Hellraiser

Hellraiser director David Bruckner revealed one of his favorite Easter eggs. Keep reading to discover the differences between the new Hellraiser and the ...

Desire is a central theme in the 1987 movie "Hellraiser." The views expressed here are that of the respective authors/ entities and do not represent the views of Economic Times (ET). Its skull is covered with a grid of wounds and carefully placed nails. This type of box can still grant wishes, but only with a blood sacrifice. The most famous monster in the series is still the Lead Cenobite, known as "Hell Priest" since 1988 but having once been known as "Pinhead" before that. Clive Barker's 1987 book's illustrations and a few key details are altered to create something new but identifiable.

A review of the 2022 Hellraiser, now streaming on Hulu, a remake that can't match the perverse and grotesque Clive Barker original.

If she had been forced to face off in a meaningful way with a more competently rendered female Pinhead, the movie might have had a better shot at reigniting the kink and sadomasochistic fuckery of the first Hellraiser. Perhaps that’s to be expected from a Hellraiser that is technically being brought to you by the Walt Disney Company. As corny as some of the practical 1987 effects may look today, there is still something visceral and grimy in the aesthetic of the first Hellraiser that isn’t matched by the more glossed-up grit of the remake. Trevor persuades Riley, who is in recovery and struggling to get back on her feet, to steal the puzzle box from where it’s been locked up in a storage facility, then sell it and split the cash. While this version of Hellraiser can’t be accused of completely avoiding the in-your-face gore of its predecessor — we do get treated to the sight of knives slicing into hands, hooks tearing into human tissue, and, in one case, a view of a needle penetrating a person’s neck, partially shown from inside that person’s neck — it still feels like a safer version of the film that inspired it. Thirty-five years and nine sequels later, there’s a new version of Hellraiser streaming on Hulu that gestures at similar ideas and borrows familiar plot points but makes the classic reboot mistake of adding too much story to what should have been a more concentrated reimagining of the Pinhead universe.

Hulu takes on 'Hellraiser' reboot, Mila Kunis powers 'Luckiest Girl Alive' and 'The Redeem Team' revives USA basketball, both on Netflix.

[one of the year’s most unusual dramedies](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2022-06-23/marcel-the-shell-review-with-shoes-on-a24), telling the story of a tiny talking shell (voiced by Jenny Slate) who becomes an internet sensation, and then worries about the impact all the fuss and attention will have on his family. The plot is the stuff of “The Twilight Zone” — and, frankly, not quite twisty enough to sustain a 105-minute film — but Hancock and his cast effectively convey the essence of King’s story, which is about a well-meaning kid learning how anything that comes too easy likely has dark strings attached. But all of this is over-explained in the film — often by Ani herself, in the incessant voice-overs. When the 1992 “Dream Team” of NBA all-stars arrived at the Olympics in Barcelona, its goals were twofold: to reassert America’s dominance in its homegrown sport and to elevate basketball into a global product. The new reboot retains the elements that define a “Hellraiser” story, including the sadomasochistic extra-dimensional monsters and a cast of human “heroes” who rarely act heroically. [Andrea Riseborough](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-nancy-review-20180607-story.html)) wins the kind of lottery prize usually referred to as “life-changing money.” But Leslie doesn’t really want her life changed. And Riseborough is a dynamo, making sure that even at her worst, Leslie has enough personality and humanity that the audience roots for her just to get through another day. The new “Hellraiser” is suitably bloody, and Bruckner and company understand (at least theoretically) the core of Barker’s premise, in which people’s rapacious needs end up hurting everyone in their general vicinity. It’s a story often told, but this movie tells it well, energetically dramatizing the in-the-moment experiences Leslie has and showing how they inform the choices she makes. But while this film looks better and feels more serious than most of the “Hellraiser” sequels, there’s something pro forma about it. The box can be twisted into multiple configurations, each of which leads to the solver’s hands getting punctured and a portal opening to a realm ruled by the Cenobites, a hedonistic race for whom pleasure, pain and enlightenment are all tightly — some might say constrictively — intertwined. [Clive Barker’s 1987 horror movie “Hellraiser”](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-09-18-ca-5604-story.html) (adapting his novella “The Hellbound Heart”) became a cult favorite due to its kinky overtones and its visually striking villain: a spiky-domed demon dubbed Pinhead.

The movie is a reinvention of Clive Barker's 1987 horror classic from master horror director David Bruckner. The plot follows a woman struggling with addiction ...

