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
  • saint_brett - 7 June 2024
    Help Raise Awareness
    They re-imagined 'Hellraiser?' It's not from the same people who brought us 2019's 'Black Christmas,' is it?

    Belgrade, Serbia?

    Listen to this opening music; isn't that the same noise from Disney's current 'Acolyte' garbage?

    Pacino sets up a meeting with a cougar in an opening scene that doesn't explain itself. She's then at a high society shindig, hitting on a teen who soon becomes the main banquet feast.

    In the fashion of 'The Score,' two junkies manage to steal the vaulted item in less than a minute; it's not a scepter this time but a Rubik's Cube.

    Keeping up with the traditions of the modern era, some LGBTQ+ nonsense will turn off the original fans. They just had to include it. I don't care what a character's sexual preference is in movies.

    I take it Pinhead will be a woman in this?

    The movie's so dark, I'm assuming the lead in this, Riley, is either Costas or Louis Mandylor wearing a wig.

    A cenobite shows up, and it just looks like one of those fifth-brother inquisitors.

    The puzzle box has now been upgraded to some Swiss Army knife contraption that keeps snaring twits with sharp nicks like a Wiltshire stay-sharp. That's probably outdated. Okay, then, a, um, Gillette safety razor, then.

    Characters with no appeal. Story going nowhere. The movie's as glum as the Euro location it was filmed in. How unappealing.

    It's creepier watching hotdogs burst out of their skins and turn inside out than anything so far in this movie.

    This is not a re-imagining of the original 'Hellraiser.' It's got nothing on that movie. And where's Pinhead?

    I had to enable subtitles as I couldn't understand the mistress demon. One of the other ones looked like Marilyn Manson from his CD booklet, The Golden Age of Grotesque.

    Is anything going to happen? No one's been murdered.

    The movie turns into 'The Hunt for Red October,' which is wreaking havoc with my eyes due to the infrared vision.

    It then transforms into 1998's 'Dark City,' where you can't make out anything on the TV screen. I'm noticing this with a lot of movies today.

    At the one-hour, three-minute mark, the F word has worn out its welcome. I'm tired of hearing its overuse today.

    As for the screen, all I'm looking at is complete darkness.

    Pinhead's sister assumes his role as lead, and she looked like Sinead O'Connor at one stage.

    It's beyond pathetic to watch movies in the modern era devalue the classics from yesterday.

    Look how dark the one-hour, nine-minute mark is. You cannot make out one thing going on.

    Is that the albino alien from that 'Covenant' sequel?

    The excessive swearing is uncalled for and meaningless.

    Oh, brother, some French guy shows up, and he operates like a windup toy. What, is he supposed to be the Tin Man from 'Wizard of Oz?' That looks ridiculous.

    The Eligos from 'Ash vs. Evil Dead' was a way better-looking Cenobite than anything in this movie.

    Jeez, around the one hour, 33 minute mark, the mother ship from 'Independence Day' returns.

    The ending of this has got nothing on 'Martyrs.'

    I've been sitting here for the past 20 minutes, questioning if I'm really a horror fan anymore. Have I outgrown the genre?

    Another modern-day movie that will never be re-watched on my end.

    Watched and quickly forgotten.

    This 2022 'Hellraiser' never left any impression or thought-invoking memory whatsoever.

    Do yourself a favor and tell your fellow 'Hellraiser' fan from the day to avoid this nightmare.
  • clgranger-78665 - 19 January 2024
    Comic-book guy says it best
    Worst Hellraiser Ever.

    Absolute rubbish.

    Probably 20 minutes of good visuals and some interesting story. The rest is just awful.

    Not a bad cast - some pretty good sites and sets. Not bad CGI.

    HOWEVER - The original Hellraiser was supposed to be about a couple getting a good lay - then losing the guy - then bringing him back to get a good shag again. The Hellraiser theme is supposed to be about mixing pleasure and pain. That seems to have been lost along the way....

    I skipped through the last 40 minutes of this one and even that felt like a waste of my time.

    The first two are great - this, just total crap.

    A two-hour long walk would be a better use of time.
  • paddyregentstewart - 2 November 2023
    Nearly
    Not quite the gripping, rip roaring 1987 classic, however some real darkness in this version. The cenobites were cool, calm and evil, as they should be. Great cast, good story, reasonible settings, poor bady. Needs more flesh and demand for pain. The box has a good new take.

