User reviews

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.

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.

Looking back at what made the original so good was how off putting it was , dark and very original.

The source material being the same we wouldn't expect much new .

Where this outing fails is to raise the bar on what made the original so good.

The tension and build up is ok but I felt disappointed with the costumes. To me the heavy layered latex looked like heavy layered latex. The original was a darker filmed movie and the Cenobites were so disturbing the first time you see them . In this newer version we have a wider field of view shot further away and it looses its claustrophobic feel . Escaping seems easier and that drives the tension down.

So different cinematography and poor customers and such take away .

The good is the protagonist the actor does a good job portraying seemly troubled youth .

Act 3 has a bit of a twist but comes too late in the film to save it.

Riley McKednry (Odessa A'zion) is a young woman struggling with addiction enabled by her supposedly rehabilitating boyfriend Trevor (Drew Starkey) while she lives with her brother Matt (Brandon Flynn) and his boyfriend Colin (Adam Faison) with Matt's patience with Riely's addictive personality growing increasingly thin. Trevor convinces Riley to accompany him to an abandoned warehouse that supposedly holds an abandoned and forgotten shipment belonging to some billionaire, but once they get there the shipment turns out to be a puzzle box whose value Trevor is dubious of. After Riley comes home drunk once again Matt angrily tells her to leave and she does so taking the puzzle box with her and inadvertently opening the box and summoning demonic creatures known as cenobites. As Riley did not cut herself on the box as she was intended to, the Cenobites demand "another" and when a now called Matt attempts to come to Riley's aid he cuts himself on the box and is taken by the cenobites. Riley attempts to track down the origins of the box and a way to bring back Matt which leads her to the box's previous now deceased owner Roland Voight (Goran Visnijic), a ruthless businessman with legendarily sadistic appetites as the box continues to claim more victims.

Following the release of Hellraiser: Bloodline, Clive Barker remained uninvolved with the series as it continued in a streak of direct-to-video installments legendarily known for taking unrelated scripts and reverse engineering them by inserting Pinhead. Barker announced in 2006 following the release of Hellworld his intent on remaking the series with rightsholder Dimension films. The remake went through a revolving door of directors and writers to the point that two obligation sequels, 2011's Hellraiser: Revelations and 2018's Hellraiser: Judgment were rushed into production just so Dimension wouldn't relinquish the rights. Following the collapse of the Dimesnion's parent company The Weinstein Company, Spyglass Media acquired the remake rights with Barker producing alongside David S. Goyer who would write the initial treatment. David Brucker, director of well regarded horror films The Ritual and The Night House became attached to direct with Bruckner's writers on Night House Ben Collins and Luke Piotrowski coming aboard as well. Now dropping on Hulu just in time for Halloween, Hellraiser breathes new life into this long neglected franchise and makes it the best incarnation we've seen since at least Hellbound: Hellraiser II.

Odessa A'Zion is really solid in the lead role of Riley and while the character is a little abrasive upon first introduction, I feel the movie really understands that cycle of addiction that becomes hard to break out of and Riley's addiction is a massive part of what makes this movie work as it's well integrated with the Hellraiser Iconography as Riley's obsession and repeated usage of the Lament Configuration much like her addiction leads to pain and suffering of those around her be they casual contacts, friends, or loved ones and while Riley doesn't want to hurt anyone, her drive to find her brother follows the same mindset in finding her next "fix" where she finds herself indifferent or uncaring of the consequences and only able to focus on that immediate gratification of her obsessive drive. Jamie Clayton takes on the mantle of Doug Bradley in the role of Pinhead (aka The Priest) and Clayton is phenomenal in the role as she captures the cold look and feel we associate with the character but is still allowed to make it her own.

