'Hellraiser' Review: New Pinhead Only Partly Revives A Horror Classic
The new Hellraiser is about creatures with dead eyes who report something that should have stayed dead. But enough about streaming services rebooting old franchises, let's talk about the latest version of the Gen Z horror classic.
Hellraiser (released 2022), which will air on Hulu on Friday, October 7, is the brutal (and bloody) story of a young woman forced to fight BDSM demons to save her brother. Return to a series that began with the wild 1987 British film adapted by horror author Clive Barker from his novel, a gruesome moral comedy filled with gruesome gore, instantly iconic designs and hits of searing sadomasochism. The notoriously misleading story has opened the door for nine sequels that have enriched the story of Heaven and Hell, although that's not something to worry about now, in part because at least one of them was a cheap royal kidnapping. but mostly because the reboot itself makes sense.
The new film focuses on Riley, a recovering drug addict played by Odessa Azion, in sweaty despair even before she meets the supernatural. Think of a city spread over several skins. He stands with his irate brother and a few random roommates, muttering vague things about how to get a better job and blah blah blah. The film doesn't care about all of that, which makes it difficult for the viewer to understand. Riley's boyfriend or his cardboard cutout friends. Things start to get weird when it turns out Riley's not-so-friend is a bad influence, and they discover the franchise's signature MacGuffin, an evil Rubik's Cube that summons terrifying cenobites (undead monsters with disturbing prosthetics and fetish outfits).
Jamie Clayton replaces original star Doug Bradley as the high priest of this soulful eatery nicknamed Pinhead for pretty obvious reasons. It's a worthy reworking of a horror icon, and the film reveals some flashes of imagination from the design, creepy sets, and direction from David Bruckner, who directed The Night House.
But there's more to the '90s vibe when four handsome but completely devoid of personality 20-year-olds end up in a creepy mansion. If the original had imperfect people with relatively weak impulses, then the reboot does not give anyone hopes, shortcomings, dreams, or even history. Who is Riley's brother if not his master's judge? What was your relationship like as a child? Where are your parents, are there unresolved conflicts between them? The alleged "character" appears with the words "I'm a roommate" and no other information is given about him, turning the torture shock into a fantasy. Seriously, the movie can't give you any reason to be concerned about this cast other than the fact that they're on your screen.
It's a shame because monsters who can't tell pleasure from pain are, if not, more timely than ever. In an age of previews and TikToked filled with distractions, Hellraiser offers a unique opportunity to find out how far you have to go to experience something. There's a vague allusion to Riley's millennial numbness in the film, but it's pretty superficial. One of the twisted magics of the original film was how the protagonist embraces evil, sending the film to a distant realm where he has no idea who to root for. Conversely, layers of shock and debauchery are missing from this sexless reboot.
As it turns out, in the age of social media horror movies, love life is more than you can afford. To name a few that come to mind, things like "Seed", "Camera", "Men", "We're all going to the World's Fair" or "Corpse, corpse, corpse", there is more to say than shock and shame. Meanwhile, Hellraiser's pits have erupted, disenfranchising the youth against the heartless millionaire, but there's not much to say about that.
The current war between streaming services has created an insatiable market for new ones, but not many new ones. Do you remember something that you like ? There is a new one. The success of recent Halloween movies shows that popular horror icons still have legs, especially this scary season (Michael Myers is back with a big Halloween title that ends October 14), and broadcasters are releasing new versions of everything from Scream to the popular . Predator and hocus pocus . Focus 2 . This is all very well for the casual pumpkin-carving viewer heading for Halloween, but serious horror fans may find this type of tourism quite easy. Luckily, true horror fans can find original and witty horror stories in more horror-focused places like the Shudder streaming service.
The new 2022 Hellraiser does great things when it hits its target, even if the two-hour movie takes a long time to get there. It won't break your heart, but at least it's a drop of fresh blood for a show that didn't deserve to die.
