Clive Barker’s ‘Hellraiser’ to return to the big screen

Made for just $ 8.930,00 US Dollars, the first ‘Hellraiser’ went on to make almost $ 13.0000 US Dollars at the box office and sparked an entire multimedia franchise. Clive Barker’s original cut nearly got an X-rating from the MPAA (this was back in the days before NC-17); to get an R, he had to cut out some of the film’s notoriously graphic horror imagery, and at least a couple of thrusts from a sex scene.

Now, following a couple of weeks since we learned of the existence of ‘Hellraiser: Judgment’ — the next instalment in the gory franchise that is being directed by makeup effects wizard Gary Tunnicliffe — and now we have new details on the cast and plot. Let us begin with who is playing Pinhead. Classically trained stage and film actor, Paul T. Taylor (Sin City, Super), is taking on the role of Leviathan’s favourite cenobite. The role was originally portrayed by Doug Bradley, who appeared as Pinhead in eight Hellraiser films. Doug Bradley chose not to reprise the role for 2011’s ‘Hellraiser: Revelations’ and so it went to Stephan Smith Collins. The film will also feature new Cenobites. John Gulagher, the director of ‘Feast’ and ‘Piranha 3DD,’ is playing The Assessor, Diane Goldner (‘Halloween 2,’ ‘Feast 2’) is playing The Cleaner, and Mike Jay Regan is reprising his role as The Chatterer. The rest of the cast features Damon Carney (The Veil, The Hitcher) as ‘Detective Sean Carter’, Randy Wayne (To Save a Life) as ‘Detective David Carter,’ Alexandra Harris (In the Shadows, The Veil) as ‘Detective Christine Egerton,’ Jeff Fenter (The Box, Zero Charisma) as ‘Karl Watkins,’ Helena Grace Donald (Portrait of An Art Thief) as ‘Jophiel’, Grace Montie (Southern Tale) as Crystal Lanning,’ and Heather Langenkamp as a “chain-smoking ‘Landlady’ who snorts obscenities to the police.” Meanwhile, and already on sale, a couple of weeks ago was the first issue of BOOM! Studios’ Hellraiser series. Auspiciously, the new ongoing title is written by Hellraiser creator Clive Barker. To promote this release, the always digitally-aggressive BOOM! has commissioned an eight-page Hellraiser comic that fans can download and share freely in the form of a PDF, which has been extended to many comic books and horror media sites. The special Prelude to Hellraiser #1 is also written by Clive Barker and features art by Leonardo Marco, and is an original, self-contained story and not merely a preview of Hellraiser #1.

Prelude to Hellraiser #1 is an all-original, self-contained comic book that will not be made commercially available outside of an eventual trade paperback collection. To read Clive Barker and Leonardo Marco’s story, just click below to download the free PDF. There is no app to download, no registration to complete. Just download and read with your PDF viewer of choice. From there, BOOM! Studios invites you to, as the song goes, view it, mail it, burn it, rip it, drag-and-drop it, scroll it, click it, rename it, format it, change it, paste it, save it, print it and otherwise share it as you see fit. Previous to the new Hellraiser series from BOOM!, Clive Barker had only written the franchise’s characters twice before: in The Hellbound Heart novella and the original Hellraiser film. As such, BOOM! is very keen on making followers of Clive Barker and horror stories, which is why the publisher has taken this characteristically bold digital step. Previous digital comics initiatives included making its entire catalogue available across multiple platforms for just $1.99 per issue and releasing complete comics free via MySpace, among other strategies. Previous to the new Hellraiser series from BOOM!, Clive Barker had only written the franchise’s characters twice before: in The Hellbound Heart novella and the original Hellraiser film. As such, BOOM! is very keen on making followers of Clive Barker and horror stories, which is why the publisher has taken this characteristically bold digital step. Previous digital comic initiatives included making its entire catalogue available across multiple platforms for just $1.99 per issue and releasing complete comics for free via MySpace, among other strategies. If you like what you see in Prelude to Hellraiser #1, there’s a whole new story on sale now in Hellraiser #1, a five-page preview of which you can check out below.

The resurrection of Pinhead, who had been summoned once again from the opened door to his alternate dimension, will unleash his wrath to tear every body to pieces alongside the creatures known as Cenobites. Indeed, a classic in horror films waiting for its revival. Are you an aficionado of the garish, horror genre?