Why was Pinhead’s gender changed for Hulu’s ‘Hellraiser?’

The new Hellraiser has been a well-received reboot of the classic series, and it featured one brand new twist: the terrifying Pinhead is a different gender. This simple change brought both hatred and joy from different parts of the internet.

In an interview with Salon, director David Bruckner talked about how that gender change came about, which was especially difficult considering Pinhead is one of the most famous horror characters of all time.

The new film also has a female lead named Riley, played by Odessa A’zion. In the movie she plays an addict that comes across the cursed puzzle box that consumes its victims and summons the movie’s real stars: the Cenobites, of whom Pinhead (Jamie Clayton) is the most recognizable. As Bruckner explained:

“We knew we had to do Pinhead. That was the biggest challenge, obviously, because it’s so iconic and Doug Bradley’s performance is so incredible, and nuanced and memorable. And we were very lucky to find Jamie [Clayton].”

The director said gender identity today is much different than it was when the original movie came out, but he took cues from the source material, namely Clive Barker’s novella, The Hellbound Heart.

“… [We were] inspired a bit by The Hellbound Heart, which describes the Cenobites initially, as being androgynous to some degree. But then there are also certain gendered qualities from a design perspective, like in just in the sense that we were, you know, trying something beautiful in them that would feel angelic to us, that pursuing androgynous ideas or playing around with concepts of gender felt more advanced to us than human culture, in many ways.”

He went on to say that the Cenobites are more advanced, in a sense, than we are as a society. “I’ve always thought of the Cenobites as having gone farther than us in so many different ways. And part of what’s terrifying about them is that they have come back to us and stand here on the threshold and are the reaching out to you. They’re inviting you into this. And of course, that’s a terrifying step to take.”

Hellraiser is currently streaming on Hulu.