Budget: unknown
Directed By: David Bruckner
Hating lately that so many films, mainly streaming are so hard to find budgets for. Guess it's a good way to beat them taxes right?
Aside from that we've had a pretty decent year of reboots and reimaginings so far. With Prey being one of them. We have Halloween Ends up coming too ending that rebooted franchise.
Not been all sing song though, Hocus Pocus 2 was a soulless sequel/reboot, the best part being the witches. So let's take a dive and see if Hellraiser 2020 bares fruit.
First up some people seem to have said there's links to the old ones in this, it's not there's some tenuous nods at the most but it's its own thing. It's a totally new retelling of the old law.
Which isn't a bad thing as it keeps it's roots firmly in the source material but tells a new story in it.
I'll get to the elephant in the room here before anyone starts anything. Yes pinhead is played by Jamie Clayton a trans actress not Doug Bradley. Get over it, like Robert Englund he's getting old. Yeah the last few hellraiser pinheads have been abysmally poor especially fathead from revelations.
The cenobites are meant to be androgynous in nature alluring to both female and male alike. The new designs are fantastic from the box to the new and existing cenobites. Jamie Clayton is by far the best since Doug.
This movie has a heavy emphasis on addiction, in every sense of the word. From drugs, pain, love to solving puzzles. Usually one taking place of another too.
As notes the lament configuration box is different it now takes on several different forms. But to change its form you need to feed it a soul as sacrifice, usually the person unfortunate enough to solve it.
This is shown quite quuckly at the beginning our main bad guy (Voight) makes a sex worker open the box. He is quickly torn apart by the chains. Our big bad then asks to see leviathan, which I'll get to later.
A few years later Riley a recovering drug addict is living with her brother (Matt) and his boyfriend (Trevor). There's another room mate Nora. Her brothers boyfriend persuades her to help him break into a warehouse where he's heard a rich guy keeps a load of valuables. Of course she finds the box there, unfortunately on returning home her brother finds out and scolds her about relapsing and her old shitty ways. She runs off to the park and manages to solve the box without cutting herself (The soul is only sacrificed if the box takes a blood toll).
After an encounter with the cenobites she passes out. Matt finds her then cuts himself on the box, he heard screaming from a nearby restroom then vanishes.
Knowing the box is to blame she takes Trevor to find someone who can explain things. Voights ex lawyer had the box hidden there. She explains things but tries to take the box, in the process cutting herself too. When the two leave for Voights mansion the cenobites come for her too.
Breaking into Voights house Riley finds his journals on the box. About it's different configurations, there's seven and each has a meaning. Though it must take a soul as offering if they bleed from the blade.
Here's where it differs quite a bit more now, the seventh configuration is leviathan. Leviathan is the entity that watches over hell, if you get that configuration you can have an audience with it. Then ask it for a wish/gift, she then sees Matt flayed alive.
I'll leave it here so I don't spoil to much more of the film. It really is worthy of a watch especially if you like up to the 4th film in the OG series. Take heed though this is more like Hellraiser 1&2 much more serious.
Is it flawless?
No, it's by far an improvement since part 2 though, THN awards this movie a strong 4 out of 5 stars.