    It's hard not to make comparisons with the original film, as it was a ground breaking horror at the time, so any kind of rejig has to be as profound, this almost had it. Far better than some of numb sequeals of the past.

    Just didn't quite have the mystique that's required. Good scope for more sequels.

    Almost, just about, finger nail scratching, nearly there.
  • griffithxjohnson - 28 December 2022
    Looks great but still lacking
    Lots of awesome aspects that never quite line up. It looks great with awesome costume, sound, & set design. But the acting isn't convincing & the plot doesn't reach its potential. The lore is fascinating yet underdeveloped.

    . .

    . Lots of awesome aspects that never quite line up. It looks great with awesome costume, sound, & set design. But the acting isn't convincing & the plot doesn't reach its potential. The lore is fascinating yet underdeveloped.

    . .

    . Lots of awesome aspects that never quite line up. It looks great with awesome costume, sound, & set design. But the acting isn't convincing & the plot doesn't reach its potential. The lore is fascinating yet underdeveloped.
  • MadValkyrie - 12 December 2022
    Save your breath for yawning
    With so many bad sequels following Hellraiser I & II, it's definitely easier to give this addition a little credit. The design of the new Cenobites is definitely appealing and creepy, making them seem more like demonic creatures rather than just mutilated BSDM enthusiasts. And the new Pinhead adds a new level of eeriness to an already beloved horror icon. But that's pretty much where it ends.

    The story is primarily about guilt, not horror and that's not the driving force or lure behind any Hellraiser film. It takes a long time for any of the iconic torture and gore to be shown in the film (aside from an out of focus scene near the beginning) which makes the plodding along of the story seem all the more tedious. When the gore is shown, average cgi somewhat diminishes the impact that was present in all the previous films using practical effects.

    For most horror films, you can usually refer to one stand out moment no matter how bad the rest of the film is. There is literally nothing like that in this Hellraiser movie. It just plods along predictably, bringing very little to the table and leaving you with a very blasé feeling at the end.

    It is no means terrible but definitely extinguished any hope devoted Hellraiser / horror fans had of a reinvigoration to the series.
  • veronikave - 3 December 2022
    Trashiest trash I ever watched
    I can't believe I just wasted 30 minutes of my life on this utter crap. Pardon my French but there is no better way to express how bad this movie is. No offence to the creators, because it takes money and effort to produce a movie but I want the £1.99 I paid to RENT this movie back! Makes no sense, screenplay is extremely annoying and overall is just a waste of time, money and resources. If you're thinking about watching this save yourself time, money and annoyance and DON'T and just donate it instead. Or buy some ice cubes. I don't know because it doesnreally matter. Any other way to spend this money is better than on this... thing.
  • solusxisle - 21 November 2022
    It's 2022, not 1987
    I went into this apprehensive. I was a fan of the original movies but felt that they didn't age that well. The original movies were about obsession, hubris getting the better of people who sought to abuse systems in a world that doesn't care about pedantry and above all the hedonistic and egotistic nature of humankind.

    This reboot, is a reboot so cannon has changed. I think the change in focus from pleasure seeking to wanting power or personal gain is timely for the world. The design updates are stunning and Odessa A'zion and Jamie Clayton's performances are absolutely amazing. Jamie Clayton almost seems born to play the role of Pinhead, bringing a level of methodical, alien intelligence to the character that isn't threatening, instead serene and horrific at the same time. Odessa A'zion likewise is able to ground us, and I enjoyed that we see a character in the Hellraiser universe struggling with addiction that didn't fall into harmful stereotypes of obsessive junkies.

    There is a case to be made against the fact that the Lament Configuration is so easy to solve that it basically is turns the idea of it even being a challenge into a farce; however that is never brought up in this cannon. The Cenobites of this Hellraiser seem to view themselves as liberators of mortals. They want to help, are eager to please and pain the living. The Lament configuration is less a test of being able to sacrafice your own mind but more a test of being able to walk over others to get there. Once again, i think this resonates truer today than it did in the past.

    I see the bad reviews and it disheartens me. I want more of this Hellraiser, I will willingly spill the blood of five to get an audience with the god... the sights you would see.