First Images From Hulu's Hellraiser Reboot Reveal Jamie Clayton As The New Pinhead
We have such sights to show you. The first proper details about director David Bruckner's upcoming "Hellraiser" reboot have arrived, and they all look very interesting. The reboot, which will arrive on Hulu on October 7, is the first major entry in the franchise since 1996's "Hellraiser: Bloodline," as the various sequels that followed that film were relegated to direct-to-video releases.
And now, we have first look images released by Entertainment Weekly as part of an exclusive interview with Bruckner. Despite being pretty dark, the first look at Jamie Clayton's take on the Hell Priest is pretty chilling. With completely dark eyes, a leather choker, and the iconic symmetrical pins lining her face, she certainly looks the part without relying too heavily on the design popularized by Doug Bradley.
Bruckner remained pretty tight-lipped about what types of Cenobites we will see in the new film. However, he did reveal one of the new beings that will appear, someone that he calls The Mask. Again, the photo is fairly dark, but fans will be able to make out that this Cenobite's face is being stretched out using some sort of torture device. His body also looks very sliced up, which is pretty much a given for these otherworldly beings.
"The Mask is one of my favorite Cenobites [of the film]," said Bruckner, "and it's just a tease of really what's to come as far as the Cenobites are concerned."
Returning to the roots
And what's to come has actually been approved by the architect of the "Hellraiser" franchise, Clive Barker. It might be easy to assume that his executive producer credit is nothing more than a legacy credit, but Bruckner revealed that he was extremely hands-on during the shoot.
"He was really generous with his time, and very welcoming of the idea that this was a new group of artists, and that they were going to run with this and land in different places with it," he said. "He was very supportive of that."
Perhaps part of this has to do with the fact that this could be the most explicitly queer iteration of "Hellraiser" since the first two films, which were made with Barker's direct involvement (he directed the first film). The Cenobites under his creation were never actually villains in a typical sense, but rather beings wanting others to feel the immense pleasure granted to them by the Lament Configuration. Given how so much about queer identity revolves around this so-called forbidden pleasure (along with the casting of Clayton, who is a trans woman, as the new Pinhead), seeing these themes potentially return to the franchise after many of its sequels erased them is exciting.
However, the return of these ideas, as well as the final designs for the rest of the new Cenobites, won't be confirmed until October 7, when "Hellraiser" finally arrives on Hulu.