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"Hellraiser" dir. by David Bruckner


"Hellraiser (2022)"

From David Bruckner, director of modern horror masterpieces such as "The Night House" and "The Ritual" comes the latest entry into the "Hellraiser" franchise. Not really a sequel and not really a remake, I guess this could be considered a re-imagining.

"Hellraiser 2022" follows the story of an extremely unlikeable young woman who does just about everything horribly wrong. So much so that it ruins the lives of all of those around her. Maybe that's the message of the movie... bad life choices don't just f*ck up your own life but the lives of others too. But the way it plays out in the film is nothing short of irritating.

Bruckner's films have until this point had incredible acting. The lead, all things considered, isn't awful but the supporting cast are shockingly bad. Fun fact, the lead character played by Odessa A'zion is the daughter of Pamela Adlon. Jamie Clayton does a pretty good job as the new Pinhead although there's not too many scenes that require dialogue of any profound depth. She just kind of stands there for the whole film.

This film does succeed in one very important aspect: the cenobites. This collection of inter-dimensional nightmare creatures is the best looking batch yet. Losing the BDSM leather outfits in favor of clothing made of tattered and reallocated flesh and muscle, there are some designs that will make you straight up nauseous. Most of these designs are done with masterful prosthetics and practical effects.

In a perfect mirroring of the original Hellraiser films, this film focuses it's efforts on being disturbing rather than on its central plot/story, which I'm fine with but was hoping for a bit more depth considering what Bruckner has shown to be capable of. But when the movie ended it all made sense. This story was written by David S. Goyer. Honestly I don't understand why this guy keeps getting writing gigs. For those that don't know, this guy was responsible for writing abominations such as "Batman V Superman" and "Terminator: Dark Fate." He also wrote the story for a bunch of Call of Duty video games. I'll give him a pass for "Dark City" that movie is fantastic.

So in the end, was this new "Hellraiser" movie any good? Well... it wasn't what I was hoping for. I wanted a deeper story and MUCH more gore. But for what it was, it was pretty cool. The cenobites alone are a good enough reason to check this out.

6.5/10

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