Did the poor reception that recent horror franchise remakes like Friday The 13th and A Nightmare On Elm Street receive cause producers at Dimension to rethink their plans of relaunching their Hellraiser series? It certainly looks like they have abandoned their strategy of producing a new theatrical version of the first film in the series, based on author Clive Barker’s novella The Hellbound Heart, in favor of continuing things the way they have been for the last ten years as straight-to-home video releases.
But the one thing that will be different about that latest installment, titled Hellraiser: Revelations, is that it will proceed without Doug Bradley, the actor who has breathed life into the series’ demonic centerpiece Pinhead, since its inception in 1988. The actor was recently approached about appearing the sequel, which is prepping to start production in a week or so, but declined. As he told Dread Central –
I know that many of you will have caught up with the sudden burst of Internet chatter about a new Hellraiser film going into production, and will be keen to know whether I’ve been approached to play Pinhead again, so here’s the deal … I have been approached just in this last week (w/b 16 August) regarding a proposed new Hellraiser film. This is not the ‘remake’ which has been endlessly discussed for the last three years: with the working title Hellraiser: Revelations, it will be the ninth film in the series. I would stress that I have had no contact from, or negotiations with, anyone from Dimension Films: rather these contacts have been by way of private discussion with individuals involved with this project.
Following these discussions, and after reading the script and giving it due consideration, I have decided not to participate. The ink is barely dry on the script, and it is scheduled to be in front of the cameras in two weeks time and in the can by the middle of next month (September 2010). The miniscule shooting schedule is more than matched by the budget.”
Whether or not this means that somebody else will be stepping up to play Pinhead, I have no idea. I guess we can watch this space together …
At the risk of sounding snarky. I think the other bit of real news here is that there has now been eight Hellraiser films made! I remember seeing the first two in college on video and catching parts three and four in theaters in the 1990s. But the disappointment I had for those two installments certainly didn’t fuel any desire to follow the series when it shifted over to direct-to-video releases with 2000’s Hellraiser: Inferno.
With the series having such a life as a direct-to-video franchise, I can see why producers are looking to do this quickly and cheaply to maximize a very probable minimum return. I’m sure though, that fans are disappointed that such a penny-pinching approach has