The art direction in this movie is fantastic. While the original Hellraiser's cenobites have ingrained themselves in popular consciousness for good reason with distinct looks, this new Hellraiser keeps the same general idea of the Cenobites but goes some unique directions. For one thing unlike the original Cenobites who sported dark black leather attire, the only thing on the Cenobites this time around is skin, but the skin has been mangled, mutilated, and twisted so it's now arranged similar to the outfits of the original film but it's a nice way of giving visual distinction, so it doesn't just copy the aesthetics of the original film. The movie also features a wonderfully designed manor house belonging to Roland Voight and it's a sight to behold as it is based heavily around the designs of the Lament Configuration and is wonderfully used in the climax. The one thing that keeps this movie from being as good as the first Hellraiser in my opinion is in its usage of the character of Roland Voight. While Voight is given a great introduction in the opening sequence, he's unfortunately absent for a good chunk of the movie and this does a disservice to the film in my opinion because it forces Pinhead to take more of a role in the antagonist part of the story than should be necessary. Now it doesn't go to the level of Hellraiser III where it jumped off a cliff and made Pinhead a borderline Freddy Kruger clone, but the best Hellraiser films keep Pinhead in a supporting capacity and they mostly do that here but not as much as they should. Personally I feel the movie would've benefitted from seeing Voight as much as we saw Frank Cotton in the original film, but it's not a deal breaker and Pinhead isn't made the made antagonist so the movie does understand where Pinhead's role in this story should be.

Hellraiser is a welcome reboot of this legacied horror series and is easily my second favorite of this series behind the original. Anchored with strong performances by A'zion and Clayton, the movie gives you everything you want from a Hellraiser story with some disgustingly good Cenobite designs and kill sequences along with truly epic sequences that feel like expansions on the Hellbound environments. While Goran Visnjic is good as Voight, I feel he is underutilized, and the movie could've been improved from having him be a more prominent part of the story. Overall if this is the launch point for a new series of Hellraiser movies, then let them flow forth like the blood and viscera in the kill scenes.

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.

Wealthy sadistic collector Roland Voight (Goran Visnjic) is the newest owner of the puzzle box. He goes missing. Years later, Riley (Odessa A'zion) is a struggling drug addict. Her brother Matt needs her to get her act together and get her share of the rent. Her boyfriend Colin suggests robbing from a rich man's storage. They find the puzzle box.

Right before this, I watched "Halloween Ends". The difference is like night and day. Both are trying to reimagine the franchise. Unlike Halloween, this movie does it successfully. I've watched them all up to Hellworld. It's a good franchise for the first few movies. The straight to video stuff is mostly bad with one exception. It's a franchise stuck in B-movie territory.

This one is an interesting reboot. It is a bit long at two hours, but that's my only main concern. I really love Odessa as the lead actress. I do like the progression of the kills and the box. If they take one kill away, it could save some time and keep the pacing up. I like the house. I like the designs. I even like the new Cenobite designs, although the classics are still classic. This is a good reboot.

I was skeptical going in a bit as Hollywood has gender/race swapped classic film characters to death for the last few years. But it turned out to genuinely due the original justice. Updated cenobites are very disturbing and amazing to look at. All actors are believable in their roles and the storyline flows pretty well. My only complaint is that it is filmed very dark and it's hard to see the characters at times. I found myself having to get up and move close to the TV to get a good look at the villains, which lets be honest, is really why most of us are seeing this film. Needless to say, children should probably not see this.

So far, it seems like director David Bruckner can't make a bad movie... The Ritual, The Night house, all stylish horror movies of the last few years. Maybe in top 10 horror movie directors of today.

For the newest Hellraiser, many complained about female antagonist, and it didn't bother me, nor I think it's better or worse fact since it is closer to the original concept. Comparing to th previous director's movies, it's his most stylish movie until now. Cinematography is the best in the franchise. Atmosphere perfect, maybe I'm a bit biased because it's filmed in my city, Belgrade, but all the looks fit the story.

Overall, I believe it's definitely worth watching for every horror movie fan, and don't expect just another remake of some movie. No, this stands alone as a pretty solid adaptation. One of my top 10 horrors of this year.

Regardless what mainstream critics/reviewers are saying this film was a pretty disaster. Pretty because the production value was decent, more so than the plethora of previous sequels to the franchise. However, the acting, plot, storyline, overall horror is lost entirely. They completely changed anything that made Hellraiser what it was, the lore has been completely changed. Gender swapping Pinhead is also pointless, Doug Bradley will and is the only Pinhead. To be honest this is no surprise given Disney/Hollywood can't reboot/imagine anything new and only ruin franchises now. Waste of time don't bother.

