Hellraiser

Personally I never truly latched on to this particular franchise but always enjoyed the depravity and otherworldly aspects in the visuals. I didn't think the actual stories ever effectively matched the imagery. While this doesn't exactly have the most captivating or unique story it seemed more interesting to me and throws a few more twists. What really stands out once again is the extremely intense and gruesome scenery. With technological advances in CGI and practical effects they're able to portray much more in the hellish atmosphere. Director Bruckner once again shows a sleek style in his shot composition and ideals that really set a grim tone. Overall a very solid Reimagination that somewhat impressed me.

Hellraiser 2022 is not a bad movie. It is just not what I was hoping for. Honestly, for me, it was lacking great gore. The story was serviceable, as were the characters. Yet, I kept hoping for a film that tapped into the horror of what the Cenobites do to their victims. For me, that is what Hellraiser is supposed to do: go face first into the blood and pain. I wanted to see heads being pulled apart, bodies being skinned alive, bubbling masses of flesh developing into a human form, sexual tension, incest, lust, and the deep exploration of humans addicted to gratifying their desires only to end up in hell being ripped apart. I want a bloody gory Hellraiser!

Also, the movie reminded me of 13 Ghosts in how the house was designed to keep the Cenobites out. You know, rich guy wants to chase after the unknown, figures out how to keep the evil characters trapped, and then goes down in a ball of flames after a plot for people to be bait falters. And it did all of this while keeping the gore to a minimum.

My latest watch, I actually watched twice because I wanted to give it a fair shake. In a nutshell, the 2022 'Hellraiser' reboot just does not have enough spark to reignite the fire in the franchise. While I won't say Jamie Clayton did a bad job, her pinhead was more quiet and reserved which really made miss Bradley's deep voice and imposing figure. There was a genuine lack of sex and grit and the majority of the time the cenobites were on screen it was dark to the point of annoyance. This is NOT a movie inspired by grungy BDSM clubs in NYC. The story was okay with a bit of a cliche ending, and it could have used more editing to cut down on the runtime. All and all 'Hellraiser' was basically like digging up a beloved friend, reanimating their corpse, and then sending them back to their job at Wawa. Personally I would never bring someone back from the dead merely for the promise of mediocrity.

College kids get chased around the woods by Cenobites. Cenobites lay siege to those kids in a mansion. It's like the zombie formula, but with Cenobites.

All of which makes the Cenobites feel pretty ineffectual. Never mind that Cenobites getting locked out of a house isn't really in keeping with, you know, opening all those portals from other dimensions in the walls and floor. Maybe it's a magic house, I don't know.

The Hellraiser reboot has decent art direction. It has a budget. There's nothing wrong with the new Pinhead, she's fine. But in terms of story, they phoned it in this time. We're left with a movie that's perfectly acceptable as some time-waster slasher that you forget the moment the credits roll, but that's all. Lamentable, considering the potential.

They turned Hellraiser into a vanilla Freddy Krueger inspired slasher, which makes for a very watchable if unmemorable experience.

Some of the ideas, even if borrowed, were convincing : the mansion, the dumb rules, the drug allegory. And some true Hellraiser concepts and visuals like the Leviathan moment were particularly well done but no spoilers here.

The most disappointing was probably the Cenobites design way too elegant and Alien like, not gruesome or surreal enough. Plus the characters deaths felt like generic gory horror à la SAW or Escape Room. It was missing a sense of spectacle and boldness despite having clearly a decent budget.

Still an enjoyable movie.