David Bruckner to Direct ‘Hellraiser’ Reboot
It’s hard to enjoy the ongoing franchise of Hellraiser, which seems to go from one bad film to the next. The obvious answer to fixing a bad franchise is to reboot it. But after years of “if, buts and when’s ” it seems that Hellraiser is finally getting a reboot.
V/H/S and Southbound’s director David Bruckner is the latest name to “reboot” the franchise, having recently directed Netflix’s The Ritual and episodes of Shudder’s Creepshow and his latest film, The Night House, causing a huge stir at Sundance. According to THR, David Goyer, one of the producers of Night House, is writing the story, with Ben Collins and Luke Piotrowski lined up to tackle the screenplay.
Hellraiser is a 1987 British supernatural horror film written and directed by Clive Barker, based on his novella The Hellbound Heart. Hellrasier introduced audiences to the The Lament Configuration puzzle box, which opens a gateway to another dimension. The film spawned, nine sequels, but not all of them were at the level you would expect of a film franchise.
The biggest pull of the Hellraiser saga, is it’s main protagonist Pinhead, who starred quite prominently in the first four films. But after that, he became nothing more than a cameo in films derived of any real story or narrative. The sequels relied on Pinheads images to sell more films, whilst turning him into background noise.
If you ever needed more proof of just how badly this franchsie was managed, look no further than the ninth film, Hellraiser: Revelations, which was made in a couple of weeks. Dimension Films’ rushed the production just so they could keep hold of the rights to the franchise. Due to the quick turnaround time and the rushed production, series star Doug Bradley turned down the film, making this the first entry in the series in which he does not play Pinhead.
Hellraiser: Judgment, the tenth and last film in current series, was once again produced to keep the film franchise. It was film side by side with Children of the Corn: Runaway, both films produced by Michael Leahy. It was supposed to be a return to series stronger roots, but yet again sacrificed story for special effects, and resulting in a nonsensical mess.
This announcement might be the first concrete reboot news we have heard over the years, but unless it’s got a bloody good script behind it, it will yet again produce a sub-par horror sequel that is bound for the bargain basket.
Are you excited or fed up with more Hellraiser news? Let us know in the comments below or on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram! You can also carry on the convo with me personally on Twitter @Lallen_UK
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