Clive Barker Had One Overarching Piece Of Advice About David Bruckner's Hellraiser Approach

David Bruckner has made quite a name for himself as the director of "The Night House," "The Ritual," and segments for "Southbound," "V/H/S/," and "The Signal." He's been cited as one of the most exciting voices in the genre, but all of that good faith is no match for the expectations set when tackling a legacy franchise. Clive Barker's "Hellraiser" series is a firm constituent of the Mount Rushmore of horror franchises (which has more than the traditional four heads, of course), despite a majority of the 10 existing installments having less-than-stellar reputations. Making a movie in general is an extremely stressful experience, but it's a wonder that anyone helming a movie connected to a sacred horror property makes it out alive with that kind of pressure hanging over their heads like a rain cloud filled with angry tweets and metaphorical rotten tomatoes.

Fortunately, given the rocky history of the "Hellraiser" franchise, the general consensus is that people want Bruckner to succeed. There's a feverish excitement spreading across horror social circles, who have caught a glimpse of the trailer, and are craving even more. "Sense8" and "The L Word: Generation Q" star Jamie Clayton stepped into the role of The Priest/Pinhead made iconic by Doug Bradley, but that's not the only big change. Bruckner's new film is not a remake of the 1987 original, and as it turns out, that was completely by design. Bruckner did his homework and reached out to Clive Barker for his advice, which the director clearly took to heart.

During an interview with Jake Hamilton of Jake's Takes, Bruckner discussed his meeting with Clive Barker, and how he's chosen to honor the legacy of the franchise with his new film. "You have to contend with what's come before you, but at the same time the best way to respect a piece of material is to lose yourself in it, to find yourself in it and run amok," he said. "And that was something that Clive was very supportive of and understood from the beginning." Adding to the series of a beloved horror franchise is no easy task, because if you stick too close to the original source material, you run the risk of impossible comparisons. But if you stray away too far, lifelong fans may reject such a massive change. Luckily, it seems like getting Barker's blessing on Bruckner's vision has been for the absolute best.

Barker was brought on as a producer early into the process, and as Bruckner described it, "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." Brucker repeated in the interview that Clive's one word of advice was, "You have to do your own thing, you can't try to imitate this beat for beat." So to any purists out there that find themselves struggling to accept the new changes "Hellraiser" is bringing to the canon, remember that if Clive Barker is already on board, that should be your sign that Bruckner is bringing the gorgeous, gory goods.

"Hellraiser" hits Hulu on October 7, 2022.