Hellraiser is back, and director David Bruckner has promised such sights to show you. It’s been three years since 2018’s Hellraiser: Judgment, which continued the franchise’s downward trend into mediocrity. But after a break it looks like we’re going to get one hell of a reboot, which will reimagine Clive Barker’s original story The Hellbound Heart.
Bruckner, who previously impressed horror fans with The Ritual and The Night Room, sat down with SFX magazine to discuss the movie. He explained that the goal was to draw from Barker’s work while reworking it for modern audiences:
“All I’ll say is that we are aiming to be as true as we can to the original material. [Clive Barker’s original story] The Hellbound Heart is also a primary source of inspiration, as well as the original film. But then it is something of a small reimagining and we are currently working on it.
Rumors are that the lead Cenobite in this new movie will be a woman, meaning we may be getting a female Pinhead. Grand Army and Fam star Odessa A’zion has been cast (though we don’t know who’s she’s playing), but given that the Cenobites are extra-dimensional demonic beings, the gender they present as doesn’t mean a huge amount to them. Besides, we’ve already seen Lady Pinhead in the BOOM! studios Hellraiser comic books, so this isn’t exactly a unique move for the franchise.
Beyond this, HBO Max has its own Hellraiser TV show in production. The pilot (and several subsequent episodes) are being helmed by Halloween director David Gordon Green, with Michael Dougherty and Mark Verheiden on writing duties.
It’s been too long since we saw a genuinely good Hellraiser flick, with the straight-to-DVD sequels to the 1987 movie largely disappointing audiences. I can’t wait to see what grisly and sadistic things the Cenobites are up to now, so let’s hope we get some images and a trailer soon.
Hellraiser will premiere on Hulu, with a release date yet to be announced.
