More bloody, more sexual, and more visceral, the bevy of cenobites we see are gorgeous in the most macabre ways.

And somehow, in Hellraiser (2022), the cenobites have gotten even better. Hellraiser as a franchise has long held an iconic status in horror thanks to the designs of the Cenobites, even those featured in the less-loved sequels. This allows for a rather nuanced look at pain, not in something we seek to enhance our pleasure but as something unavoidable that we have to learn to live with instead of run from. But where Hellraiser diverges from the original it will surely be compared to the exploration of addiction instead of sex as the axis of choice that complicates the story. There is a beautiful horror that embodies high-paced slashers but when you peel back that flesh, you’ll see a nuanced look at overcoming your desires.

Maintaining the sharp body horror edge that the series is known for, Hellraiser also manages to tell an intimate story of family, addiction, and how to live with guilt when the ramifications of the latter shatter the first. The film stars Odessa A’zion, Jamie Clayton, Adam Faison, Drew Starkey, Brandon Flynn, Aoife Hinds, Jason Liles, and Yinka Olorunnife.Ī reimagining of Clive Barker’s 1987 original, a young woman, Riley ( Odessa A’zion), is struggling with addiction when she comes into possession of an ancient puzzle box, unaware that its purpose is to summon the Cenobites, a group of sadistic supernatural beings from another dimension. Evil permeates it, human desire fuels it, and the wildly creative and gore-gously beautiful cenobites push it to a height close to the original.

Goyer, this original film manages to capture the sex appeal, gore, and moral tale of the original with relative ease. Directed by David Bruckner and written by Ben Collins, Luke Piotrowski, and David S. But the Hulu Original Hellraiser is up to the bloody challenge. Sequels coming decades after their originals are hard, and when a franchise is already littered with bad ones, well, the task seems insurmountable.

Clive barker hellraiser 2022