This was a movie made to keeps the rights in place. That is super sad. I remember before the film was announced, I read Clive Barker was planning on rebooting the Hellraiser series with Doug Bradley as Pinhead. This came on the heels of Hellraiser Revelations and the biggest casting mistake. But for casting this film, they went to the man himself, Doug Bradley, but he would not sign the NDA before reading the script and good for him.
I am not going to bash this movie, it is hard to review this one, so fair warning.
Synopsis:
Detectives Sean and David Carter are on the case to hunt down a gruesome serial killer who is terrorizing the city. Joining forces with Detective Christine Egerton, they dig deeper into a maze of horror, which may lead them into the depths of hell.
The movie is more like Hellraiser Inferno, it felt like a movie that was not supposed to be a Hellraiser movie. The movie has some interesting things happening. It begins with Pinhead of the Cenobites and the Auditor of the Stygian Inquisition. They are talking about how to help each other harvest souls in a world where the old way, the puzzle box is getting harder to lure people. Then a man named Watkins being interviewed by a demon looking guy called the “Auditor”. He then is passed along to the next step and then the cleansing. It is a great looking ritual and Gary Tunnicliffe plays the part of the Auditor well.
The bulk of the film revolves around three detectives who are looking for a killer who they have had no luck finding, he is called the “Preceptor”. As they investigate, one of the detective finds where Watkins when and gets interviewed by the Auditor. He moves on to the Assessor, but before he can move further, something happens and he is able to escape. Spoilers would follow, but not gonna happen.
The movie could have been really good, if it focused more on the demons of the Stygian Inquisition and left Pinhead out. There were four Cenobites, a set of twins and what looked like Chatterer, with bad make up. We saw demons, Cenobites and in this one an angel. That helped a bizarre ending.
So one of the biggest questions that most probably wonder. How did Paul T. Taylor do as Pinhead? I met Paul back in October and he was a delight and showed he was a fan of the series, which was refreshing. He mentioned some plot points that turned out to be a red herring, good job Paul. He told me we would see a female Pinhead at the films end. That did not happen, which is fine. Paul as Pinhead was ok. He did better than the last Pinhead, so he is somewhere between Doug Bradley and the turd in Revelations. I don’t think he will be coming back for another film. But he was ok in his, small part of this movie.
IMDB.com has a rating of 4.6
Hellraiser Judgement gets a 5.0 from me.
For the future of the Hellraiser series. Well, I do not think we will get the Clive Barker reboot and honestly the series could live on in further sequels. But the problem is the writing and the direction. Judgement introduces new characters and it made it feel like there was more to come. But I doubt it. As long as there is a box, the Lament Configuration, Cenobites can reign in some form of hell. Even if Pinhead is gone, there would need to be a new leader. In the comic, Kirsty becomes a Cenobite, the female Pinhead. I say for the next movie…bring Ashley Laurence back to be the female Pinhead. It really seems like her destiny, considering how she basically played Pinhead three times.
It is time!
