Editorials
‘Hellraiser: Judgment’ Stands Out Among the ‘Hellraiser’ Sequels With Ambition and Passion [The Silver Lining]
In this edition of The Silver Lining, we’ll be discussing Gary J. Tunnicliffe’s 2018 sequel, Hellraiser: Judgment.
Watching a bad movie doesn’t necessarily have to be a bad experience. Even the worst films can boast a good idea or two, and that’s why we’re trying to look on the bright side with The Silver Lining, where we shine a light on the best parts of traditionally maligned horror flicks.
Being a fan of the Hellraiser movies can be a bit of a roller-coaster ride. Sure, the first two are great and there are a couple of fun sequels further down the line, but it’s been a while since we’ve seen Pinhead and company in a truly memorable film. Some friends and I even used to joke about this, commenting that the poor quality of the sequels was actually part of a Cenobite conspiracy to generate more sweet suffering in the world.
While we now have a reason to hope for the best, as the rights to the franchise have reverted back to Clive Barker and we’re currently awaiting both a new feature film and a TV show, this wasn’t always the case. For the longest time, Dimension Films kept the franchise hostage, only greenlighting new movies when the rights to the property were close to expiring, and never investing more than the bare minimum.
The last time this happened was in 2018 when Dimension released Hellraiser: Judgment. While it was clearly just another attempt to maintain the IP, there was something different about this mandatory sequel. Director Gary J. Tunnicliffe was actually an experienced genre veteran, having developed special effects for previous Hellraiser films and even directing the semi-official Pinhead short No More Souls: One Last Slice of Sensation back in 2004.
Already a huge fan of the franchise, Gary proposed a gritty thriller following police detectives as they pursued a serial killer obsessed with the 10 commandments, with the investigators eventually stumbling into a nightmare of hellish proportions. Not only would these morally dubious characters encounter the iconic Cenobites, but they would also be joined by the Stygian Inquisition, another infernal sect that aims to judge and “reward” accomplished sinners.
Featuring a passionate director and the promise of a story that would add to the original mythology instead of merely rehashing it, it seemed like things were finally looking up for the bruised and battered Hellraiser franchise.
SO WHAT WENT WRONG?
Good intentions aren’t enough to save a movie, and Hellraiser: Judgment is proof of that. Despite Tunnicliffe’s best efforts, the lack of studio support ultimately doomed his ambitious passion project. While the film did technically recover its considerably reduced budget of $350,000 and garnered a 40% on Rotten Tomatoes (which isn’t that bad for a low-budget horror flick), it was all for naught. The finished film was barely marketed, and the studio’s lack of genuine interest was reflected in the film’s production value.
At its worst, the cheap digital photography makes the movie look like a mid-tier CW show, complete with scenes obviously shot on makeshift soundstages and interiors that don’t quite match with exteriors. While there was an effort to scout real spooky locations in and around Oklahoma City, a mere three weeks of production time meant that the team had to cut corners in order to meet their deadline.
The rushed pre-production also meant that Tunnicliffe’s script came out a little half-baked, playing around with genuinely interesting concepts without really diving into any of them. The story structure was also very reminiscent of the Saw sequels, with the film focusing on police procedural elements and often veering into “torture porn” territory. While the Heaven versus Hell element was a welcome addition to the lore, it kind of reminded me of the worst parts of Barker’s own conclusion to the Hellraiser canon in his Scarlet Gospels, which watered down a unique mythology with overused Christian iconography.
Judgment’s screenplay may have been just a draft or two away from being a legitimately thrilling Hellraiser sequel, but the lack of narrative polish meant that this precarious production was already built on a rocky foundation. That being said, Tunnicliffe has claimed that the original version of the story was meant to be a bit more nightmarish, maintaining the surreal atmosphere from the Inquisition scenes throughout the entire picture and playing around with misleading flashbacks. I can’t say how much that would have improved the overall experience, but it would certainly have been more dynamic.
Of course, the real leatherbound elephant in the room was the recasting of Pinhead, with Doug Bradley refusing to reprise the role after realizing that this was yet another Dimension Films cash-grab. No matter how good a newcomer’s performance might have been, fans would never warm up to a replacement in a direct sequel. When asked if he had any advice for his successor, Bradley even mocked the director’s praise of Paul T. Taylor’s take on the Lead Cenobite. Ouch.
THE SILVER LINING
Hellraiser: Judgment might not be the best sequel in the franchise, but if you take into account just how many wrenches were thrown into the cogs of this production and then look at the finished product, it’s a miracle that the movie turned out as entertaining as it did. The filmmakers tried their best to work with what they had, and despite a few inevitable flaws, the effort really shows.
Even Pinhead’s screen presence is miles ahead of the previous sequel, with Paul T. Taylor giving his all in a regal reinterpretation of the character. Even his costume was updated, now sporting references to Leviathan and Marvel’s Doctor Strange, of all things. There are other fun little easter-eggs as well, like a cameo from scream queen Heather Langenkamp and the creepy Assessor being played by Feast director John Gulager.