Here’s [how to watch it for free](https://stylecaster.com/hulu-free-trial/) and watch the trailer below. [Hulu’s 30-day free subscription](https://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/click?id=Y2We7n7GoRk&offerid=763711.12&type=3&subid=0). It’s [ad-free](https://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/click?id=Y2We7n7GoRk&offerid=763711.12&type=3&subid=0) plan costs $12.99 per month. [Verizon](https://www.verizon.com/support/disney-bundle-faqs/) customer (or know someone who is), there is another free option. Please note that if you purchase something by clicking on a link within this story, we may receive a small commission from the sale. Hulu’s live TV service, Hulu+ With Live TV, costs [$69.99 per month](https://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/click?id=t1ZX7*4ybQA&offerid=852731.230&type=3&subid=hululivetv) for its ad-supported plan and [$75.99 per month](https://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/click?id=t1ZX7*4ybQA&offerid=852731.230&type=3&subid=hululivetv) for its ad-free plan. The original book that it’s based on, The Hellbound Heart, was suggestive of a female Pinhead, and the comic books also explored the idea. There are a few new characters in this latest Hellraiser iteration, plus as mentioned, the role of the Hell Priest is played by a female actor. There, customers will be able to choose The Disney Bundle, which includes Disney+, Hulu and ESPN. So how can you watch Hellraiser online for free? The bundle saves users about $8 per month from subscribing to each service individually. In one of the most significant departures from the original film and novella, the character of the Hell Priest, aka Pinhead, is now female and played by Jaime Clayton.

Now that's a puzzle we want to solve! Hellraiser-2022-Lament-Configuration-Boxes-Explained-Featured. The ...

After a new Configuration is solved and the Cenobites claim a new victim, the puzzle changes shape automatically, presenting a new challenge to the owner. Finally, once all five sacrifices are offered to the Cenobites, the box takes the shape of a diamond, or The Leviathan Configuration, a representation of “power.” Each shape of the puzzle box corresponds to a Configuration. The Lament Configuration Box is a cubic puzzle that people need to solve to summon the Cenobites. The cut marks the person to be hunted by the Cenobites, and the only way to get out alive is to stab another person with the puzzle. [Hellraiser](https://collider.com/tag/hellraiser/) brings Pinhead (Jamie Clayton) back to torment a new cast of characters who get involved with the Lament Configuration Box.

An opulently designed, if indulgently overlong, remix of the gory 1987 chiller offers up some effectively gnarly violence.

It’s unusual to see a film that’s not for everyone made as if it could be, as gross as it is grand, hell for most but heaven for some. What’s that much stranger about the is-this-the-best-you-can-do monsters is that they’re in a film that’s otherwise beautifully constructed; atmospheric and polished, made on a scale and with an imagination we just don’t get to see that much any more. It doesn’t always work, and at times it really really doesn’t, but it feels confident and unfettered in a way that so many horror films don’t these days.

The 'Hellraiser' reboot brought some new twists and turns into the beloved franchise, so it's time to explain that ending.

Before Colin dies, Riley reminds the Gasp that she’s the box's owner, and it’s up to her to choose a sacrifice. Just like everyone who was ever granted an audience with the Leviathan, Riley has six prizes to choose from: “life,” “knowledge,” “love,” “sensation,” “resurrection,” or “power.” The Hell Priestess tempts Riley with an image of Matt, telling the woman she should choose to get her brother back. Meanwhile, Colin, the fifth and final sacrifice, is being chased by the Gasp (Selina Lo), a Cenobite eager to claim her prize. After that, it’s up to Riley to choose the two victims who’ll take her place or accept a fate of torture in the Labyrinth. Once the Cenobites are inside the house, Voight demands a new audience with Leviathan, tells the Hell Priestess he was tricked by Leviathan, and orders the Cenobites to remove the sick machinery that’s attached to his body. The third sacrifice is Riley’s flatmate, Nora (Aoife Hinds), who becomes a victim in Voight’s old house, where Riley and her friends try to figure out how to save Matt. The second sacrifice is Voight’s old secretary, Serena (Hiam Abbass), who inadvertently solves the second configuration of the puzzle. Riley is not cut the first time she solves the puzzle, which leads to the accident where her brother becomes the first sacrifice. Voight sacrificed five people to the puzzle and was granted an audience with Leviathan, the god who oversees the Cenobites’ dimension, also known as The Labyrinth. However, once her brother Matt (Brandon Flynn) accidentally becomes a sacrifice for the Cenobites, Riley begins to investigate the matter. As she discovers, the box once belonged to Roland Voight (Goran Visnjic), a billionaire who disappeared six years before the film’s main events. That leads to gruesome deaths, and since the Cenobites are always in dire need of fresh meat, they reward the people who can solve the puzzle box and bring them new sacrifices.

Hellraiser returns with all new sights to show us. Here's what you need to know about the newest reboot to the franchise's ending!

