Feel the pain and the pleasure of the new Hellraiser teaser
Here’s our first look at the new Pinhead as seen through a Virtual Boy.
Aux News Hellraiser
Alright, Cenobites, here it is, the teaser for the Hellraiser “reimagining.” Now, the trailer won’t tear your soul apart. It’s more or less a throwback style teaser, reminiscent of side-scrolling text made famous by the opening credits of The Terminator and made famous again by the opening credits of Stranger Things. There are no puzzle boxes, Chatterers, or Butterballs. But there is a Pinhead.
As reported last October, Jamie Clayton from Sense8 is stepping in for Doug Bradley. She isn’t the first to do so. The previous two entries in the series saw new acupuncture enthusiasts in the role. 2011’s contractual obligation, Hellraiser: Revelations, required two actors, Stephan Smith Collins as the body and Fred Tatsciore as the voice, to bring Pinhead to life. More successfully, Paul T. Taylor got nailed in the face for Hellraiser: Judgment.
Hellraiser comes to us from director David Bruckner, who made the buzzy creeper The Night House last year, offering us yet another incredible Rebecca Hall performance—not that we’re complaining! Previously, Bruckner said the film is a “small reimagining.”
“All I’ll say is that we are aiming to be as true as we can to the original material,” Bruckner told Gamesradar last year. “The Hellbound Heart is also a primary source of inspiration, as well as the original film.”
David S. Goyer, who seemingly has all the time in the world to write scripts featuring beloved characters, wrote the screenplay. Depending on how you feel about Goyer, that can mean anything. The man has had his name on many great movies and just as many not-so-great ones. However, this is the first proper horror movie in some time. Before becoming the king of DC comics adaptations, Goyer wrote scripts for evil toy movies, like Demonic Toys and The Puppet Masters, and, of course, he launched to genre stardom by writing the scripts for the Blade movies and directing the third one.
We’ll be able to taste the movie’s pleasures when Hulu’s puzzle box opens, and Hellraiser hits streaming on October 7.
46 Comments
Skeptically optimistic, though truth told, I’d much rather see one of his other works adapted to the screen instead. It’d be a nice change of pace to see adult aimed dark fantasy on tv that isn’t trying to desperately cash in on GoT’s one time popularity and something like Imajica would be perfect.
“He directed the third Blade movie” is the sort of IMDB credit that convinces me to put this right at the top of my “Don’t Watch” list.
But…he’s not directing this?Goyer isn’t exactly known for his non-stop hits, but he wrote the relatively well received Blade I and II, as well as cult-favorite Dark City, and the well-liked Batman Begins. He’s also written some Snyderverse clunkers, but given that he only really has a “story” credit on this new Hellraiser, his name shouldn’t really be what sends you running.
People’ll tell you otherwise, but all Hellraiser movies are trash.The characters are sort of cool, like nails in the head and decrepit motherfukers, but the movie suck.Ain’t no one defending this trash. Tell any fan of this movie how trash it is and they’ll fold.“Hellraiser’s cool.”
“No it isn’t.”“Yeah, it does kind of suck.”
Hey, I thought it was cool when I watched it in a bar, with the sound off.
Exactly
The first one is ok and the puzzle box in space concept from 3 or 4 whatever was cool, but yeah you’re mostly right.I like the books of The Art and stuff like ‘In the Hills, the Cities’ a lot better than the Pinhead stories, honestly.
I liked Hellraiser 1 and 2, thought Part 3 had some interesting parts and 5 was at least adequate (and clearly a script that had the Hellraiser universe grafted onto it). Haven’t seen anything beyond 5 but the idea in the comics that had the events of 6 ultimately lead to Kirsty taking over from Pinhead was a fascinating one we sadly never saw on screen.
See? I can fold ya quick. Anything past Hellraiser 5 is garbage. Even the first and second movies are kind of shitty, right? Shit ain’t no Event Horizon.Right? Really aren’t that good, are they? When you look back on them it’s sort of “it’s alright. It’s not too bad.” Mm hmm. A hesitation, a well. . .they’re kind of ok. But I know, we know.
Nah the first is great. The score is beautiful. The effects of Frank are very fun and the grubby sadomasochistic vibe is a great horror fit.
Is it, though?I mean, Alien came out in the 80s. As did the Lost Boys, Predator, The Thing and Beetlejuice. Is Hellraiser really that good? We got Big Trouble in Little China, Commando, Gremlins and Robocop here.Hellraiser is kind of so so, right? Like it’s ok I guess. It’s not Little Shop of Horrors, but it’s maybe watchable.
Yeah, the 80s had a lot of absolute stone-cold classics, and Hellraiser doesn’t sit with the best of them. It’s no Alien or The Thing.It’s definitely just below those, though. Julia and Frank are great, the Cenobites are fun and look fantastic, and Kirsty is a totally fine execution of the “average girl in a crazy situation” archetype. The movie’s biggest problem isn’t even its own doing: it lets down as a slasher and lets down as a movie about killer demons because it isn’t either of those things, despite its marketing and reputation.It’s a movie about a horny businesswoman and her bad boy fuck toy doing horrible things to be together again, and it does a damn fine job of it.
EXACTLY. It’s much more of an erotic thriller than a “mascot slasher”
Yeah it is. That’s why I said it. Shits all over The Lost Boys too.
