The Hellraiser franchise began in 1987 with the movie adaptation of Clive Barkers novella The Hellbound Heart. Written and directed by Barker and starring Andrew Robinson (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine), Clare Higgins (Doctor Who), Ashley Lawrence and Doug Bradley, Hellraiser became a cult classic among horror fans, spawning eight sequels. While most fans will debate upon which of these sequels are worth watching, almost all fans will agree that the fifth movie Hellraiser: Inferno and all subsequent sequels are best avoided, each baring very little relation to the original movie or earlier instalments.
The franchise has been further explored in two comic runs, one by Epic Comics (an imprint of Marvel Comics) and another by Boom Studios. In these comic books Pinhead, known by his title of the "Hell Priest" seeks to salvage his humanity, using Kirsty Cotton as an accomplice to destroy artifacts capable of opening a gateway to hell, in an effort to secure his escape from hell.
There have been many attempts to reboot the series, both by studio Dimension Films, whom own the movie production rights to the property, and by its creator Clive Barker. Dimension Films last attempt to reboot the franchise saw Terminator Genisys co-writer Patrick Lussier write a treatment, which was dropped in favor of the latest and arguably the worst sequel; Hellraiser: Revelations, the first in the franchise not to star Doug Bradley as the franchises antagonist Pinhead. Speaking recently on Adam Green and Joe Lynch’s The Movie Crypt podcast Lussier revealed that he was set to collaborate with frequent screen-writing partner Todd Farmer, and that his interpretation of Hellraiser was to feature Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles actor William Fitchner in the role of Frank Cotton...
“In the beginning [Frank] is going to get the box, and he’s in Shanghai. He gets caught and they [the captors] hold him down and they hammer these fucking nails into his head, but he gets free and kills everyone. But he does get the box which is being held by this guy who looks like he’s all bloated and has been ripped apart by the Cenobites. Frank steals the box and then… bad things happen.”
“The idea essentially was that we never see the story of Frank getting the box. So imagine if Frank is actually the darkest version of [“24’s”] Jack Bauer and [the] Nicolas Cage [character]from National Treasure. It would have been the evil National Treasure story.”
Lussier, whom was also attached to direct the reboot, went on to claim that the conclusion of the treatment would have seen Fitchners Frank Cotton become Pinhead. Fans of the franchise know however that Frank Cotton was a hedonistic pleasure seeker whom sought out the infamous puzzle box known as the Lemarchands box or the Lament Configuration, whereas Pinhead was originally a Captain in the British Army by the name of Elliot Spencer, whom after witnessing the horrors of the Battle of the Somme became disillusioned with mankind and lost his faith in god. Critics of Lussiers work on Terminator Genisys may see worrying parallels between this summers addition to the Terminator franchise and Lussiers treatment above.
In 2013, after the critical panning of Hellraiser: Revelations, Clive Barker announced that he was working on a “very loose” remake of the original movie, with Doug Bradley set to return as Pinhead. Yet other than news that a second draft of the script had been completed nothing new has been heard of since, suggesting the reboot has once again spiralled back down into development hell.
A reboot of the Hellraiser franchise with creator Clive Barker at a helm and Doug Bradley returning as chief antagonist, is a proposition we can get behind, especially if the reboot cast Ashley Lawrence as the franchises “femme fatale”, the evil stepmother Julia, which would contrast nicely against the actresses former portrayal as the franchises heroine Kirsty Cotton. Maybe Clive Barker could establish a “canonical” trilogy, exploring the secrets of Lemarchands box, the Cenobites, the Derelict (the haggard guardian of the box).