Movie's Princess Peach11h ago - A side order of 1-Ups with your McChicken Nuggets?](/articles/mario-movie-mcdonalds-seemingly-leaks-how-princess-peach-looks) [The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Episode 7 Review - "The Eye"20h ago - Middle-earth burns as darkness looms.](/articles/the-lord-of-the-rings-the-rings-of-power-episode-7-review-the-eye) It features “classic” Assassin’s Creed gameplay and takes place in an open world, but is a mobile game rather than a console release.](/videos/assassins-creed-codename-jade-reveal-trailer-ubisoft-forward-2022) [Trombone Champ is a Hilarious Take on Guitar HeroTrombone Champ is available now on PC! Pinhead knows Roland will either see the light — literally — and embrace his newfound transcendence at the hand of an unseen deity, God or Devil, or he'll despise the eternal suffering as punishment for insulting their generosity. She can let Colin go, erasing the last reminder of deceased brother Matt (Brandon Flynn) from existence — possibly lifting a guilty weight — or she can mark Trevor, the encapsulation of all her struggles with addiction. [Dune: Awakening Reveal TrailerTake your place in the fight for Arrakis in Dune: Awakening, an open world survival MMO set in the sci-fi world of Frank Herbert's Dune.](/videos/dune-awakening-cinematic-reveal-trailer) [Assassin's Creed Codename Jade - Reveal TrailerUbisoft has announced Assassin’s Creed Codename Jade, a new game in the series set in Ancient China. Roland is granted his “mercy” wish, but at an ultimate cost — Pinhead bestows upon him the Leviathan gift of Power. David Bruckner — alongside co-writers Ben Collins and Luke Piotrowski — explores how fear and excitement can unfortunately lead to the same outcomes. The Cenobites are summoned by the actions of Roland — they aren't renegade predators — and he must either accept or deny responsibility for what transpires. Riley's investigation of the evolving puzzle box — with 6 unique phases that offer an "Audience with God" upon completion — leads her to the Berkshire estate of vanished billionaire art dealer Roland Voight (Goran Visnjic). It's not long before the wires bind him, stretch him against a stone platform, his forearm skin is degloved Gerald's Game style, and he's yanked into a well of agonizing howls where the Cenobites roam. He chose the Liminal configuration upon his completion of the puzzle, translating to Sensation — but the Cenobites' gift isn't of human pleasure; it's of mortal pain. Roland is also fitted with a golden mechanism that protrudes like an ax through his spine and out his rib cage, pulling his nerves around churning gears.

Here's what the end of the new Hellraiser movie on Hulu means and how it sets up a sequel.

I feel like I speak for our whole team, and this is everything, the SFX, the VFX, the production design, we learned a lot on this and I think it certainly is tempting coming out of it to think we'd have an amazing grip on it going forward, should there be an energy and an appetite for it." Certainly, Bruckner is enthusiastic about the notion of making a second film if Hellraiser 2022 proves a hit with audiences. It felt like what to me was in the spirit of Hellraiser was a degree of invention and a commitment to showing them something that they haven't quite seen before. And what exactly is the fate of It is likely this deity who is responsible for Voight's transformation and it is also likely that they are turning him into a new Cenobite. In Barker's franchise-inaugurating 1987 film Hellraiser, the Cenobites are clad in leatherware, a clothing choice inspired by the writer-director's own visits to S&M clubs.

Now that Hellraiser is on Hulu, it is time to discuss which version better captures the horror of The Hellbound Heart and the Cenobites.

While even the original Hellraiser has a straightforward horror story, the movie became part of our collective nightmare due to the stylish design of the Cenobites and the bone-chilling acting of Doug Bradley as the Hell Priest, the villain popularly known as Pinhead. The reboot does not aim to remake what was done before, but to push the franchise in a new direction. And the visual design of the Cenobites, the puzzle box, and the Labyrinth dimension all echo Barker’s original vision. If we think about the novel adaptation alone, the original Hellraiser is miles ahead of the reboot. [Hellraiser](https://collider.com/tag/hellraiser/) quickly became one of the most influential horror movies of the 1980s, spawning a profitable franchise of movies, comic books, and merchandising. The reason is simple: the new movie doesn’t try to copy The Hellbound Heart.

The Hellraiser franchise has such sights to show us! But some are worth seeing more than others.