“Is it, though?”
Yep.“I mean, Alien came out in the 80s.
Nope. 1979.“As did the Lost Boys, Predator, The Thing and Beetlejuice. Is Hellraiser really that good? We got Big Trouble in Little China, Commando, Gremlins and Robocop here.”
OH, you’re one of those “there can only be one good movie” people.
Are you kidding? Event Horizon is Norbit compared to Hellraiser
I seem to notice people queuing to tell you that your opinions on the Hellraiser films are … well … your opinions and that we might just disagree with some of them at least.
“Anything past Hellraiser 5 is garbage.”
Wait, so you went from “all” are trash to “oh, everyone likes the first two? well, wait for three more and THEN it turns to trash”?
“See? I can fold ya quick.”
Do you not understand that YOU folded?
I liked 6 well enough. I also feel like it could have been a script that had the universe grafted on.
Hey I enjoy them, but I ALSO love the Phantasm movies which makes Hellraiser look like fine art LOL.
The first Hellraiser is a solid horror film, hugely influential, and at a bare minimum popular enough to spawn the rest of the films. Let’s take the edgelord hot takes down a peg or two, eh?
You are incorrect. Hellraiser is a stone-cold masterpiece and Hellbound is a perfect “the same but more” 80s sequel
The original Hellraiser is an objectively good film. It debuted to generally good to rave reviews (the biggest problems most critics had with was the studio mandated redubbing of British actors with American accents and the “Engineer” puppet from the end of the film). Although the studio tried to market it as a slasher film, it sort of broke the mold of horror at the time in that it’s really just a gothic ghost story with BDSM demons.
It sounds like you’ve talked to several people who like a movie that you don’t like and they have immediately clocked that they don’t want to have a prolonged conversation with you about it.
Umm … hard disagree, and I won’t fold. Hellraiser and Hellbound are great. Hellbound really amps up the ick factor, too. It’s a cruel, gory movie that deserves respect.But yeah, every movie after the first two is trash.
I think it depends on how old you were when you saw it (and possibly how high you were). If you saw it as an adolescent you probably still think it’s cool, but I was about 30 before I saw it and was like “WTF this is dumb as dogshit”.
I think this is it. I was close to 30 the first time I saw it, and so it never resonated with me. It just felt and looked cheap.
But without Blade 3 we wouldn’t have gotten Deadpool and…and…Well that’s all I got…
I wasn’t aware that this was happening, but I’m intrigued. Judging Goyer by his recent work I’d say Sandman and Foundation look pretty good and (IMO) Dark Fate was seriously underrated.Barker as a producer is encouraging, and I like the material. Fingers crossed!
Why? Surely he hasn’t done anything of value in many years and has signed off on many stale cash-ins.
I take it you haven’t read The Scarlet Gospels, then?I’ve always wanted Barker to write the third book of The Art but after reading Scarlet Gospels I’m hoping the rights or whatever prevent him from ever touching that series again.
I’ve heard Barker went all-in on the Christianity angle, which is total bunk. The second film is very clear about how Labyrinth is not Hell, but just another dimension. Everyone there is alive, and the Cenobites are created by placing a human in a big disgusting bio-machine that installs the weird accessories.It’s so much cooler and creepier than boring old God-and-Satan shit
The Scarlet Gospels is pretty much all in on the God-and-Satan shit. Pinhead’s goal in the book is explicitly to take over Hell.That’s just one of the things that makes the book so disappointing 🙁
I haven’t, in no small part because everyone seems to hate it. But I do trust Barker to preserve the essence of The Hellbound Heart.(For the record, I bailed halfway through The Great and Secret Show but would love to see an adaptation of Imajica)
It’s not just that the story is bad, it’s that whatever deal he cut with whatever demon for his writing talent seems to have totally expired.I can’t believe Imajica still hasn’t been on TV, it’s perfect for the modern prestige TV boom.
Agreed wholeheartedly. Barker’s disdain for the franchise is so strong in that book that if you stuck a DVD of Hellraiser between the pages, it’d melt.
It’s like it was ghostwritten by someone who had only heard about the Hellraiser/D’amour stories second hand while they were drunk. Also the ghostwriter was a freshman lit student.
Goyer did not write this, he’s a producer and got a story credit
“Judging Goyer by his recent work”
Why not judge it by the director who has made two excellent feature films?
Is this a movie? I believe Danny McBride and David Gordon Green and Jody Hill are doing a Hellraiser TV series.
I haven’t heard anything about that in years, but I believe it was an HBO Max project so it’s probably for sure dead now.
It’s wild how you spent a whole paragraph of this article on David Goyer when he didn’t actually write this movie..
Alright —> All rightthrowback style teaser —> throwback-style teaserthis is the first proper horror movie in some time —> this is (his?) first proper horror movie in some timeevil toy movies, like Demonic Toys and The Puppet Masters —> The Puppet Masters (1994) is an alien bodysnatcher movie; you’re thinking of Puppet Master (1989)
Bruckner has been hitting it out of the park recently, so I’m here for it. Night House and Ritual were both fantastic, and he was part of Southbound, which is one of the best horror anthologies ever made. I’m all in for anything he’s attached to.
I’m still disappointed Gottmik (of RuPaul’s Drag Race fame) isn’t the new Pinhead. I believe he got an audition but didn’t land it.