It's a shame that studio executives completely disregard fans and the original source material, when ever considering to remake, or reboot a title. It's not shocking either to see Disney is going doing a terrible rabbithole in ruining classic titles. At this stage it's best to simply watch the first two Hellraisers, Hellraise 3 and 4 are moderately decent sequels. Anything beyond this point was a simple cash-grab or purposefully made to retain the title by the studio so it wouldn't expire.

Keep away. 0 / 10.

Whatever abomination were most of the for-the-rights films were, this is a breath of fresh air. Still a bit long, 10-15 minutes could have been dropped for a thighter pacing, but it was ok.

The creature-designs were magnificient though, too bad they not used a slimer, but given the overal experience, the step-by-step reveal and the lightings, it's a minor point (for now).

The casting is fine, especialy the lead, but to be honest I was way more interrested in what is supposed to be the secondary plot. I'm intrigued to get a HR-movie where the protagonist is not just some bumbling fool stumbling into the puzzlebox, or some evil person trying tp abuse its power, but someone who will accept it - and won't regret it. But what's here is still better than them being punishment of God, or trying to conquere the world.

All in all, this is a fun one. Enough to sell some merch, and pique interrest for another one.

I didn't expect this from David Bruckner. I loved The Ritual and The Night House and I was expecting something spectacular from this reboot. But I didn't liked this one at all and it actually annoyed and depressed me. Unlikable characters, cast, bland and irritating performances (Odessa A'zion's performance was infuriating and exhausting), slow pacing, poorly written dialogues and story; overall another disappointing Hellraiser installment.

The trailer was great but the film was outrageous. Even the Cenobites failed to display any kind of personality or intimidation. They all looked, especially Pinhead, very rubbery and dull.

First I wanna say what I liked about this movie. In this movie, the cenobites had a lot more screen time than they had in the original Hellraiser. The cenobites are the central plot of this movie. In the original, the cenobites are more of an afterthougt, which I did not like in the original, eventhough I DID like the original in many other ways. It was nice to see that they brought back some of the original cenobites, but also added some new ones, which was refreshing!

The atmosphere was really good. I liked the way they mixed the real world with the hell dimension. The movie had a good amount of gore, which is a must for this kind of movie. It would not be a Hellraiser movie without it. It also looked like many of the effects in this movie was practical when it comes to gore, creature design, etc. So many movies today lack this, and just use CGI, and it's often not very good CGI either...

Some people will probably say that there is only one Pinhead, and that is Doug Bradley. They will probably not even give this movie a chance because of that, which is a shame in my opinion. I'm a huge fan of Batman, and I think that Heath Ledger's interpretation of the Joker in The Dark Knight was the best, but that does not stop me from watching newer Batman movies that has the Joker in it. Everyone makes their own interpretation of a role and it is interesting to see as long as they don't change the character to something else completely. Filling the role of Pinhead can't be easy, but I think that Jamie Clayton did a good job with that. I also liked how they altered her voice to be more intimidating. Give it a chance. Maybe you'll like this interpretation, or maybe you will not.

And now what I disliked or thought was okey at best. The acting was okey, nothing special about it. As in the other Hellraiser movies, the protagonist is still not very interesting. Same goes for the other characters in this movie. Pinhead had too many pins stuffed in the head/face which looked a bit weird and off to me.

Even if you are a fan of Hellraiser or not, I think you should give this movie a chance. There are a lot of bad horror movies out there, but this is not one of them in my opinion. It's a decent horror movie.

Had it not been for 2 things this would have been an acceptable entry into the Hellraiser family. Those 2 things being 1. The weird lips and hair of the lead actress. 2. The costume design for the lead actress. To be fair her acting was ok but there was just something jarring about her overall look. Also, out of all the people who could have been taken I rather wished it had been her character. She had little to no redeemable qualities. She was week and self-pitying, not qualities that I like in my heroes. Overall the movie itself was good the lighting, cinematography, sets, pacing, dialogue and effects and came together really rather well. I would not be unhappy if the director did another Hellraiser but without Riley who I had to force myself to accept.

The best thing I can say for this movie is that they did not shy away from the torture porn. It exceeds even the first film in this regard (I have not seen any of the sequels). The cenobites are horrifying to look at, Pinhead's dialogue and motivations hold up, the other human characters are fine enough. The main actress definitely carries the movie. The story is much different than that of the original, so this movie certainly justifies its existence.

