Hellraiser, Clive Barker’s terrifying vision of hell on Earth, will be reimagined for Hulu’s annual Huluween celebration of all things scary, and it will premiere on the service on October 7. A short teaser trailer for the film has also been made available on Hulu to promote the premiere. Some have speculated that in the new version, a young lady struggling with addiction acquires the legendary puzzle box and must use it to fight the dreaded cenobites. Jamie Clayton, of Sense8, is replacing Doug Bradley as the cenobite leader Pinhead. Bradley appeared as Pinhead in eight films.
The remainder of the cast consists of Odessa A’zion, Adam Faison, Drew Starkey, Brandon Flynn, Aoife Hinds, Jason Liles, Yinka Olorunnife, Selina Lo, Zachary Hing, Kit Clarke, Goran Visnjic, and Hiam Abbass. Although the 15-second trailer doesn’t feature much real footage from the remake, it does have a sleek aesthetic. The visage of Pinhead is seen against a crimson backdrop in the teaser. The film’s title slowly fades across the villain’s mask. The video of Pinhead might be of Clayton or it could be from an earlier Hellraiser film; it’s not made explicit. With less than two months until the film’s premiere, further teasers and an official trailer with genuine footage from the film are likely on the way.
The latest Hellraiser movie is directed by David Bruckner and written by his regular writing partners Ben Collins and Luke Piotrowski. The film’s credits include a narrative written by David S. Goyer. Bruckner is considered a modern horror auteur thanks to his work as a director on the critically praised films The Ritual and The Night House. Clive Barker, who helmed the first Hellraiser movie in 1987 and penned the book The Hellbound Heart on which this remake is based, is one of the producers, along with Marc Toberoff, Keith Levine, and David Goyer. Many horror fans consider the first Hellraiser to be a seminal work.
At the time of its debut in 1987, the picture was a financial and critical triumph, earning close to $15 million against a budget of only $1 million. There were a total of nine sequels to the picture, seven of which starred Bradley as Pinhead, and three of which saw theatrical distribution. Hellraiser on Hulu is the first remake of the original film, although a similar series is also in the works at HBO. On October 7, Hellraiser will become available to stream on Hulu.