It's a rare delight that a video game adaptation of a beloved cult classic turns out decent. However, Saber Interactive's Clive Barker's Hellraiser: Revival is, dare I say, a masterpiece of survival horror and earns its place as an experience above experiences Pinhead would be proud of.
Despite mixed-to-great critic reviews, fans are very positive about the game (me included), with a 94% score on Steam. Not only that, but the game has sold out physically on storefronts, and Matthew Karch, CEO of Saber Interactive, has confirmed that it's performing very well for them. It's safe to say that critic reviews had little impact on the game's sales, its love from fans, or best-selling horror author Clive Barker's revived enthusiasm to return to his horror universe of love, lust, pain, and pleasure.
Clive Barker is already looking to the future of Hellraiser
As for what’s next, Barker told Dread Central, "I have many ideas that I’d like to see realized in the Hellraiser universe, and I’m planning to keep my fingers in that pie."
It's not a Hollywood story you'll hear often, but it was only a few years ago, in 2021, that Barker regained the rights to his novella, “The Hellbound Heart,” and the screenplay, Hellraiser, which became the foundation of the leatherbound Hell Priest mythos we love today.
The video game focuses around the original trilogy of films, almost setting up a retcon for anything that came after. However, there are a few cameos some may recognize if they watched Hulu's reimagining of Hellraiser, directed by David Bruckner and produced by Barker.
It's mostly up to Barker on what could happen in his Hellraiser mythos next. He worked closely with Saber Interactive to make sure the look and feel was perfect, and as a player, I can say they outdid themselves.
Even Barker himself was skeptical about how much a video game could achieve without being held back. He also told Dread Central, "I was fearful at one point that the game would be overly censored, but I’m genuinely astonished by how far they’ve been able to push it." And pushed it they did. Not for the faint of heart doesn't even begin to describe the boundaries they push.
“I’m proud as f**k at the end result,” Barker added.
There's honestly no horror franchise quite like Hellraiser. Sure, there exists extremely violent IP in the slasher genre, but Hellraiser has both gory and sexual depictions, diving deep into the darkest realms of desire that many studios would shy away from. The moralities and philosophies of sensation and experience are a part of Hellraiser's identity and are meant to be explored to the extreme. It'd be a crime to make it vanilla.
How Hellraiser: Revival can set up more layers to the lore
Getting my copy of the game took weeks longer than expected. That's an anecdotal testament to how well it sold (I even pre-ordered it months ahead). That aside, with about eight hours in, the Hellraiser mythos is deepened fantastically within the game.
We're introduced to the Scarlet Church, a cult of gruesome artists and sensation seekers who worship the Cenobites, recognizing them as disciples of the Leviathan. The box, known as the Genesis Configuration, is, to them, an important relic that could give them ascension and be designed in the Cenobites' imagination, or possibly be the key to becoming a Cenobite.
Those whose flesh doesn't take kindly to the ascension process become one of the Unworthy—wandering zombies, pretty much.
The Scarlet Church follows the charismatic but rather creepy leader, Marlowe, a wealthy man of old money with seemingly infinite resources to indulge in his esoteric NSFW obsessions. It reminds me a lot of Hulu's Hellraiser, which explored how the rich elite would use the box.
Hellraiser: Revival takes this concept and expands upon it, adding another layer to the rich mythos. It's very unnerving to think that someone would aspire to become a Hell Priest like Pinhead, as if that's to be lifted into Heaven as an angel. To them, they are, I suppose.
This is only me spitballing, as I have no reason to believe this plot may happen, and Barker hasn't teased or confirmed that anything is happening, but a movie following someone's descent into the Hell Priest ideology would be fascinating.
Classic Hellraiser usually explores summoning dead lovers with the blood of victims, which even Revival continues. But what if someone willingly seeks out the Cenobite's experiences, investigating their influence on the world, uncovering relics littered about the Earth? Would they come to regret it or accept their transformation?
I think this would be a story only a movie or television series could tell. The video game does a great job of giving us a quest to revive Sunny by having Aidan complete Pinhead's hit list. However, a film has the chance to explore less action-driven, reward-reliant plotlines.
Or we could get a movie about a kidnapped victim who tries to escape the labyrinth-like dungeons of the Scarlet Church, culling hordes of Unworthy, cultists, and dodging reality-warping Cenobites. That I would watch, too, without a doubt. Whatever Clive Barker feels like should be made, I hope he's fully involved.
Clive Barker's Hellraiser: Revival is out now on Xbox Series X, PlayStation 5, PC, and Nintendo Switch 2.
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