Hellraiser 2022 - Hulu

Agent Coulson

Drops October 7th.

Teaser trailer dropped today

R rated reboot.

However I think now it’s the 12th Hellraiser

https://youtu.be/c2kU2-Tpsbs

CastorTroy

It'll be the 11th. I just know because I recently had a notion to watch 4-10 for some crazy reason.

Though this would be the first reboot.

There's supposedly a TV series still in the works as well

How Soon Is Now

A female Pinhead good luck!

Ill just rewatch the original two movies.

I just looked up who is playing Pinhead as well that's an even bigger nope!

Homelander

Very much looking forward to this. I think Jamie Clayton is a solid choice for a new Pinhead, very interested in seeing what they do with her. Isn't Pinhead supposed to be more androgynous by design?

Sounds like the Cenobites are also going to be more hellish and disturbing as well.

The original two movies are very good, the third is sort of watchable in a corny 90's b-movie sort of way.....but everything thereafter was pretty awful, I think maybe Hellraiser 5 was decent but it wasn't originally written as a Hellraiser movie.

Very high hopes for this.

How Soon Is Now

The original Pinhead is such an iconic horror movie character that I cant take any other version of it seriously. The films just got more ridiculous and cheap the more that where made.

The book Pinhead is one thing but I never had the book and I'm sure most people who loved the original films didn't either so its always been Doug Bradleys Pinhead to me.

Fysh

I mean, yeah, it's an iconic look. But Bradley's getting on a bit - check the photo of him on his Wikipedia page, and then remember that it's from 2012 i.e. he's got an extra decade on him since.

Hellraiser as a franchise has relied far too much on fondness for the first two films, and with a fairly severe decline in quality.

If the studio wants to keep making them, trying to revamp or reinvent the details while staying true to the core feels like a better approach than trotting out a now-67-year-old actor in full mutton-dressed-as-lamb getup. If you're not up for that, fair enough - just rewatch the first two films instead.

How Soon Is Now

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119523608#Comment_119523608

Haha getting Bradley back would be a bit of a joke alright but the whole thing has been a joke since number two anyway so!

I cant see this reboot being any better and lets face it the only reason it will get any sort of mainstream attention is cause of who's playing Pinhead.

johnny_ultimate

In a series that has already had a 'Tesco Value' take on Pinhead, I think getting far away from Doug Bradley is a very wise move! And let's be fair, while all reboots are by their very nature redundant, this one has a much lower bar than most to clear given the terrible average quality of the series to date.

Raven1221

I think watching this a long time ago was a mistake. Of course, I say it is not my fault; I blame Nintendo.

Fysh

I think it could be interesting to see a different spin on Pinhead - I've not watched every film in the series but one thing that has jumped out from the ones I have seen is that, despite the Cenobites being all about the extremes of pleasure and pain, all we ever seem to see of them is fairly brutal pain. Not that I want a smutty version of Hellraiser, but it would make a change if they were less one-note in their approach to the Hellpriests as effectively demonic gimpsuit-wearing butchers...

pixelburp

This is a film series I've never actually watched. I'm not especially allergic to horror or gore - it'd be hypocritical, given I regard The Thing as legitimately one of the best films of the 1980s, period - but Hellraiser has always seemed too ... I dunno. Leering? Exploitational? Definitely what looks like edge-lord qualities in its approach. Very little from Clive Barker has ever turned my head really; even his video-games seem of similar type, with the only exception being the old FPS The Undying - and that was in part because it was set in Ireland!

johnny_ultimate

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119524362#Comment_119524362

The first two are genuinely worth watching. They're imperfect films and fairly low-budget horror fare outside the Cenobite stuff, but in terms of creepy, unsettling and imaginative imagery they're pretty damn effective. I don't think it's too edge-lordy either tbh.

The nicest thing I can say about them is they're maybe the only 80s horror mainstays that actually live up their VHS covers (which used to unnerve the hell out of me whenever I spotted them in a video shop!)

Fysh

Yeah, the first two are legitimately pretty good in terms of what they do (some budget constraints being unavoidable, particularly the final effects shot of the first film), and are best viewed as a duology. Everything else... Eh, unless you're particularly enthralled by the first two you can skip them.

