Hellraiser

Hellraiser

A young woman struggling with addiction comes into possession of an ancient puzzle box, unaware that its purpose is to summon the Cenobites, a group of sadistic supernatural beings from another dimension.

  • Released:
  • Runtime: 120 minutes
  • Genre: Horror, Mystery, Thrillers
  • Stars: Jamie Clayton, Odessa A'zion, Drew Starkey, Brandon Flynn, Goran Visnjic, Adam Faison, Aoife Hinds, Hiam Abbass, Selina Lo, Jason Liles, Yinka Olorunnife, Zachary Hing, Kit Clarke, Predrag Bjelac, Gorica Regodić, Vukašin Jovanović, Ivona Kustudić, Greg De Cuir, Miodrag Milovanov, Nikola Kent, Katarina Gojković
  • Director: David Bruckner
 Comments
  • jeremiahlhorton - 15 May 2024
    It was just OK.
    Hellraiser films have always left a pit in my stomach at the end, but they were always good. Something that I constantly looked forward to as these films break barriers in the genre. This film did not make me feel that way. It was extremely too tamed, especially when the action happens. Nothing is shown or it is implied. Hellraiser films have always had "In your face" horror with grotesque special effects, and pretty decent stories. Unfortunately, I was disappointed overall in this film. It could have done more. The death scenes were lackluster. The story fell flat. It was pretty unforgettable that once I was done, I just moved on. Somewhat decent to good movies gave me something to talk about. There wasn't anything grand about this new Hellraiser.
  • rottentowers-63027 - 12 January 2024
    Better than all but one other sequel, but that bar is so low it is below the ground
    If I could sum up the problem with this resequelmake in one word, it would be "overelaborate". The real Hellraiser was written exactly like a first-time director and screenwriter who was practically unknown before Stephen King proclaimed him to be the future of horror. That is, it got its points quickly, it knew how to maintain dramatic tension, and it made every moment including the weak ones (of which there were more than a few) count. People who have seen the real Hellraiser will have the image of the puzzle-like pieces of Frank's face being arranged in a shape vaguely resembling an actual face, with an expression that vaguely resembles a person who has just caught on to how big a mistake they have made. As well as the image of the Hell Priest retrieving the Lament Configuration and closing it as ghostly forms that resemble a merging of ghosts and sperm cells trickle their way back into the grooves. Who could forget those?

    This was also a brilliant way to open the story because it laid out the stakes whilst also giving the audience something powerful to keep in their minds whilst the setup for the rest of the horror is being delivered. Which brings us to the biggest problem with Hellraiser Mediocre As Opposed To Just Plain Awful. The sense of escalation and the economic use of time are both gone.

    We open with a rich man paying a young Joe Average to open the box, and we get a great visualisation of the problem. This time, the box changes shape every time it is opened. Why? It adds nothing to the story or the horror factor of the box itself. If anything, it takes away from those elements. It makes the box seem less frightening, and the story is only elongated beyond the necessary length by it. The reason the real Lament Configuration was such a prop of wonder is because its cosmetic design made it intriguing enough to explain why people are interested in it whilst also hinting at its terrible nature. What we get in this resequelmake is more like a rich man's toddler's toy. And the invented explanation, that the final shape will somehow summon Leviathan, a concept introduced in the first sequel (which is not nearly as good as some people say), is daft. That sequel also introduced a rule that has been lost in the ether during subsequent sequels.

    Namely, it is not hands that call the Cenobites. It is desire. Were one to trick another person into opening the box during the real Hellraiser, the Hell Priest would take the person who tricked the opener of the box instead. The Hell Priest is not a psychopath slasher who tortures people for fun. He is a referee. Let us go over all of the people who meet their ends at the hands of the Hell Priest. The first is a hedonist who very well also might be a psychopath. He is willing to make his lover murder people in order to add flesh to his body. Okay, so maybe that was needed in the first one or two cases, but there was a point at which he could have done the killing part himself. Or his lover? The woman who married his brother and then pretty much proceeded to cheat with him from the get-go? Killing the first couple of victims horrifies her, but she gets over the "what have I done?" factor so quickly that she clearly is not so much upset about having taken lives as she is the reality of doing so.

    Two people, or three if you count the second ensnaring of the man, and that film makes them count. Hellraiser Overlong gives us stock twenty-somethings who have one defining characteristic. Addict, gay, struggling to deal with his sister's addictions, feeding that woman's addictions, and I cannot even remember a defining characteristic for two of the others. The only character that is developed to the point where one can visualise them excreting (aka having developed them enough) is the new Hell Priest. She is the one good thing in the film, and the previous actor playing the Hell Priest is right to praise this new actor, but when that is the only good thing about your film, your film is bad. As the summary says, this is better than any Hellraiser film other than the real Hellraiser and Hellseeker (which at least has a good twist), but that bar is subterranean. Most species of worms are above it.

    Back in the 1980s and 1990s, we used a particular word to describe films, books, or games that added material for no other purpose than to extend the runtime. Padded. The expression "filler" was also in use then, but calling a film padded was the ultimate warning to not bother. The most padded film of all time is, by far, Manos: The Hands Of Fate, but Hellraiser Mediocre is high on the chart. Without the superfluous "configurations" and characters that add nothing to the story, this film could easily lose twenty or thirty minutes without affecting the story. Then you have the detective subplot that ends with someone acting in a very silly manner, the "let's rob a shipping container without having done any casing whatsoever" moments, and the introductions of characters that, frankly, are boring. If this were an attempt to create a new property, no agent in Hollywood would touch it. Even the prologue, well, it is not promising enough when you know your storytelling. The aforementioned problem with people tricking each other (or the box having a mind of its own) to open the box makes this prologue fall flat on its face. You know from it that you are getting a horror film in which the characters do stupid things (as opposed to bad and ill-considered things borne out of intense emotions) for stupid reasons.

