With another horror reboot on the horizon, no one was surprised the upcoming Hellraiser reboot received an R rating for “strong bloody horror violence” and “graphic nudity”. Two staples of the horror genre, not to mention the original Hellraiser series, that’s one less thing for fans of the original to worry about.
Fans of another reboot weren’t exactly clamoring, news has been pretty thin on the ground since its initial announcement, but now we at least seem to be heading in the right direction regarding the Hellraiser reboot.
Straight to Hulu
Announced in 2020, the reboot will be heading straight to Hulu this year, possibly early next year. The movie getting a rating would indicate as soon as possible, but we haven’t heard a concrete date yet.
Featuring Sense8 Jamie Clayton as the Hell Priest and directed by David Bruckner, a director with a wealth of caliber in horror (V/H/S, southbound, the night house, and The ritual, among other things), the movie is at least in good hands, with the Clive Barker attached to produce, hopefully it’s fairly faithful in most respects to the original. Speaking about the film recently, Barker seemed to show great admiration and enthusiasm for the latest installment.
“It’s a Hellraiser on a scale I just didn’t expect. David and his team are steeped in the mythology of the story, but what excites me is their desire to honor the original while revolutionizing it for a new generation.
A producer of the film in question speaking in glowing terms isn’t exactly new to the marketing game, but let’s hope it’s genuine excitement rather than fabrication.
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What came before and what to expect
The hellraiser the franchise is not new for horror fans, started in 1987 with hellraiser, an adaptation of Barker’s own short story the infernal heart. Since spawning nine sequels, the franchise has topped most horror fans’ list, with its portrayal of graphic violence and otherworldly realms with fondness. With Cenobites like Pinhead, Butterball, and The Chatterer being a big part of horror fandom, it will be interesting to see what parts of the original mythology the reboot pulls from them, and what it changes and modernizes for modern audiences.
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Director David Bruckner had this to say about what audiences can expect when it hits Hulu.
“We can’t say anything about it yet… But it’s something we’re actively working towards, and it’s a joy and a dream for a filmmaker like me to step into this world,”
If nothing else, with his previous works, Bruckner has at least shown his ability to evoke dread and tension in his audience, so hopefully he brings that to his latest work, and the R rating isn’t going to detract from that either, in a franchise that relies on blood and gore, it would have been a setback had they gone for anything other than that.
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