A young woman must confront the sadistic, supernatural forces behind an enigmatic puzzle box responsible for her brother's disappearance.
Director: David Bruckner
Cast: Odessa A'zion, Jamie Clayton, Brandon Flynn, Goran Višnjić, Drew Starkey, Adam Faison, Aoife Hinds, Selina Lo, Hiam Abbass
Release Date: September 28, 2022
Genre: Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Rated R for strong bloody horror violence and gore, language throughout, some sexual content and brief graphic nudity.
Runtime: 2h 1m
Review:
David Bruckner's, who directed the underseen 2020 horror gem The Night House, attempt at resurrecting the Hellraiser franchise is competent it’s not quite the home run long suffering fans were hoping for. Bruckner captures a lot of the mood and looks of the first two film's albeit in a glossier veneer. He's clearly a fan of the series and he delivers plenty of horrific skin tearing gore and visions that nails this very specific aesthetic. The new Cenobites designs are familiar enough to keep fans happy along with some interesting new variations for some variety. Unfortunately, they decided to drop the S&M black patent leather in favor of white which doesn't do the costuming any favors, leaving some close ups looking more like molded latex than the flayed flesh they are supposed to be which kills some of the effect. Jamie Clayton does a solid job taking over Doug Bradley’s iconic Pinhead by giving a distinct but familiar performance. She nails the creepiness but doesn't quite nail the subtle but ever present menace behind Bradley's delivery. The script doesn't give her much help by making the primary human characters, lead by Odessa A'zion, utterly uninteresting and downright stupid in large portions of the film. Goran Višnjić's Roland Voight is far more interesting for a variety of reasons, but the film decides to only use the character in the opening and final acts which seems like a waste. As is, this reboot of the Hellraiser franchise checks enough boxes to make it passable but doesn't do anything special enough to make it memorable.
C