Personally, I think the best part of Judgment is its introduction of The Auditor, played by Tunnicliffe himself. This spectacled freak really steals the show with his oddly charming performance and creepy mannerisms, making for a truly worthy addition to the Hellraiser canon. The character’s design was actually repurposed from the director’s own re-imagining of Pinhead in Pascal Laugier’s unproduced reboot.
The auditing process itself features some of the most batshit crazy imagery in the entire series, presenting a form of torture so bizarre and convoluted that I almost wish it had been featured in another movie, separate from this once-dying franchise. Judgment also offers plenty of practical gore and monster makeup, though I wish the cinematography was a bit more polished so that these effects could shine through.
While I’m still on the fence regarding the film’s religious angle (which might appeal to fans of Todd McFarlane’s Spawn comics), I appreciate how the feud between the Stygian Inquisition and the Cenobites add to the lore of Barker’s incomprehensible hellscape. It’s just a shame that the limited budget didn’t allow Tunnicliffe to go crazy with these ideas, especially when he introduces angels into the mix.
Had the studio truly believed in the director’s vision, I’m fairly certain that Hellraiser: Judgment would be remembered as a surprisingly effective sequel. However, even in its present state, it’s remarkable that the film is as watchable as it is, and I’d recommend it to any hardcore Hellraiser fan who might have given up on the franchise after Bloodline.
Five decades ago, Stephen King published the story of a bullied girl with telekinetic powers and forever changed the world of horror.
Carrie follows a high school misfit who seeks revenge for a hideous prank by psychically destroying her senior prom. The name Carrie White has become synonymous with the concept of a formal dance thanks to a flawless adaptation from Brian De Palma. Now fifty years after the film’s release, Mike Flanagan is putting his own stamp on the troubling story.
Rather than a feature film, the writer/director will expand King’s relatively slim debut novel into an eight-episode miniseries for Amazon Prime set to premiere on October 7.
Flanagan is no stranger to the world of Stephen King. A long-time Constant Reader, he first made waves with his daring adaptation of Gerald’s Game (2017), a novel many fans considered un-filmable. His underrated Doctor Sleep merges the disparate plot of Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining with King’s original source material, and his 2024 genre-bending tearjerker The Life of Chuck faithfully executes one of the author’s most metaphysical novellas.
He’s currently mired in pre-production for an expansive adaptation of The Dark Tower series, keystone to King’s connected universe, and Warner Bros. recently announced that Flanagan will helm a new version of The Mist, King’s 1980 novella which sees a small Maine town overrun by otherworldly monsters.
Considering the vast array of the author’s previously unadapted material, an obvious question arises. Why reimagine Carrie in 2026? Noting the timeless nature of the content, Flanagan expressed his desire to bring the story of a bullied girl into modern times, mirroring his approach to Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House and Edgar Allan Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher. He explained, “The only way to approach it was to build something new out of the ingredients of Carrie. Otherwise, there’s really no purpose in trying to retread ground that’s been so beautifully walked before.”
His miniseries will maintain the novel’s bloody bookends while delivering “big surprises” along the way.
A New Prom Night Nightmare
The roughly 60-second teaser introduces Summer H. Howell as Carrie White just before the moment of catastrophe. Standing in a prom dress, she smiles at her applauding classmates with an ominous crown perched upon her head. Moments later, Carrie unleashes a rage-filled scream into the night air while promgoers rush for the exit doors. But careful examination of this scene shows Carrie wearing a different, albeit dirty dress as she seems to telekinetically punish her peers.
In an exclusive first look with Entertainment Weekly, Flanagan explains that in his version of the story, “the events of that prom are going to be completely different.” An open trunk emitting a crimson glow does hint at the pig’s blood dumped on Carrie’s head, but it’s likely Flanagan’s formal dance will be a different kind of horror altogether. Despite these changes, the series may end with the widespread destruction outlined in the source material. Unlike any previous adaptations, King’s novel ends with the near-total destruction of Chamberlain, Maine. A flaming street in Flanagan’s trailer promises similar carnage no matter what prank sparks Carrie’s deadly revenge.
The Monstrous Addition of Social Media
On the opposite end of this fiery conclusion is an extreme act of bullying that brings together the story’s main cast. King’s novel begins as Carrie gets her first period while showering in the girls’ locker room. Completely unaware of the concept of menstruation, the sheltered girl thinks she’s bleeding to death. Her classmates respond with vitriolic rage. Led by ultra-mean girl Chris Hargensen (Alison Thornton), they mock the terrified teen while pelting her with tampons. Glimpses of this disturbing event reveal that Flanagan has excised the scene’s nudity while adding a seismic update. As Carrie sobs in the shower stall, Chris and her friends film the breakdown with their phones.
Other scenes note the presence of social media, bringing King’s fifty-year-old story into the digital age.
Flanagan’s adaptation promises to explore the destructive power of social media, an often invisible entity with a potential for harm rivaling Carrie’s own powers. While King’s tormented heroine suffers in front of a small group of girls, Flanagan’s version of the incident will likely become a viral video, potentially circling the globe on social media. Similar to Katt Shea’s criminally underrated The Rage: Carrie 2, which includes elements of revenge porn exploitation, Flanagan’s modern retelling will distinguish itself by exploring the nebulous cruelty of online bullying, a force ten times more powerful than the irl pranks King first envisioned.
