooks inflicting constant pain and suffering. As well as the puzzle box fretwork art there are also quotes around the scooter from the film, which support the artwork and continue the momentum of the theme.
If you’ve seen the movie you’ll be able to fully appreciate how Colin and Gatch have worked together to capture the storyline and deliver it in a format which represents the horror of the eternal pain and suffering inflicted by the Cenobites on those whose foolish curiosity led them to open the box.