‘Hellraiser’: Which version most accurately depicts Clive Barker’s Cenobite horrors?
Clive Barker, the maestro of horror, took over the director’s chair in 1987 to adapt his novel The Hellbound Heart. Hellraiser immediately established itself as one of the most influential horror films of the 1980s, producing a lucrative franchise of films, comic books, and memorabilia. Hellraiser is receiving a revival on Hulu after 35 years and nine mainly forgettable sequels, with David Bruckner (The Ritual, The Night House) as the director. While the Hellraiser reboot makes an effort to stand on its own, parallels to the original picture by Clive Barker are unavoidable. Now that Hellraiser is on Hulu, it’s time to debate which version best conveys the terror of The Hellbound Heart and the Cenobites.
Which ‘Hellraiser’ Comes Closer to the Novel?
The first Hellraiser is far superior to the reboot if we only consider the literary adaption. The new film doesn’t attempt to mimic The Hellbound Heart, and that is the basic explanation. Instead, David S. Goyer, Ben Collins, and Luke Piotrowski create a brand-new narrative that retains all of the essential components of the first Hellraiser. The antagonist Roland Voight (Goran Visnjic) is still there, pursuing the Cenobites in search of novel delights not found on Earth. Additionally, the Cenobites’ visual style, the puzzle box’s, and the Labyrinth dimension’s aesthetics all reference Barker’s original concept. However, there are no more parallels to The Hellbound Heart.
Barker adapted his novel into a script for the first Hellraiser film, essentially telling the same narrative. But the relaunch tries to go in a different direction. Fans hoping for an accurate rendition of the original book may be let down. However, Hulu’s Hellraiser makes sure it can provide horror lovers with something fresh by developing an original tale. The goal of the relaunch is to move the series in a new direction rather than to replicate what has already been done. To further develop Barker’s original mythos, Hulu’s Hellraiser reimagines the laws that link the Cenobites to human desire, casts a new celebrity to play the Hell Priest, and adds new Lament Configuration riddles (ess).
Exactly what is the new pinhead?
Even though the first Hellraiser had a conventional horror plot, Doug Bradley’s performance as the Hell Priest, also known as Pinhead, and the stylish Cenobites helped the film become a part of our collective nightmare. Although Pinhead was not meant to pose a greater threat than other Cenobites, the character gained such a following that the Hell Priest, who appeared in the majority of the sequels and even received his own spinoff book by Barker, The Scarlet Gospels, became the face of the Hellraiser franchise. Any Hellraiser film can succeed or fail based on the quality of a Pinhead. Fortunately, Jamie Clayton upholds the high bar that Bradley set. The Hell Priestess as portrayed by Clayton is dreadful; she exudes the same perilous stoicism that Bradley developed for Pinhead to set him apart from other horror icons.
In spite of the fact that both Hellraiser films were guilty of prioritizing style over content, this artistic decision performed better in 1987, when Barker’s distinctive horror realm was still relatively unexplored. The remake is stunning, and Bruckner’s steady guiding honors Barker’s vision. Only the sleek creatures and flawless gore manage to capture our interest, though. And even though the reboot was released 35 years after the original, we still feel as though we have seen it all before as the titles roll. That is primarily why Barker’s Hellraiser continues to be the undisputed Cenobite movie. Even still, the remake is worth seeing, especially for those who endured so many poor sequels.
Hellraiser is avalible on Hulu. Below is a link to the movie’s trailer:
