In what is perhaps the least surprising news of the day, Hellraiser, a movie about demonic beings, murder, and the occult, has snagged an R rating from the Motion Picture Association of America.
The official analysis says the rating is for “strong bloody horror violence and gore, language throughout, some sexual content, and brief graphic nudity.”
While the original movie came out in 1987, this new version from Hulu is a reboot directed by David Bruckner (The Night House) and is one of two upcoming Hellraiser projects in the works. It stars actress Jamie Clayton (Sense8) as the newest iteration of the iconic character Pinhead.
The original movie director, Clive Barker, said he endorses the film and that it’s extremely faithful to its source material – a horror novella written by Barker in 1986 called The Hellbound Heart.
“Having seen some of the designs from David Bruckner’s new Hellraiser film, they pay homage to what the first film created, but then take it to places it’s never been before,” Barker said in a statement, according to Movieweb. “This is a Hellraiser on a scale that I simply didn’t expect. David and his team are steeped in the story’s mythology, but what excites me is their desire to honor the original even as they revolutionize it for a new generation.”
We’ve yet to see any concrete plot details, but Bruckner said the script was influenced by by the original and that it was a “reimagining” of the story.
“We can’t say anything about it yet. But it is something that we are actively working towards, and it is a joy and a dream for a filmmaker like myself to dive into that world. All I’ll say is that we are aiming to be as true as we can to the original material. 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.”
The film will release sometime in 2022, but the exact date is yet unknown. We’ll keep you posted.
