Hellraiser (2022)

Hellraiser (2022)

Director: David Bruckner

Writers: Ben Collins, Luke Piotrowski, David S. Goyer

Cast: Odessa A’zion, Jamie Clayton, Adam Faison, Drew Starkey, Brandon Flynn, Goran Visnjic

Recycling ideas is the bread and butter of the film industry. More than ever Hollywood pumps out either new versions of 40-year-old properties or at the very least a lazily traced sequel. But every now and then Hollywood manages to release a movie that’s a formidable retelling of lore with which audiences are familiar, and in some cases fanatical about. Such is the case with Hellraiser.

In 1987, Clive Barker released Hellraiser, an adaptation of his own novella, The Hellbound Heart, and it practically created a horror subgenre in which it stood alone for years. No one was able to create anything that stood a chance of existing within the realm of pain and pleasure, and Pinhead and his Cenobites have ruled over their corner of the horror genre ever since. After ten movies fans wondered if they would be seeing anything come from the realm of the Leviathan that could hold its own amongst the first four installments. A glimmer of hope came when a reboot was announced, then the first image of a new Pinhead, played by Jamie Clayton. The new depiction of the iconic Hell Priestess was–as Doug Bradley’s original Pinhead said–A demon to some, angel to others. Fortunately for avid horror and Hellraiser fans, the latter seemed to be the general consensus. Then it was time to anxiously wait on pins and needles for the release..

When the wait was over, we were introduced to Riley (Odessa A’zion), an addict struggling with her recovery with the help of her brother Matt (Brandon Flynn). After stumbling upon the configuration box with her boyfriend, Trevor (Drew Starkey), they discover what horror it brings as Pinhead and the Cenobites take everyone around Riley one by one, and it's up to her to find out how to stop them.

The plot of this movie was probably its weakest quality, but fortunately it wasn't detrimental to its overall reception. The large cast followed the trope of young adults/teens taking turns being killed off that are indicative of slashers, which Hellraiser has typically kept itself from becoming. This reboot melds elements from the original Hellraiser and Hellbound: Hellraiser II, both of which had a very tight cast of characters and focused more on being about the messages underneath the carnage than about the carnage itself. This new Hellraiser felt a little shallow in its delivery, but the message was delivered nonetheless, and that in itself is one of its many successes.

Those successes come mostly in the form of the incredible beauty in which the story was delivered. Director David Bruckner's use of a muted color palette that still managed to pop at the right times gave a beautiful and subtle parallel to the pain and pleasure relationship that the franchise is known and praised for. This visual, paired with brand new Cenobite designs that can send the originals running back to the Leviathan, made for a picture that was haunting as it was enchanting, and speaking of the Cenobite design, this new brood from Hell was nothing short of inspired. We got new members such as The Asphyx, The Weeper, and The Masque, all of which delivered a fresh addition to our nightmares in the way only Hellraiser can. But it was the return of familiar characters that made this especially exciting. Chatterer, of course, is one of the most popular Cenobites aside from Pinhead, and his upgrade was somehow more gruesome than when we were introduced to him in 1987. The Gasp was a particularly interesting throwback to both the original and the fourth installment, Hellraiser: Bloodline in a hybrid of Deep Throat and Angelique respectively. She was beautifully designed, taking the most iconic aspects of each and melding them into a perfectly balanced display of fan service. As if those characters weren’t enough to make horror fans giddy, there’s Jamie Clayton’s The Priest (commonly known as Pinhead). This iteration was not only closer to what was described in Clive Barker’s novella, but was absolutely stunning, disturbing, and worth the wait to see and hear. Clayton’s stoic delivery and menacing presence will hypnotize you from both fear and attraction, as the character design starts off elegant and becomes more disturbing the more you pay attention to it, but by then it’s too late to turn away. She’ll already have you in her chains, and you’ll likely thank her for it. Clayton’s Pinhead was perfection.

Hellraiser is an enjoyable reboot in a sea of the mundane, and despite its very few flaws (no movie is perfect) it holds up against the best films of the original franchise and keeps an atmosphere that feels like Barker himself wrote it in one of his books. This is definitely a recommended watch for purists and new fans alike, so give it a watch. It has such sights to show you.

Hellraiser (2022) is available to stream on Hulu.