CastorTroy

I liked 3 as well and it was just the first 3 that were included in the Lament Configuration Box Set. It starred a pre-DS9 Terry Farrell.

It did something I'm surprised didn't become its gimmick, like Saw traps and Final Destination deaths. It had Pinhead create cenobites from humans that shared the people's attributes like a DJ that fired CDs, a barman that threw cocktails. It was a lot more actiony than previous ones.

johnny_ultimate

Hellbound is definitely among the upper-tier of horror sequels, alongside the likes of Nightmare on Elm Street: Dream Warriors. That's mostly because of its effective rendering of hell, which is suitably grim (even if a fair chunk of it is the characters running through identical corridors 😂).

While I haven't gone beyond the first two, I do think even at that stage the series had become sort of over-obsessed with Pinhead as a primary antagonist. It's one of those weird ones where they're theoretically capable of infinite fucked-up cenobites, but Pinhead is now so iconic and intrinsically tied to the series they're sort of stuck with him (or her in this case). A catch-22, really.

Grandeeod

This is a bad idea that can only please nobody. I'll stick to the first two movies and cherish my personal puzzle box via etsy

Homelander

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119527404#Comment_119527404

I don't see why it would be. It'll probably be the most money ever invested in a Hellraiser movie and Hulu seem to have given decent creative control and Clive Barker is involved.

There's nothing to say it'll be good, but we've every reason to expect it to be.

Grandeeod

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119527515#Comment_119527515

It will be a disaster IMHO. Reduxe's of accidental hits never recapture the magic. Barker or not it's a grab for money. Once again IMHO. I saw the original on release. Blew me away. A classic.

Jamie Clayton is actually a very good choice to play Pinhead.

CastorTroy

I only know her from Sense8.

ThePott

Got the Arrow boxset of the first three, is nothing beyond that worth watching? I'm a bit of a completionist normally with horror series, just never dived into any Hellraiser beside the original.

I'm cautiously optimistic about the reboot, maybe it's just good will left from Prey being good. I don't understand people online dumping on a female Pinhead. Bradley is getting up there and I don't think gender regarding a sadistic demon should matter, believe the lead cenobite in the novella doesn't have a clear gender but many think they are female too.

Homelander

Some people think Hellraiser IV is worth watching but I personally found it atrocious.

5 and 6 were originally written as unrelated horror movies but just got Hellraiser stamped on them at some point, they are sort of OK.

The 3 or 4 that came after that are flat out terrible. The last one that got made was more faithful to the first two movies but had a tiny budget which is hard to get past.

artvanderlay

The Hellraiser tv series that is coming out is unrelated to this movie and will be directed/produced by David Gordon Green, who directed the current Halloween trilogy, and who is also continuing on The Exorcist with a new trilogy of movies.

ThePott

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119532662#Comment_119532662

Thanks, might get the first three done and see how I feel.

I hate that after one decent Halloween movie David Gordon Green became the guy to reboot horror series. Watch him start sniffing around Friday the 13th if they finally get that new movie off the ground like they're saying.

CastorTroy

Maybe he's planning a horrorverse. Just wait for Freddy Vs Jason Vs Michael Vs Pinhead.

ThePott

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119533567#Comment_119533567

I remember hearing at one stage that an ending to Freddy vs Jason at one point would have Pinhead welcoming them to hell. Would love more crossover horror films tbh.

McFly85

The first 2 were genuinely scary to young me who managed to get them out of the video shop! But the ones after that were just nonsense, similar to what happened with nightmare on elm st.

Horror films I’m not precious about at all in terms of how they do the reboot. If they make it scary, they’ve succeeded.

El Gato De Negocios

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119527404#Comment_119527404

Similar to yourself, I hold the first two in high regard and have a soft spot for part three as it's the first ever adult horror movie I got to see in the cinema. Reboots / remakes / reimaginings invariably leave me cold but ill watch it out of morbid curiosity at some point. I also want to show off one of my prized possessions.

It's metal on wood and autographed by Barker, Bradley, Vince, Laurence, Bamford and Wilde.

johnny_ultimate

Some early images from the film, including Pinhead. Dare I say it looks… pretty cool? The Pinhead design looks great, and that new Cenobite looks suitably fucked up.

https://ew.com/movies/hellraiser-pinhead-first-look-jamie-clayton/

Tony EH

@ThePott

Got the Arrow boxset of the first three, is nothing beyond that worth watching?

