“Hellraiser” (Hulu – 2022) – Movie Review by Rafy Mediavilla (@Rmediavilla)
A young woman struggling with addiction 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.
I believe there is no secret that when Hulu announced that they were bringing back the Hellraise franchised or reimagining the Hellraise franchise this news was received with a mixture of joy and skepticism from fans of this horror classic, or maybe I’m alone in this one but that’s how I felt when the news broke. This being said I came into this movie blind with zero expectations I don’t remember if I watch the trailer when I originally publish it on the website, but I just didn’t want to ruined experience.
Once I got the Screener and I went ahead and watched the movie I must admit that I really enjoyed what Hulu did reimagine modernized version of Hellraiser. they didn’t come in to reinvent the story or reinvent anything with it they took what was already in place and worked and add it a little bit more to it. If we put the two of them side by side story wise, they’re plastically the same. The story is the same, the only thing that changes are the characters, what Hulu did that work t’s giving us more of what work in the 1987 one, by putting her pinhead and the cenobites at the center of the story.
And trust me by all means I’m not going to say this is a perfect movie given I’m a fan of the horror genre. Yes, it has pacing issues, one part of the story feels one way and the other one feels a lot different. Yes, the performers are good, especially Odessa A’zion performance and Jamie Clayton pinhead. The Cenobites truly look creepy and this is a nod to the makeup department on their work.
I think that main problem with the way Hulu went about reimagining Hellraiser is even though they’re creatures where’s scary a story that worked back then doesn’t really translate well to today. Since the story as a whole failed to add anything new beyond Well modernizing the look and feel of the pinhead and the cenobites, just copy and pasting that concept of the story with new characters wasn’t going to sit well with the general audience.
Ultimately, I feel Hulu one the they’re safe way by just reimagined in a story for fans of the genre and the franchise, Which I also believe can be a hit or miss situation depending on what the fan is looking for. Is it worth seeing? Yes, regardless if you are a fan of the franchise or not but is it a must see? that’s definitely no.
