'Hellraiser' Review: How David Bruckner Redefines the Clive Barker Classic
Horror remakes are an incredibly tough act to pull off, especially if the material you’re remaking is considered a classic. You have to prove your film is worthwhile. You have to play homage to the original. You have to give more detail to the source material’s expansive world and mythology. You have to create an original story that will keep audiences engaged and believability within the franchise. All while also playing with audiences’ expectations of the source materials tropes. Not an easy balancing act. This perfectly balanced script, while ideal, is perhaps nearly impossible, but it’s seemingly the only way to make today’s discerning audiences happy.
Throughout the last decade, Halloween, Friday the 13th, and Nightmare on Elm Street, have all attempted this almost impossible task. While producing various levels of quality and success, the above impossible recipe (if pulled off successfully) has proved to be the most effective way of grabbing new audience, while appeasing the old school fans. It double-dips into box office success, and is a major reason why Hollywood continues to push more and more reboots within the lexicon of horror properties. The best films to come out of this recent resurgence are considered the best when filmmakers understand what makes the original source material so great and find a way to recapture that lightening in a bottle and return to the back to basic roots of what made that film stand out.
The filmmakers must ask themselves, why has this franchise stood the test of time? The recent discourse regarding this trend really comes down to whether audiences are invested in this franchise for the history of the lore, the iconic movie monsters , or are audience members willing to buy a ticket strictly for the film’s kill sequences and scarf down some carnage candy? If a film is lacking in any of those departments, it’s often why recent horror titles such as Halloween Kills and Prey, exclusively premiered on streaming services.
Writer and director David Bruckner has the impossible task of helming the new Hellraiser remake, which in itself is a daunting task. Having an independent horror filmmaker with only a few feature films under his belt direct a major franchise may seem like a risk, but perhaps it shows that Hollywood is paying attention to the up-and-comers in the genre.
The film stars Odessa A’zion, Jamie Clayton, Adam Faison, and Drew Starkey. This take on the Hellraiser lore tells the story of a young woman who struggles to open an ancient box, however, is unaware of what it possesses. Jamie Clayton takes the role of the legendary Pinhead this time around. As previously mentioned, the original film is a landmark horror title due to its Lovecraftian narrative combined with awe-inspiring practical effects. Although within the grand scheme of horror icons, Pinhead has always been glossed over and seemingly labeled as “underrated”. In the opinion of this writer however, it is the ones that go overlooked that provide some of the most memorable films.
David Bruckner is such an exciting voice in horror currently, and Hellraiser as the newest addition to his filmography is no different. Bruckner’s Hellraiser is a fun and fresh take on Clive Barker’s classic. A complete left turn from Bruckner’s former work, but the film works really well given what fans come to expect from a project helmed by him. His atmospheric moments much like his previous films still remain haunting, and when he goes all in on the slasher genre, it works to a fantastic degree.
The film sadly contains characters who are fairly underwhelming, and a first act that takes itself too long to get through. However once Bruckner introduces the legendary Pinhead, the film truly begins to shine. When inevitably comparing it to the original films, Clayton can hold his head up high, as his work is just as great as Doug Bradley’s was in 1987. Equally terrifying and aesthetically mesmerizing with its creature designs, it is easy to welcome Clayton to the pantheon of horror filmmakers with this effort. A’zion is also a great addition to this film, she provides a very fun and charismatic performance that is easy for audiences to fall in love with. The kills and tension within the horror are stunning. Bruckner has always had a wonderful grasp of portraying the fear within his victims on screen and Hellraiser is no different, however, this film could certainly benefit from being a bit more violent. Even if this film was released in theaters, the kills would work wonders if it intensified the gore. The lack of it, obviously an attempt to attain a general audience absolutely SCREAMS of the streaming platform it’s being released on, despite Hulu offering several horror programming options. What makes the original so iconic is those nearly-disgusting death sequences, and this film feels too clean for a film on Hulu.
David Bruckner’s Hellraiser is a perfect tribute to the Clive Barker original. It proves David Bruckner can most certainly work within the landscape of a higher budget without losing any of his charm and trademarks to his filmmaking which makes him so unique and exciting. This makes me wonder if Bruckner would like to continue down the path to continue making slasher horror films, or return to his roots of atmospheric ghost stories. While the remake has its issues, it is one of the better films to come out of this string of horror slasher remakes. Hellraiser will be a killer entry into the Halloween season, and its accessibility of being on Hulu both hurt and gain the film. Horror films (especially ones from a major franchise) should debut in a theatre. There is nothing quite like an opening night/weekend screening of a horror film, original or IP, and being marvelled by audience attendees’ reactions to the film. And it is a shame how Hulu/Disney/Fox has not witnessed this due to Prey being the most watched film on the program and Barbarian growing popularity and attraction via word of mouth, but I digress. With films like Nope, Barbarian, Prey, X, and now Hellraiser, 2022 is shaping to be one hell of a year for horror.