Chatterer

Chatterer
Hellraiser character
First appearance	Hellraiser
Created by	Clive Barker
Portrayed by	Nicholas Vince (Hellraiser & Hellbound: Hellraiser II) Mike Jay Regan (Hellraiser: Inferno, Hellraiser: Hellseeker, Hellraiser: Deader, Hellraiser: Hellworld & Hellraiser: Judgment) Jolene Andersen (Hellraiser: Revelations)
Information
Aliases	Chattering Cenobite Chatterer II Torso Chatterer III
Species	Human/Cenobite
Gender	Male
Significant other(s)	Pinhead Butterball The Female Cenobites
Primary location	"The Labyrinth"/Hell

Chatterer is a fictional character appearing in the Hellraiser film series. He is a Cenobite, an order of extradimensional sadomasochists who experiment in an extreme form of hedonism. His name comes from the constant clicking of his teeth, his only means of communication. He serves the Cenobites' leader Pinhead.

Character

Chatterer is a member of the Cenobites, formerly-human monsters dedicated to exploring the limits of human sensation; these "explorations" take the form of extreme sadomasochism, to the point that it is considered torture by most of those whom they encounter. He lives with his fellow Cenobites in an extradimensional realm called Hell, a gigantic labyrinth accessible only via a puzzle box called The Lament Configuration, which opens a dimensional fissure. While those who possess unique qualities conducive to the Cenobite agenda are transformed into Cenobites upon opening the box, others are subjected to the Cenobites' "experiments". Like his fellow Cenobites, Chatterer has lost all memory of his life as a human before he became a Cenobite; Hellraiser: Hellbound indicates that Chatterer opened the box while still a young boy. No further information for the character and his past is known. A short story written by actor Nicholas Vince, who played Chatterer in the first two Hellraiser films, offers an origin for the version of Chatterer who appears in "The Hellbound Heart". Vince's story, "Look See", claimed that the novella version of Chatterer was a handsome young actor who specialized in off-color humor. A hugely successful, albeit corrupt, actor (who among other things slept with underage women and framed rival actors and his enemies for being communists in order to ruin their careers), Chatterer eventually found the box and sensing his dark heart, mutilated his face to match his inner self and as he was brought into the Order of the Gash.^[1]

Like his fellow Cenobites, Chatterer's body has been subjected to an extreme form of body modification and ritual scarification; in Chatterer's case, his face has been severely disfigured and his lips have been peeled back to permanently expose his teeth, which he can only click together as a means of communication. He is a member of the entourage of lead Cenobite Pinhead, accompanying him whenever he is summoned via the box and acting as the group's enforcer, physically attacking and restraining potential victims.

Design

Actor Nicholas Vince lived near creator Clive Barker, who liked his work. Barker suggested they work together, resulting in a collaboration on Hellraiser.^[2]:22 As Chatterer, Vince wore a one-piece mask that rendered him blind. A fake set of chattering teeth were fitted in his mouth and were triggered when he bit down. Because of the difficulty in eating and the drooling associated with the design, the chattering teeth were redesigned to be removable.^[3] The design was changed in the sequel to give Chatterer eyes so Vince could see.^[2]:62

Appearances

Chatterer is first introduced in the novella The Hellbound Heart. Like the other Cenobites, he is identified only by the order in which he appeared to Frank Cotton, as "the third"

"Now the third spoke. Its features were so heavily scarified--the wounds nurtured until they ballooned--

that its eyes were invisible and its words corrupted by the disfigurement of its mouth."^[4]

Along with the other Cenobites, Chatterer takes antagonist Frank Cotton back to the Cenobite realm after Cotton opens the Lament Configuration, expecting to find a hedonistic paradise that will cure his nihilism. Despite being warned that what he finds may not be what he is expecting, Frank willingly goes along with the Cenobites, only to find that—past an initial euphoria—the experiences to which the Cenobites subject him are so intense as to be torturous. Chatterer is later part of the Cenobite contingent that makes a deal with Frank's niece, Kirsty, to return Frank to them in exchange for her own freedom, after she unwittingly makes a deal to return to the Cenobite realm by opening the box.

Chatterer would reappear in the film adaptation of The Hellbound Heart, Hellraiser, in which he was given a name in the film's closing credits. Unlike in the novella, this Chatterer is completely mute, only capable of communicating by clicking his teeth together.

In Hellbound, Chatterer is renamed "Chatterer II" following aesthetic modifications to the mutilations on his face. After Kirsty Cotton reminds Pinhead of his own former humanity, the revelation causes his fellow Cenobites to remember their own former lives and they turn against the newly created Cenobite, Channard, in order to protect Kirsty. Chatterer, along with the rest of the Cenobites, are killed by Channard following a short fight; like the other Cenobites, Chatterer reverts to a non-mutilated human form after he dies – the form of a teenage boy.

Unlike the other members of Pinhead's entourage from the first two Hellraiser films, Chatterer has made appearances in later entries in the series. The mechanism of his revival has never been explained.^[5][6] He is the only consistent member of Pinhead's entourage in Hellraiser: Inferno (in which he lacks legs and is called "Torso"), Hellraiser: Hellseeker, Hellraiser: Deader and Hellraiser: Hellworld.

The only films in which he does not appear are Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth and Hellraiser: Bloodline, the latter of which features a dog-like creature with Chatterer's head called "The Chatter Beast". The latest entry in the series Hellraiser: Revelations features a cenobite identical to Chatterer except that it has a pair of visible breasts; this Cenobite has been alternately identified as both "Chatterer" and "Female Cenobite."

Chatterer has most recently appeared in Clive Barker's Hellraiser comic book series for BOOM! comics, where he is identified as Pinhead's page. Midway through the series, Pinhead betrays him (along with the rest of his fellow Cenobites) to Kirsty Cotton as part of a plan to retake his own former humanity. After "pleading" with Pinhead (in the form of clicking his teeth), Chatterer is torn apart by a series of hooked chains.

Portrayals

Chatterer was played by Nicholas Vince in Hellraiser and Hellbound: Hellraiser II.^[2]:22 The role of the Chatter Beast in Hellraiser: Bloodline was played by Jodie St. Michael.^[2]:139 Torso from Hellraiser: Inferno and Chatterer III from Hellraiser: Hellseeker, Hellraiser: Deader, Hellraiser: Hellworld and Chatterer from Hellraiser: Judgment were all performed by Mike Jay Regan.^{[2]:178, 207} The female Chatterer that appeared in Hellraiser: Revelations was portrayed by Jolene Andersen.

Reception

Shock Till You Drop called Chatterer an iconic character that is "simply a badass and incredibly terrifying".^[7] Paul Kane describes the character as representing two different fears: that of being eaten alive and dental work.^[2]:43

References