    Hellraiser Mediocre is one of those films that manages to be too good to be watched as an unintentional comedy, but too bad to be watched as serious entertainment. The only circumstances under which you should watch it are if you can get it cheap and you are a film student or an aspiring author. Because you can learn a lot more about how to tell a good story by seeing examples of when it is not done well.
  • vengeance20 - 17 October 2023
    Average & No More
    So, I was skeptical about this one after hearing that Pinhead would be a woman, as with every film by Hollywood nowadays being switched to appeal to a tiny minority of people, *rolls eyes*, but anyway, I was willing to give this one a chance to see if it was any good...

    The film sees a young woman struggling with addiction & comes into possession of an ancient puzzle box, unaware that its purpose is to summon the Cenobites.

    I found the film to be average. I was thinking it would be really bad to be fair, but it wasn't. Saying that it wasn't amazing either so for me, this film is half & half. But generally speaking, I didn't exactly enjoy it. The body count is very little to non existent. The gore is too sparingly used & the film just drags & drags with so much dialogue & story & less bite with some meaty action & gruesome violence that we gore hounds & fans of the original Hellraiser's love.

    The films runtime is 1 hour & 48 minutes long without credits & has poor pacing. The story is alright, but pretty watered down I'd say. The characters are paper thin & lack personality. Again, there's little to no body count & the female Pinhead didn't cut it for me. The cenobites weren't bad & some of the gore & graphic violence was pretty good when it came. There's some eye candy to be had here too. Aside from some, shall we say, "modern" references to remind when this film was set in (2023), the film wasn't bad, but not ace or remotely good either, the ending was alright but anti climatic. The music was good though.

    Overall, it's a 108 minute, poorly paced film with little of a body count to speak of & gore used in a sparing way. The story is ok as with the characters despite both being thin, watery & not that interesting. The female Pinhead didn't cut it for me despite the creepy cenobites, gore & violence we did see. Despite great music, eye candy & gore to be seen, the film wasn't great & is average & no more.

    5/10.
  • fciocca - 23 December 2022
    The Hellraiser golden age ended a long time ago. It is time to bury this franchise for good.
    I have watched all the movies of the series. The quality dropped after "Inferno". However, the 2018 entry was a bit better and in my perspective they put the basis for a great sequel, but of course this reboot is completely unlinked to the previous chapter: they just threw away nice premises to write a sloppy and predictable story. There is no tension buildup, the gore is not nearly as good and violent as the original and the design of the Cenobites, despite having potential, looks badly made. The acting is pretty bad. Doug Bradley will remain the one and only Pinhead, I personally did not feel the need of this cheap copy, that at least they had the decency to call Priest. Trevor is one of the most annoying characters that I watched in the last few months; Drew Starkey was unbearable in his performance. Overall, the entire cast was bad, they really should take some serious classes, because they are clearly very flat and they cannot convey emotions to the audience. Maybe they are not really cut for this job.

    The plot is tedious, predictable and boring. The director needed to polish it before releasing it. The story takes too much time to finally develop, there are many sequences that in my perspective were completely pointless. The lore of the "Hellraiser" is not expanded, and there is absolutely nothing interesting about the Cenobites. I consider myself a fan of the series, and I am sorry that they keep releasing stuff, when there is clearly nothing left to tell. They should put it at rest.
  • dperky - 10 December 2022
    Squarely Middle of the Road
    There are moments in this new Hellraiser film that does inspire slight chills and for those brief moments, a better film is teased to the audience - a film that might have been as good as the first two films. After decades of mediocre to poor straight to video sequels, the Hellraiser series could use a little freshening up and this new one certainly brings the saga up to the present day. The gore is more playful and slasher-esque than the original films and there's some attempt at an eerie mood, but most of the film's attempts at atmosphere fail due to the scenes being so under lit that they're impossible to see.

    Performances are fine, if unmemorable, and the whole thing feels 10 times longer than it really is. It's not a triumphant return to form, but it's better than most of the other sequels.
  • yesiwantpineappleonthat - 1 December 2022
    Surprisingly intelligent and well written
    Was not expecting this to be as good as what it is, literally couldnt take my eyes off the entire time.

    The acting, the cast, the writing, the wardrobe, the locations, absolutely amazing and well thought out.

    Dialogue can be a bit cheesy at times, but for the most part its well done. Its not a blockbuster film, not trying to be, but this is definitely not some el cheapo project.

    It has horror and gore, but its not excessive, so so refreshing!

    Most horrors just pour oodles and oodles of blood'n'guts 'coz horror film', but not this one.

    Only downside was it went for only 2hr, with every minute being intriguing and interesting right through to the very end.

    Its smart and clever, but not 1000IQ-netflix-style-look-how-smart-i-am-wahahaha!1.

    Very underrated, very underappreciated, and the sequel will no doubt suck, but this is truly magic. Dont think its too rewatchable, but that first viewing is fantastic.

    Great for a horror watch or just 90s vibes.
  • samleviking - 17 November 2022
    We have such boredom to show you.
    Another lame and boring remake/reboot.

    This is not Hellraiser, this is a generic platform produced "horror" movie.

    In this series of movies, only the two first ones were good. Every sequel was crap... In all honesty, this new entry wasn't as bad as the others. Far from it. But it was, as I said before, so generic. It could have been almost any other movie with demons and pacts.

    This movie has no soul, no purpose, no artistry and no drive. Nothing comes out, nothing is memorable, from the story to the characters. Even the cenobites are tame and forgettable, which is an absolute nonsense.

    Seriously, I don't understand the 6/10 rating of this movie.