Hellraiser (2022): Still Ripping Your Soul Apart 35 Years Later

Reboot and retelling are two different things. With reboots, you tend to see a safer way to modernize a beloved story. A retelling tends to put the creative team’s boldness in the front row, daring to be noticed. While I’m not a huge fan of reboots or retelling of stories as I would much rather have new material than another rehashing of an established character and their story, if you are going to dip into the nostalgia box, I would much rather a creative team make it their own. The trickiest thing is to take a 30-plus-year-old story and modernize it while staying true to the source material and, at the same time, putting your own stamp on it. And that is exactly what the remarkable team behind Hellraiser (2022) did. They stood toe to toe with an icon and conquered it. 

Odessa A’zion, who plays Riley, our protagonist, is in recovery and has the misfortune of squaring off with the devilishly beautiful yet frightening Cenobites and the Priest when she sets off to find her missing brother. The amount of soul that A’zion puts into Riley is wonderful. I couldn’t but feel for her as she navigates her new hell on earth; however, she’s still weathering the violent seas of recovery on top of everything else. A classic genre protagonist that pays homage to heroines past. The tenseness from the original Hellraiser (1987) transfers seamlessly to its modern sibling. While calling for the Cenobites to appear, the build-up takes its time marching to its own beat. That’s what I loved about the original, and that’s what I love about this version. It’s not afraid to expose the horror and beauty of asking, “how far would you go?” The Priest, played immaculately by Jamie Clayton, brings her own seat to the table and does not ask for permission for a spot. If you are not in pure awe of this version of Pinhead, maybe the Cenobites have already gotten to you. Clayton’s Priest is modern horror personified. Even the Cenobites got a modern update and continue to make your skin crawl.

While we may know the “story” of Hellraiser, David Bruckner (director), while paying homage to not only the original movie but using The Hellbound Heart at the same time, putting his own stamp on it. Translation: it f*cking worked! I will say the trip started a little slow, but once everything was locked in, the pacing was solid, the cast was on point, and the gore was ever-present. You felt just as horrified and intrigued as you did when you first saw Doug Bradley and Co. Hellraiser is a masterful retelling of a great icon for a new generation of horror fans. This is how you update a classic.