Hellraiser is a gruesome exploration of horror that will test your stomach

Hulu’s new Hellraiser movie has arrived just in time for spooky season. Rebooting the iconic horror franchise that began with the 1987 classic by Clive Barker is no small task, but the streamer has thrown their hat in the ring. Directed by David Bruckner (The Night House), 2022’s Hellraiser is a horrifying new entry in the franchise that captures the spirit of Barker’s original while exploring new depths of depravity and terror.

There will be some MILD SPOILERS for Hellraiser below.

Hellraiser movie review

2022’s Hellraiser is not a sequel to the older series of movies, but a proper reboot. This means that if you don’t know anything about the franchise, you can still go into this one and understand everything that’s going on. That said, there are plenty of nods to Barker’s original film scattered throughout, from specific lines to certain Cenobite designs and kills. (Yes, there is a Cenobite with scary, clicky teeth. And yes it is terrifying).

The film primarily follows Riley (Odessa A’zion), a recovering addict who comes into contact with the Cenobites’ puzzle box when her boyfriend Trevor (Drew Starkey) convinces her to help steal the contents of a billionaire’s abandoned shipping container. The shipping container holds only the puzzle box, however, and soon Riley finds herself caught in its dangerous game. A’zion’s acting is excellent; both her and Jamie Clayton (Pinhead) turn in some stunningly good performances.

Once a person solves one stage of the puzzle box, a knife shoots out and stabs them, marking them as a sacrifice for the Cenobites (basically inter-dimensional sadomasochism demons). The Cenobites then come and take them in gruesome fashion, subjecting them to a new world of pain before ending their lives. If the person wielding the box can manage to gather a certain amount of sacrifices, however, they can ask for a boon from the Cenobites…though their gifts often take a more insidious form than expected.

Of course, we can’t talk about Hellraiser without discussing the designs, the scares, the gore. This movie will test your stomach. When I say the Cenobites are disgusting and terrifying and beautiful in their own demented way, I really mean it. There is an obvious level of care that went into designing each of their unique looks, and it’s clear that the special effects team took just as much joy in finding inventive ways to murder people as the Cenobites themselves. There’s one particularly horrifying death that occurs about halfway through the movie where we see one of Pinhead’s needles pierce a character’s neck, and then we watch from inside their throat as it slices out the other side. Then the shot reverses, subjecting us to the disturbing interior body shot a second time as the needle withdraws and the victim’s scream distorts. It’s disturbing, and you will either be unable to watch or to look away depending on how comfortable you are with this level of gore onscreen.

It’s a credit to Hellraiser that for as utterly gross as some of these deaths are, that also feels very much like the point. The Cenobites are “explorers in the further regions of experience,” and the pain they deal out to others is a clear reflection of the horrors they’ve inflicted on their own bodies. There’s a sick poetry to the movie, which covers both Riley’s quest to escape the puzzle box’s curse as well as another character’s eventual decline into becoming a Cenobite themself. Seeing those two different perspectives adds a lot to the movie, giving it a bit more depth than the traditional slasher flick while also letting us delve more into the overall Cenobite mythology.

As for the human element, Riley’s journey is exceptionally compelling. She begins as a profoundly flawed character, struggling with alcoholism, drug addiction, and a difficult relationship with her brother Matt (Brandon Flynn). The writing deserves an enormous nod for how quickly it draws you into Riley’s struggle, and for how well it fleshes out some of the people around her, such as her brother’s boyfriend Colin (Adam Faison). We see Riley relapse in only her third scene, but since the movie did such a good job of getting us into her head it still hits like a kick to the gut.

Things only get more complicated from there, as Riley’s loved ones are picked off by the Cenobites. She reminded me a little of Ellen Ripley in the second or third Alien films; a badass horror heroine who pushes through her own trauma to overcome an impossible enemy. There were a few moments where I cheered out loud, a whole lot more where I gibbered obscenities at my TV, and even one or two that made me mist up a little. Hellraiser is pretty much perfect at what it set out to do, which is provide a provocative horror experience that will submerse viewers in its twisted world.

Speaking of twists, there are a couple of really good ones that crop up later in the movie. I won’t spoil them, but suffice it to say that Hellraiser did a pretty good job of keeping me guessing throughout. It also managed to avoid some typical slasher film pitfalls, like over-relying on jump scares (the movie is plenty scary without them) and having protagonists do overtly stupid things to put themselves in danger. You won’t find yourself shouting “don’t open the door/go outside” at these characters; despite their flaws they are doing their absolute best to stay alive…which makes it all the more terrifying when the Cenobites get them anyway.

Verdict

Hellraiser is an excellent reboot of an iconic horror franchise as well as just an all-around good movie. It is disturbingly gory, and it’s definitely worth knowing that before you go in, but if you are looking for more movies to fill out your spooky October watch list, this should absolutely be on it. Between this movie and Prey, Hulu has really been on a role with its horror reboots this year.

Movie Grade: A-

To stay up to date on everything fantasy, science fiction, and WiC, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and sign up for our exclusive newsletter.

Get HBO, Starz, Showtime and MORE for FREE with a no-risk, 7-day free trial of Amazon Channels