phancy.com - horror reviews - MOH 2022
Hellraiser
IMDb Info
Release Year: 2022
Runtime: 2h 1m
Country: USA, Serbia
Language: English
Genre Tags: Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Plot Summary: A take on Clive Barker's 1987 horror classic where a young woman struggling with addiction comes into possession of an ancient puzzle box, unaware that its purpose is to summon the Cenobites.
Poster - Title Card
phancy.com rating:
phancy.com notes: It's fine, I guess? It's really long and has zero character development. Once it finally gets going, it's far more about the cenobites being sadistic, and the box being a monkey's paw. For all the technical explanations of how the box works, there's ultimately not much to it. The original was more about getting too much of a good thing, and the very fine line between pleasure/pain, good/bad, and perhaps they're just the same thing if you don't worry about pesky human morals. This version is much more straight-laced. Addiction is bad, and evil demons will kill you for their pleasure, not yours.
Outside Reviews:
Simon Abrams
2.5 out of 4 stars -
rogerebert.com
Still, there's a chance you'll enjoy Bruckner's "Hellraiser" if you've seen or care for Barker's "Hellraiser." This updated version doesn't hang together very well from scene to scene, and it doesn't really enhance Barker's original character concepts, which were really only ever great plot suggestions to begin with. But there are, however, enough pleasurable callbacks and suspenseful moments to keep you waiting expectantly for something to happen.
Katie Rife
The new Hellraiser's gory fun only cuts skin deep
While the 2022 movie has an omnivorous sexuality that feels right for Hellraiser — we see both gay and straight couples naked in bed together, and there's more male nudity than female — this version is less kinky than Barker's sadomasochistic original. In that film, the promise of an eternity spent on the knife's edge between pleasure and pain held a perverse fascination. Here, it's an unequivocal evil, with no appeal for anyone except for the Cenobite leader, billed here as The Priest (Jamie Clayton), and her minions. Even Hellraiser's depraved billionaire (and there simply must be a depraved billionaire) regrets his adventures "in the further regions of experience."