10 Most Messed Up Horror Movie Families

2. The Cotton Family - Hellraiser

Hellraiser Kirsty Frank
Entertainment Film Distributors

The Hellraiser franchise is one of the largest in horror history, with the antics of Pinhead and his Cenobites currently spanning a whopping ten movies as of this writing - with another film and a TV series currently in development.

It's Pinhead and his devilishly delightful crew who are often the poster children of the Hellraiser series, yet the Cotton family also have a pivotal part to play in the early goings of the franchise.

In the first Hellraiser movie, it's the Cottons who are key to introducing horror hounds to what this property was all about. After Frank Cotton disappears, his brother Larry moves into Frank's house and attempts to reconnect with his distanced wife Julia.

When Larry's spilt blood causes Frank to resurrect, we then find out that Frank and Julia had been having an affair - and Julia lures men into bed in order to get more blood to help the full regeneration of Frank.

Finding herself in the middle of this, of course, is Kirsty Cotton, the daughter of poor Larry. Not only does her Uncle Frank kill her father and wear his skin, he also tries to incestuously seduce his niece.

To think, all of the above atrocities don't even make a single mention of the Cenobites. Whatever depravities and horrors Pinhead can be accused of, the Cotton family are just as f**ked up.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.