10 Scariest Cursed Objects In Horror Movies
5. Puzzle Box – Hellraiser (1987)
The Lament Configuration is the lock puzzle that opens LeMarchand's Box in Clive Barker's Hellraiser series. When solved, it acts as a portal to another dimension and allows beings to travel between these different realms. Created by 18th century French toymaker Phillip LeMarchand as a commission for aristocrat Duc de L'Isle, it was designed to encompass dark magic. L'Isle used the box to summon a demon princess to inhabit the skin of a woman he had killed with his servant, and L'Isle and the demon went on to kill LeMarchand - but not before cursing his bloodline, linking his descendants to the box forever.
The first film introduces us to the box when Frank Cotton buys it from an antiques dealer in Morocco. Frank goes on to 'solve' the box, which causes hooks and chains to fly out of it, impaling him and summoning the demon Cenobites to cross over and abduct Frank back to their realm. The Cenobites are only banished when Frank's niece reverses the puzzle solution, however it is shown to survive being burnt after being rescued by a demon. From there, the box appears in the hands of the antiques merchant again, ready to sell it to another unwilling victim.
The puzzle box is shown as far in the future as 2127 on a space station in Hellraiser IV: Bloodline until it is closed permanently when LeMarchand's descendent Paul activates his other creation, the Elysium Configuration.