Don't expect to be blown away by any of the human drama. But the last act of the movie is the best part and full of gruesome imagery. If this is something that sounds interesting to you, I don't think you'll leave disappointed.

After 6 consecutive sequels that got progressively worse I wasn't expecting very much, but to me this would be the fourth best of the series, but that is a very low bar. The positives: the cgi was decent, the new pinhead and her assistants are actually pretty good, and the acting was above average for what it is. The cons: completely lacks anything that resembles intensity, plot holes as deep as the void, bogs down badly in the middle, and it's very dark(dark as in very little light, allot of the movie is obscured, very much like Alien vs Predator Requiem), and very little went into set design. All in all it's at least entertaining for the most part. The story pretty much throws out most of the existing Hellraiser lore and starts over, and while whoever played pinheaded was pretty good she still couldn't achieve the same feeling of power Doug Bradley brought. There is nothing really scary in the movie, the whole film just seems detached. My wife literally got up screaming 30 minutes into the collector and refused to finish, in this Hellraiser she didn't even flinch. It's bloody but not overly so, by Hellraiser standards it's pretty tame. If your a horror fan it's worth a watch if you have two hours to waste, if you don't like horror films you will probably really hate this movie.

I'm old enough to remember the original Hellraiser (1987). That was a true horror film. There were horrible people, doing horrible things. It left you feeling really quite disturbed about the worst aspect of human nature.

The follow-up Hellraiser 2 (1988) managed to recapture a small part of that. But after that it was downhill fast. The sequels were nothing but parodies.

Well, for some reason, Hulu decided to remake it.

Shamefully, the film fails on nearly every level. It's not well written (terrible dialogue) and poorly acted. There's little horror and you simply do not care about anyone or anything happening in it. It doesn't give you a reason to care either.

Like the later Hellraiser films It has more in common with trashy slasher flicks than anything else. Poorly done ones at that.

As is common today they gender-switched the main role. Did it add anything? Nope.

Watch Hellraiser (1987) and Hellraiser 2 (1988) and stop there. They did it better on much smaller budgets.

Hellraiser is the archetypal franchise of diminishing returns. The first couple are amongst my favourite horrors but boy do they get bad.

I watched this movie with a huge degree of trepidation.

I liked it.

There's the gore you'd expect, many of the sights and sounds of the original, some cracking new cenobite design and overall I found this a very welcome modernisation of a series in need of saving.

The puzzle box makes more sense and though I've not read the book I am lead to believe this is closer to the source material.

I cared about side characters and I enjoyed Odessa A'Zion's performance. I'm very glad this movie exists.

I guess one should appreciate the fact that they didn't try to make a scene-by-scene remake of the original but that's about the only positive thing I have to say about this movie because it's a total failure.

The plot has nothing to do with the original movie. It's basically yet another sequel, with Pinhead replaced (again) by a new actor (this time an actress).

The first half of the movie is a borefest and the second half is just a mess. All the atmosphere of the original movie is just gone. Cinematography is basic and there is almost lack of music (except for hints and tiny cues of Christopher Young's original and superb score). The Cenobites are simple, non-scary and appear like a cheap TV movie.

The pacing is just awful and the plot is boring. By the time Pinhead finally appears - after more than an hour into the movie - I was already bored and from there it just got worse and I couldn't wait for it to be over.

I have no idea why people praise this movie so much. For me it was yet another failed and boring sequel.

Don't waste your time on this. Better rewatch the original or the first sequel instead.

I expected this to be reeaallyy baaad. Hellraiser movies like so many, get worse over time and typically remakes have little to offer.

This was a pleasant surprise and a fun ride for an old theatrical fan of the 1980s fare.

Young people get their hands on a demonic puzzle box and the more they change or solve it the more demonic characters we meet. Dark adventures ensue.

Oddly, a more coherent narrative than the original but also perhaps because it is more "sane," is less horrific than the original.

Of course now I am an old fart rather than a young adult so it does take a lot more to scare me these days.

The first Hellraiser was historic and marked a new era in horror movies. The film made Clive Barker a household name. The legendary author Stephen King having remarked, "I have seen the future of horror. His name is Clive Barker".

