I'm old enough to remember the original Hellraiser (1987). That was a true horror film. There were horrible people, doing horrible things. It left you feeling really quite disturbed about the worst aspects of human nature. The follow-up Hellraiser 2 (1988) managed to recapture a small part of that. But after that it was downhill fast. The sequels were nothing but parodies. Well, for some reason, Hulu decided to remake it. Shamefully, the film fails on nearly every level. It's not well written (terrible dialogue) and poorly acted. There's little horror and you simply do not care about anyone or anything happening in it. It doesn't give you a reason to care either. The Cenobites are not scary, or grotesque looking... they just look like cheap make-up and some bad CGI. Like the later Hellraiser films It has more in common with trashy slasher flicks than anything else. Poorly done ones at that. As is common today they gender-switched the main role. Did it add anything? Nope. In fact, I keep hearing about what a good performance Jamie Clayton was as The Priest. I don't know what they were watching. There isn't a performance, it's literally all make up and some lines read out flat. Look at the originals: Pinhead's character is all about small, slow movements and looming dread. He's literally an overwhelming threat and you are the prey. Not in this one though. Or look at the secondary villain. In the original it's Uncle Frank, who is an awful person who fully deserves his fate. Even in the end as he's pulled apart by the Cenobites... he's drawn to it, and much as he tried to run he still wants what the Cenobites offer. In this new version... there's none of that same grimy, disturbing look into subcultures. It's all clean, boring and badly acted. Watch Hellraiser (1987) and Hellraiser 2 (1988) and stop there. They did it better on much smaller budgets.

3 Thoughts After Watching ‘Hellraiser’: 1. After all these years, it’s nice to understand more, certainly not completely, what the heck that damn box is all about. I very much appreciated a more linear, fleshed-out story with this incredible mythology. 2. While this new film got creative with the gore, there’s something about the practical effects from the original that unsettled me a bit more. 3. I missed Bradley’s iconic Pinhead vocals, but I’m very pleased with Clayton’s take here. Her presence was different, yet strong and formidable. I’d definitely like to see her return to the role. Bonus Thought: I loved the way the doors to the other realm opened up in various scenes, especially [spoiler]in the back of the truck[/spoiler].

You’re less likely to enjoy this the further away you are from its target audience. It leans more towards the _Saw_ side than the _Scream_ side of teenage horror; it’s really vapid and witless. A little less edgy and angsty perhaps, and it uses more of a goth aesthetic, but still so much of it feels contrived and cliché nevertheless. Some interesting visual ideas here and there, but also a lot of wonky acting, cheesy dialogue, uninteresting characters, awkward pacing, odd editing choices and underlit scenes (yes, I did take into account that this is a horror movie). It manages to build some scary atmosphere at points (props for not relying on jump scares), however I never felt completely engaged by it. Maybe that’s due to me not being the target audience, but then again we also just got _Bodies, Bodies, Bodies_, which is a lot better and you should probably watch instead. 4/10

Another disappointing experience that softens the sadomasochistic implications of the original to follow a less disturbing and much more conventional path. It's the reinvention of tame horror, because it feels more creative on the surface than deep down, coming up with interesting atmospheric solutions without building a mythology that actually brings real purpose to the cenobites as a reflection of human desires.

I had fun watching it..if you saw the trailer then you knew what to expect. I just miss the way you felt a little dirty after watching the original for the first time lol