How Bad Timing Got A Hellraiser Reboot Project Cancelled

The mind of a hedonistic criminal is our entry point into Clive Barker's 1986 horror novella, "The Hellbound Heart." This man, Frank Cotton, acquires a puzzle box which, once solved, supposedly morphs into a portal to an extradimensional pleasure realm. However, when Frank solves the puzzle, frightening, sadomasochistic creatures emerge and subject him to the extremes of the pleasure-pain spectrum. After being captured by these beings (who call themselves Cenobites), Frank finds a way to escape, return to Earth, and seek new excesses of depravity involving his brother's wife and his niece.

Such is the premise of Barker's "Hellraiser," which brought "The Hellbound Heart" to life in vivid, uncompromising shades. This 1987 film — which quickly spawned a popular horror franchise — explores extremity and excess, why humans crave it, and how the Cenobites deal it out. Barker imbues these beings with greater moral ambiguity in the initial "Hellraiser" films, describing them as "demons to some, angels to others," but later sequels paint them as sadistic and malicious. Although the franchise's later installments are a mixed bag, Barker's 1987 original has etched a legacy that pushed the limits of horror at the time. In 2022, David Bruckner ("The Ritual," "The Night House") helmed a reboot that recaptured the original's signature tone to an extent, but the film wasn't boundary-pushing by any means. 

What if I told you about a canceled "Hellraiser" project that was intended as the franchise reboot long before Bruckner's version was conceived? This thwarted project was "Hellraiser: Origins," which even gave us a sneak peek into its world with a 2-minute pitch trailer. Let's learn more about the "Hellraiser" reboot that could have been.

The recurring problem with most "Hellraiser" sequels can be boiled down to the absence of a strong, audacious creative direction. Barker's vision remains unparalleled, as his treatment of the central themes was novel and nuanced, while later sequels leaned too heavily on black-and-white morality. 2011's "Hellraiser: Revelations" embodied the franchise's worst impulses, thanks to a rushed production that was necessary to hold onto the rights to the series. With the franchise considered dead by the time 2018's "Hellraiser: Judgment" was released, that film could do little to remedy the damage, despite being a significantly better sequel than its predecessors.

You can only guess the state of the franchise between 2011 and 2018. Fans were disheartened by the lingering blow of "Revelations," which could brought about the end of "Hellraiser." Enter Mike Le Han ("Mrs Peppercorn's Magical Reading Room") and Paul Gerrard ("Wrath Of The Titans"), who came armed with the intention to revive the franchise in 2013 with a pitch for a "Hellraiser" reboot. This intention was supplemented with a 2-minute spec trailer, made with the help of a 47-person crew and 100 extras. Given the fact that the project was still in the conceptual stage, this pitch trailer isn't too shabby; it gets straight to the point by exploring the grimy, bloody realm of the Cenobites. What's most interesting is Han and Gerrard's version of Pinhead, who looks more gaunt and messed up than Doug Bradley's iteration.

Did Dimension Films ever respond to this pitch? We'll never know, but all the buzz surrounding this potential reboot vanished once Barker himself made a surprising announcement in a 2013 Facebook post. The post detailed that Barker was working closely with Dimension Films on his own "Hellraiser" remake with Bradley attached. "Hellraiser: Origins" was not acknowledged at all, and Gerrard made a Facebook post later, stating that it "is very unlikely now that HRO will get made." After that, "Hellraiser: Origins" sadly got lost in the sands of time.

As for Barker's proposed remake, these plans eventually fell through as well. For now, we will have to make do with Bruckner's revamped "Hellraiser," which gets the job done well enough.