A Completely Reimagined White Family
In addition to modernizing these canon events, Flanagan hints at updates to Carrie’s oppressive upbringing at the hands of her mother, Margaret White (Samantha Sloyan). Dead before the novel begins, we never meet Carrie’s domineering father Ralph, known to carry a bible alongside his gun. Flanagan’s White household will be an altogether different beast. In his version of the story, Carrie and her mother have been hidden away in the unassuming home, forced out of hiding by Ralph’s unexpected death. Perhaps we will finally meet this elusive man whose shadow hangs over his wife and child. Considering the White family’s fundamentalist lifestyle, this reimagining hints at tradwife culture and a home ruled by staunch patriarchal control.
Whereas King’s Carrie has been tormented by her classmates since Kindergarten, Flanagan’s Carrie will be a wide-eyed newcomer to public school, eager to make friends and engage with her peers. We glimpse Carrie cozying up to Chris and the equally popular Sue Snell (Siena Agudong) as she navigates a new social scene. Of course, we know this kindness is part of an elaborate plot designed to lull Carrie into a false sense of camaraderie, setting up an atrocious act of public humiliation. These brief moments of feigned compassion put Sue’s own complicity into question. Will Flanagan’s version of the character find the courage to defend Carrie from vicious bullies or will she succumb to peer pressure and join in the mob mentality?
Perhaps the biggest deviation from King’s original text is the relationship between Carrie and her mother. King’s Margaret White is a horrifically abusive religious zealot whose worldview has been hardened by internalized misogyny. She shames Carrie for menstruating, locks her in a closet to “pray,” and regrets not killing her child in infancy. She’s also responsible for Carrie’s social ostracization. Known to berate her neighbors for their “sins,” Margaret forces her daughter to live by an extreme code of conduct and disallows any potential friends lest they corrupt the girl with their worldly ways.
Flanagan’s version of the character is perhaps just as much a victim as Carrie herself. Also trapped inside her home, his Margaret is overly vigilant, her own trauma manifesting as strict control. Describing a more sympathetic depiction of the iconic villain, Flanagan explains, “Our Margaret White is a woman who fiercely loves her daughter and wants to protect her from this world … [She] doesn’t know how to do that and thinks the way to protect her is to close her off; not punitively, but to create this private utopia.”
Despite this potential softening, Sloyan’s Margaret may still have a sharp edge. Though she has appeared in many Flanagan projects, from Hush (2016) to The Fall of the House of Usher (2023), she is best known for her role as the abhorrent Bev Keane in the poignant saga Midnight Mass (2021). Perhaps inspired by King’s Margaret White, Bev is pious and sadistic, willing to punish anyone who does not adhere to her warped approximation of Catholicism.
Flanagan specifically wrote Margaret with Sloyan in mind, likely remembering the actress’s eerie ability to create deceptive empathy and shift our allegiances on a dime.
Expanding Stephen King’s Telekinetic Universe
While most of King’s story deals with an unthinkable prom night in Chamberlain, Maine, large sections of the semi-epistolary novel see experts debating the nature of telekinesis. Do Carrie’s frightening abilities represent a new phase in human evolution or is the prom night carnage merely a fluke? King settles the debate with a shocking denouement in which a young mother recounts her infant daughter’s ability to dangle her crib toys in midair. We’re left to wonder if she will become another tormented girl who surprises the world with metaphysical strength.
Flanagan plans to build out this brief scene while amplifying themes of female empowerment. After introducing our main cast of characters, episode two will open with an unrelated story in which we meet another girl with the TK gene. Each subsequent chapter will expand this world, building out a roster of telekinetic young women. Considering King’s fondness for stories about powerful kids, often described as possessing “the shining,” Constant Readers will no doubt have their eyes peeled for various Easter Eggs nodding to the author’s vast catalogue.
Giving Carrie Her Own Voice
Perhaps the most striking distinction in Flanagan’s new trailer is the extent to which we hear Carrie’s voice. The sneak peek is fully narrated by the titular prom queen as she demands accountability. “I want to know why,” she explains while detailing Chris’ elaborate plan. Aside from the aforementioned coda, King’s book essentially ends with the aftermath of the prom night tragedy, leaving little time for Carrie to reflect. His shifting narrative does bring the reader into her fragile mind, though not before she’s been cowed by relentless cruelty. We watch Carrie sink into bloodthirsty revenge, but never hear a considered desire for justice or repair.
Flanagan’s original monologue allows Carrie to voice her pain and mourn the life she could have had. We’re also treated to a mug shot-style photo of Chris with a bruised and bandaged face, implying that the mean girl will have to answer for her senseless sadism.
Flanagan is known for filling his series adaptations with heartwrenching speeches that cut to the heart of his thematic intentions, and this teaser seems to follow suit. After years of fans, critics, and scholars analyzing Carrie’s pain, perhaps his modern retelling will offer the titular anti-hero a chance to finally speak for herself.
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