But after this and a few cult horror offerings like Nightbreed and Lord Of Illusions, Barker has since disappeared into obscurity. Hellraiser remains my favorite Cliver Barker horror film because of his first attempt at directing a horror film by himself. The transition from writer to director is not easy and very difficult. Barker proved his critics wrong. Hellraiser was a resounding success and spawned subsequent sequels. In my opinion, only the first four Hellraiser films are coherent and worth watching. They make a complete quadrilogy.

Hellraiser was the first film to incorporate Cenobites, referred to as, "demons to some, angels to others". The head Cenobite was a character called Pinhead, his name derived from his bald head studded with nails. He was played by actor Doug Bradley, whose acting and voice-acting of Pinhead in particular I'm very fond of. Doug tried to appear in as many Hellraiser sequels - but not all. Without his great contribution, Hellraiser would have no roots at all.

Back to this film. All Hellraiser films deal with the opening of a puzzle box(like Pandora's box) and unleashing hell(the Cenobites). This one follows the same pattern. A collector Roland Voight acquires the puzzle box(also called the Lemarchand Configuration, created by the French toymaker Philip Lemarchand for Duc de L'Isle an occultist). The story of the origin of the box is shown in Hellraiser part 4 called Hellraiser: Bloodlines. Voight tells a sex worker called Joey to solve the box. Joey solves the configuration and is stabbed by a blade hidden inside the box. A portal opens, from which chains fly out and rip Joey apart, as Voight demands an audience with Leviathan.

Six years later, recovering addict Riley is living with her brother Matt, his boyfriend Colin, and their roommate Nora. Riley's boyfriend, Trevor, convinces her to help break into an abandoned storage warehouse, where they discover the puzzle box. Returning home late, Riley gets into an argument with Matt and leaves. At an empty park, she solves the box but avoids being cut by the blade. The Cenobites, a group of deformed humanoids, appear and demand she choose another as sacrifice. Matt finds Riley blacked out and, as he tries to wake her up, inadvertently cuts himself on the box. He goes to a nearby restroom to clean his wound. Riley hears him scream and discovers that he has vanished. The rest of the film deals with Riley's quest to find her missing brother.

Verdict: if you've seen the first four films, don't expect good acting like the previous installments. The actors are soulless(pun intended), talent-less and inexperienced. There is no notable veteran among the lot of them. Doug Bradley could have been given a role in this film. The special effects are okay but not outstanding given today's overuse of C. G. I. Photography is above average and the background sound-effects are decent. The director tries to make the best with the script given to him. I don't blame the director but the people who conceived the idea of this bland reboot.

More Clive Barker films: Underworld 1985(directed by George Pavlou), Rawhead Rex 1986(also directed by George Pavlou), Candyman 1992(directed by Bernard Rose), The Midnight Meat Train 2008(directed by Ryuhei Kitamura), Book of Blood 2009(directed by John Harrison).

Thanks for reading this review!

... should a horror movie appropriately released just ahead of All Hallows Eve (Halloween) be just a horror movie -- or should it be a test of the auteur's ability to recreate the original? The original, of course, being HELLRAISER 1987, which this reviewer had the pleasure of seeing in theatrical release. Along with all the progressively worse sequels that followed. The solution to the debate, perhaps, is to see things from the perspective of the auteur David Bruckner. Bruckner is also the creator behind the totally brilliant NIGHT HOUSE 2020, which clearly shows us that he can do "subtle" if he really wants to. Yet to re-imagine HELLRAISER (and yes, this is more of a reboot than a sequel), David was clearly constrained to follow the well-worn arc of the original story -- which is, a clearly damaged "seeker" ends up in possession of a "puzzle" which may or may not hold answers to every single problem their sad lives have brought them ...? Unfortunately, by accidentally opening the Gates of Hell and releasing the Cenobites, the seeker invariably learns -- the hard way! -- that some puzzles are simply not worth solving. Overall, Bruckner does an above-average job of both following the original formula while trying at the same time to keep it fresh. There are new twists and turns -- some work, some don't. Ultimately, diehard fans will not be displeased, and younger fans will not be bored. What more could you ask for just in time for Halloween?