No.

El Gato De Negocios

https://youtu.be/KivFHnOHPEU

Trailer dropped earlier. Don't like the cgi chains but we'll wait and see.

CastorTroy

I see they changed the box as well. And less leather.

2 weeks from Friday.

CastorTroy

This is out Friday. Was just wondering since it's on Hulu in the States, will it come to Disney+ here?

Full_Circle_81

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119699032#Comment_119699032

I was hoping for the same thing, at least in time for Halloween!

johnny_ultimate

Nothing announced yet AFAIK, but it does seem likely it will show up on Disney+. Maybe it’ll drop closer to Halloween?

2smiggy

is the original worth watching, never seen any of them, despite seeing the 'pinhead' character many times over the years

Tony EH

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119700512#Comment_119700512

It probably would have been better if you had seen it when it first came out. But, if anyone's honest about it, it's a pretty poor film with a bizarre decision to film it in England with American actors trying to pretend that it's America or somewhere other than the obvious environs? There's also some pretty uncomfortable dubbing going on, too, that never sits right despite the fact that it's English on English. The original Barker story, 'The Hellbound Heart' was set in England, so perhaps the original intent was to set the movie there too with all British actors, but somewhere along the line the desire to appeal to the US market overtook things.

In any case, 'Hellraiser' is ok? With some excellent special effects (and a few bad ones) and one or two good performances, especially from Claire Higgins. But it's the dreamlike oddness or the piece and the cenobites that remain its most attractive draw. But if you're coming at it fresh, that may not be enough.

Homelander

The first movie is very good, I think, especially if you watch the unrated version in all its grisly glory. I do agree that the fact it's blatantly set in the UK but retrofitted to make it America doesn't do it any favours.

Hellraiser 2 is quite good as well, although more dated than the first in many ways. After that, it's a mixture of watchable (at best) and unwatchable, there are no actually good Hellraiser films after the first two despite there being about 9 of them. I'd probably just stop at the original trilogy maybe, and leave it there.

I haven't seen Hellraiser Judgement, the most recent one, which apparently is much more like the first two despite having a micro-budget. The watchable ones I'd say are Hellraiser III, V and VI though their link to the actual origin story is pretty tenuous.

I hate IV, more so than the other crappy sequels because it actually had a decent budget but turned out awful. Though some people like it. Whatever VII and VIII were called, they were atrocious.

So yeah, I'd say Hellraiser unrated and Hellraiser 2 are all you would reasonably need to see before watching the reboot, if the interest is there.

El Gato De Negocios

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119700512#Comment_119700512

Hellraiser is very much of its time. I saw it for the first time on Channel 4 back in the 90s and i fell in love with, Id never seen anything quite like it. Ive watched it multiple times since and still love it. Some of the effects look a bit rubbery now but the story itself is fantastic and Pinhead is every bit as iconic as any of his horror peers like Vorhees or Myers. However given the way cinema has evolved over the last few decades, someone coming into it with a fresh pair of eyes may well not appreciate it.

Smiles35

@Homelander

I would have said the same about IV a few years ago. I have some experience of writing now under my belt, and I tell you. I'm nearly sure he wrote that with the intention of ending the series completely. You see, when you start writing you learn you can get away with suspension of disbelief once, maximum twice in a story. He didn't need that for his series. It's all in it's own world. And yet, there he was pushing that button for no obvious reason whatsoever with introducing space.

Anyway. I'll give this new one a watch, as I do miss at least the music from these.

BruteStock

Both Hellraiser 1 & 2 are excellent horror films. They stand the test of time because they tell a timeless story. Just don't go in thinking its a film about Pinhead. The film isn't about him and he's a non-factor in the second one. The only other entry worth a watch is Inferno which stars Boone from Nightbreed. Every other film in the franchise is crap. But the first two are absolute classics in my book.

CastorTroy

I'd say if you haven't seen the original(s) but are interested in watching the new one, watch the new one first otherwise you'll just be comparing. Then can check the originals out.

Full_Circle_81

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119700512#Comment_119700512

I've seen the first two and thought they were just OK. They are both quite dated now, but some of the effects are appropriately gory and the music from Christopher Young is definitely one of the big highlights of the series.