Bloodline goes on to trace the LeMarchand curse from the past, to present day, and finally to the distant future in outer space, where a descendent of its inventor has created a spaceship to trap and banish the Cenobites. Even without skin, hell, maybe even because she’s without skin, Julia oozes malicious sex appeal as she gets revenge on Kirsty and especially Frank (Sean Chapman,) the cowardly ex-boyfriend who jilted her for an eternity in exquisite torment. This definitely seemed like a run of the mill thriller they slapped a little leather and blood onto to call it a Hellraiser movie. The movie unfortunately becomes a very rote slasher by the time it goes to space. This is part Hellraiser story, part Jacob’s Ladder ripoff, particularly in the last act. A prequel and a sequel, the fourth movie in the series is the most ambitious of the franchise. At first glance, this appeared to be a homecoming of sorts with Ashley Laurence returning as the original Hellraiser final girl, Kirsty Cotton. When the film license for Hellraiser was about to expire at the beginning of the last decade, Dimension Films slammed this failure into production in a matter of weeks. But as soon as the truth is revealed, we also learn Kirsty is unhinged herself, having made a deal with Pinhead before she was banished to death. It’s just as lazy as the writing in the screenplay of this nihilistic, direct-to-video tale starring a former MTV veejay (Kari Wuher) as a reporter traveling to Bucharest to “investigate” a cult of Pinhead worshippers. Meanwhile Henry Cavill (Batman v Superman, The Witcher) appears in one of his earliest performances. [Clive Barker](https://www.denofgeek.com/clive-barker/)’s gruesome, twisted psychosexual 1987 horror film, [Hellraiser](https://www.denofgeek.com/hellraiser/).

The initial reviews of the Hellraiser remake are out, and it looks like it is a mixed bag.

For all the flayed flesh and impaled skin in the picture, this Hellraiser isn't sharp enough." [Hellraiser reboot release date confirmed](https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a40986536/hellraiser-reboot-pinhead-jamie-clayton-first-look/) [Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2022-10-07/review-hellraiser-luckiest-girl-alive-redeem-team-lebron-james-kobe-bryant) said: "There's something lacking. [First trailer for Hellraiser reboot with Sense8 star](https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/trailers/a41297817/hellraiser-reboot-trailer-jamie-clayton-pinhead/) [Hellraiser](https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/trailers/a41297817/hellraiser-reboot-trailer-jamie-clayton-pinhead/)'s remake has received a mixed response in its first reviews. [Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/hellraiser_2022).

Hulu's Hellraiser reboot makes some devilish changes to the lore that Clive Barker established in his 1987 cult classic horror movie.

One of the positives of the 2022 version of Hellraiser is it does away the muddied confusion as to whether the Cenobites’ Labyrinth is Hell in the Judeo-Christian sense, or if it’s simply a nightmarish parallel universe. It’s implied that all of the Cenobites were created in a similar fashion. Only those who’ve succeeded at feeding six victims to the box like Voight and Riley get the privilege, nay the pleasure, of Cenobite-hood. In that flick, Laurence was brought back for the first time since the ‘80s to throw Kirsty’s character under the bus. The original Hellraiser movies were actually far more bizarre and esoteric in their structure, despite delving into much of the same ‘80s slasher imagery as the later Nightmare on Elm Street movies (also in Barker’s movies, it’s the young people outliving the adults). But as she realizes what has happened, Pinhead appears to her repeatedly to bargain, even bending the rules to encourage Riley to keep playing, sometimes by letting her sacrifice a fellow Cenobite to the box, and sometimes by allowing her to pick a secondary victim by blood sacrifice after Voight gets in the way. In that film and its source material, one of the characters accidentally bleeds on the spot where Frank was abducted by the Cenobites, as well as where his last drop of semen landed. We later discover that the Leviathan-shaped puzzle box we saw at the beginning of the movie is the Lament Configuration’s final form. Rather than a perfectly cube-shaped box, it has an almost hourglass figure, and to solve its riddle, Joey must twist it closer to the shape of a diamond… Hellraiser (2022) is a different story entirely, one loosely about the destructive allure of addiction, and the lingering scars and regret it leaves behind. The flesh of Pinhead’s victims is not the only thing that’s bent in surprising and unnatural shapes. All the trailers and ads tease of familiar sensations, and suggest that we’re going back to the original source material for [Clive Barker](https://www.denofgeek.com/clive-barker/)’s twisted mingling of pleasure and pain, dominance and submission.

Odessa A'zion plays Riley McKendry, an addict and the unlucky inheritor of an unholy puzzle box known to fans as the Lemarchand Box or Lament Configuration.

Pinhead knows Roland will either see the light — literally — and embrace his newfound transcendence at the hand of an unseen deity, God or Devil, or he'll despise the eternal suffering as punishment for insulting their generosity. She can let Colin go, erasing the last reminder of deceased brother Matt (Brandon Flynn) from existence — possibly lifting a guilty weight — or she can mark Trevor, the encapsulation of all her struggles with addiction. Roland is granted his “mercy” wish, but at an ultimate cost — Pinhead bestows upon him the Leviathan gift of Power. The Cenobites are summoned by the actions of Roland — they aren't renegade predators — and he must either accept or deny responsibility for what transpires. Riley's investigation of the evolving puzzle box — with 6 unique phases that offer an "Audience with God" upon completion — leads her to the Berkshire estate of vanished billionaire art dealer Roland Voight (Goran Visnjic). He chose the Liminal configuration upon his completion of the puzzle, translating to Sensation — but the Cenobites' gift isn't of human pleasure; it's of mortal pain.