News has recently hit of a new Hellraiser sequel getting underway, titled Hellraiser Judgment. And against my better judgment, pun intended, I'm actually excited. The Hellraiser franchise is one of my top favorite of the horror franchises, and while it has had more downs than ups, but I'm always suckered back into it with a new sequel.
The main reason I'm a bit more hopeful for this one is due to Revelations writer Gary Tunnicliffe returning as writer and, this time, director. I know Revelations is a controversial movie amongst Hellraiser fans, and while it IS flawed and smells of quickly-made-for-the-sake-of-keeping-ownership-of-the-property, I do think it's one of the better sequels in terms of capturing Hellraiser's themes and style. After so many sequels that were unrelated scripts rewritten to incorporate Pinhead and the box, Revelations was a sequel intended to be a Hellraiser, so it actually seemed like a Hellraiser. (To be honest, I thought it was the best Hellraiser since Inferno, which is another controversial opinion. I hope to write more about Inferno in a later post.)
Tunnicliffe has had a long association with the franchise, and obviously has a good grasp of what it's about (which has long seemed to puzzle a lot of writers) and what it's capable of, and he has a respect and knowledge of the material. (I especially liked the histories he wrote for the characters on the packaging of the old NECA figures.)
One downside so far is that Doug Bradley has turned down the chance to play Pinhead again. They're going for yet another new actor (not the same replacement from Revelations), which makes me fear that if there are ever any more sequels, it will become a revolving door of Pinheads. As iconic as Pinhead is, I feel that in that case, they should consider creating a new starring Cenobite, or perhaps have some variation of Pinhead, but one that isn't meant to be Bradley's Elliot Spencer. (Another piece of exciting news about Judgment is that Heather Langenkamp will star in it. Now, imagine if she was playing a female variation of Pinhead.)
At this stage, when the classic franchises have been dormant for so long and original series wiped out by failed remakes, I'm kind of glad that a new old-time Hellraiser is being made.