The main draw is of course Pinhead and the other cenobites, who's designs have rightly become iconic in the horror field.

I think the first is probably worth a watch, just because of its significance in the horror genre, but I have a feeling that this new movie won't require knowledge of the prior movies (though may feature nods for the fans).

Either way, I'm curious to see what an updated take will look like.

El Gato De Negocios

It appeared on my IPTV server overnight so will try and watch it this evening.

0ph0rce0

Trailer made this look great. Well to me anyway.

Way too long for me, lost all interest after an hour.

Cast were very annoying, always shouting and bickering, kinda got on my nerves.

Pure tripe.

conorhal

Well, for what it's worth it's easily the third best Hellraiser movie! (which is not a big achievement)

There is stuff to like here. The new Cenobites are pretty cool, Jamie Clayton does a decent job as Pinhead but I wish they ditched the scleral lenses so that she could be a bit more expressive. The eyes are the 'window to the soul' after all, so when you have no eyebrows and your eyes are totally black then your face looses most of it's expression. It's an artistic choice, but I think it was a bad one.

I really liked the way they expanded the mythology of the puzzle box, it was smart and has a baring on the plot that I thought was clever. While the makers claim that the movie is not related to the series of films that came before it, the plot is basically lifted straight from Hellraiser 2.

The set design is lush.

As for the rest.. The movie feels very much like a 'made for TV movie', the shot composition is (as with all these streaming shows) very pedestrian and I never thought I would say the words, 'this feels very over lit' when talking about a modern horror movie. These two thing suck all the atmosphere out of the movie.

The characters and the actors portraying them are very hit and miss, it's like the Cenobites have wandered onto the set of some daytime soap opera. The main character is just annoying. I get it, she's an addict and a sketchy person in general but I'm baffled as to why so many people are so forgiving of a character that has puth them in such mortal danger in the first place.

On the whole, if you're a fan of the franchise like myself (a form of hellish masochism in it's own right) then yeah, it's worth a watch but with a better director and cinematographer and a somewhat tighter script (why the hell is this 2hrs long) it could have been really something.

Padraig Mor

Turned off after an hour and only lasted that long as I presumed it would get better due to the positive reviews. It didn't - absolute dogshit.

How Soon Is Now

Lads if it was getting any positive reviews ask yourself why ffs.

These films haven't been given the light of day for years now all it took was for them to have Pinhead played by a trans and Hellraiser becomes a things again! Media obviously got hold of it and ran with it.

Just watch the original films and remember when things where good!

p to the e

Wasn't expecting much from this but enjoyed it more than I thought I would. Odessa A'zion did a decent job being the femme fatale (FYI her mother voiced Bobby Hill) and Jamie Clayton seems to relish playing the iconic character and annoying thousands of horror nerds. I find it unusual that people are upset at a trans Pinhead in a film by Clive Barker. You should read some of his other stuff.

Is it a coincidence that between this and "Prey" Hulu have started a campaign of off-screen kills for the first three quarters of the film?

6/10

Kingp35

Watched this last night, it wasn't great at all.

Firstly the plot is totally different to both the original film and the short story.

Secondly it's far too long, no Hellraiser film should two hours long. The first 45 mins or so are boring and really drag on.

The biggest issues for me though are the use of the box and the cenobites. In this film is not about desire but van essentially be used as a weapon, it's nothing like the original films. However it's the cenobites I have a real issue with, they look terrible. The make up effects are little more than rubbish looking rubber suits which is made much worse with having the cenobites wandering around all lit up and not hiding in the shadows. Gone are nails from Pinhead which are replaced by pins with pearls on top. The cenobites are no longer menacing but instead cheap looking creatures you'd see in any terrible b-movie.

I had high hopes for this but it was a real let down.

Homelander

I thought this was surprisingly decent. Not brilliant, but not awful, and considering the long history of utter crap since Hellraiser 2, I'm happy enough.

Jamie Clayton was fairly good as Pinhead. I thought the Cenobites were OK as well though agree they could've been a bit more convincing. The design was good, but lacking a slimy, hellish edge.

Overall I'd say it's a 6.5/10. Very watchable, toes the line between schlock and grim well enough, and easily the best entry since the first two movies.