31 Days of Halloween: Hellraiser

2022, David Bruckner (The Night House) -- download

OK, back to movies. 

Research is not the main foray of this blog, but two things had to be done. One, remind myself as to WTF the original movie (9 sequels ?!?!) was about, and be surprised (and not surprised) it was directed by Clive Barker himself, as the entire series is based on his short stories. But beyond the Cenobites, I had no recollection of plot, which turns out to be an extreme hedonist using the puzzle box to fuel his own resurrection amid sacrifices. Two, the director of the new one did The Night House, which at its core, set a plot that lends his approach well to doing this one. Rituals, the Other Side, constructed magic are what he seems to be exploring, so naturally, the Hellraiser series suits.

So, why return to this movie franchise? Well, its not surprising in this current ecosystem that mines all the "classics" for a return from the dead bank. This one is mos def not a classic, but the Cenobites will always have a place in horror pop culture playlists. They are artful creations of a twisted mind and skilled practical effects creators. They make you cringe, fidget in your seat and feel uncomfortable. And I imagine, for quite a few beyond Barker himself, feel uncomfortable in your pants. Not me. No. Ew David, Ew.

This movie begins with a character not unlike the "main" from the original, a wealthy man seeking to surpass the depths of pleasure & pain, who reaches out into The Unknown via dark means. I was catching hints of 13 Ghosts... *ahem* Thir13en Ghosts, in that the house is constructed for the express purpose of supernatural rites. His final ritual completes, we move on to the story of recovering addict Riley (Odessa A'zion, Grand Army) who is roped into robbing a shipping container once owned by our previously mentioned rich weird guy Voight (Goran Visnjic, Timeless). You can easily guess what is in the container, and what Riley does immediately with it.

She loses her brother to the Evil Rubik's Cube, and spends the rest of the movie intent on getting him back. I was never quite sure how she intended on doing that, especially after she learns it requires further sacrifice. But things never go as planned and in the end... well, lots of people die.

The plot was never really the thing with this movie -- the return of the Cenobites was. But why? Recreate them, being faithful to the original (a new style of Pinhead) but create some more, and make the reimagined ones even creepier? No, not really. They had an opportunity to take a truly terrifying, disturbing approach to their design, but they ended up just being... alright. Which is not alright. And despite a little bit more fleshing out, pun intended, of their motivations and purpose (which, I supposed could have been lifted from any of the 9 sequels, but not that I am aware of) the story was quite pedestrian.