During last year’s DailyView binge, around Halloween time, I watched, for the first time, the original Clive Barker 1987 Hellraiser, and it was decent. I have not seen any of the following sequels that have, apparently, not been up to the same level. This weekend, a new version of the film was released on Hulu and I decided to give it a chance.

A young woman, Riley (Odessa A’zion), had plenty of problems, including one with addiction. She had hooked up with a guy named Trevor (Drew Starkey), against the better wishes of her brother Matt (Brandon Flynn). Trevor convinced Riley to help him attempt a robbery but all they came out of it with was a strange puzzle box that neither of them could understand. Riley had no idea that the puzzle box was used to summon the Cenobites, a group of sadistic supernatural beings.

Pinhead here is played by Janie Clayton and the character is every bit as scary as the original version. The other Cenobites looked good as the effects worked.

The story felt a little convoluted to me, and I did have some struggle to follow along, but as I am not the biggest fan of the franchise, I think that is to be expected. The director, David Bruckner, does a solid job of creating tension and anxiety among the audience and keeping the viewers unsure about what was going to happen. There is a twist in the third act that I did not see coming and made everything come together successfully.

There was a lot of blood and violence in the new film and it is done in a dramatic way.

Hulu has had some top notch films in 2022. There was Prey in the Predator franchise and the original horror movie Fresh. Hellraiser (2022) fits nicely into the list of films on the streaming site. It is a solid Halloween movie, though it may not be one that sticks with you very long.

3.4 stars