Review of Hellraiser (2022) by Soulwarfare — 15 Oct 2022

Hellraiser is the next horror franchise to get a reboot. I kind of expected it to be awful but was pleasantly surprised by the film.

The Cenobites, who are the real stars of this film, look frightening and creepy which is great! Jamie Clayton is the new Pinhead/Priest and she does a phenomenal job. She steals every scene she is in and is truly intimidating. I love the direction of every scene with the Cenobites as well. The director uses creepy set designs and lighting to make the Cenobites feel unsettling. I'm appreciative that the director doesn't use jump scares for the Cenobites. I do have an issue with the movie and that is I think the movie is a bit too restrained in terms of plot and kills. The kills are also kind of fun to watch but it does certainly feel a bit tame in terms of gore. Another issue I have is the human characters. They're not very likeable or interesting. I found it difficult to root for the main characters and I certainly didn't care when a side character died either. Other than that, it's a surprisingly good reboot and I wouldn't mind a sequel for this.