After falling so far into the Straight-to-DVD-slash-streaming Bin, a horror franchise attempts to claw its way back up to the big leagues. And yet, in spite of the damage done by nine (!) mediocre-to-bad sequels, much goodwill remains towards the long-running horror series. Specifically, Head Priest of the damned Pinhead, as played by horror giant Doug Bradley. Could audiences ever accept a version of Hellraiser without Bradley’s hedgehog head?
Hitting the reset button, David Bruckner’s reboot re-casts and gender flips Pinhead, gives the Lament Configuration a makeover (and brand spanking new modus operandi), and spins a new tale from Clive Barker’s source material.
With shades of Fede Alvarez’s Evil Dead, the story follows a recovering addict (Odessa A’zion) as she unwittingly unleashes hell while battling her addictions. Coming into possession of an antique puzzle cube, Riley is thrown into a confrontation with Pinhead / The Priest (Jamie Clayton), who demands that the box be fed a fresh supply of souls. And if Riley isn’t willing to bring them? Well, the cube is perfectly willing to come get them itself.
This is a striking revitalisation. In Clayton’s chilling portrayal of the Hellpriest, the film proves faithful to Barker’s original novella, recasting a horror icon in a way that isn’t a mere rehash. And, with the return of Christopher Young’s score, it shows respect to the 1987 classic too. The whips and chains are also left intact, with some of the most visceral gore and violence the franchise has ever seen. Production values are high, and the cinematography luxurious, helping to differentiate this entry from those which preceded it. It’s a new look, but one which fits the world of Hellraiser.
And yet, the newfound polish betrays an incongruity with the source material – one in which its understanding of pleasure, pain and sex are only skin deep. While one could hardly accuse this reboot of chastity – its main characters are introduced in a sex scene – sexuality is but background noise to a by-the-numbers supernatural slasher in which heroes are picked off, one by one. While the casting and visuals are the shot in the arm that this reboot needs, the story is disappointingly rote.
The whips, chains and horrifying acupuncture are there, but mostly because they have to be, rather than being driven by characters’ horniness or infernal curiosity. Even the worst of the sequels tended to have an air of the kinky about them. For a film packed full of gnashing S&M demons, Hellraiser 22′ is surprisingly vanilla.
Part slasher film, part supernatural Saw, it’s not always Hellraiser as we know it. Still, it is preferable to at least, say, five of the far worse films which preceded it.
