Movies
‘Hellraiser’: Is Dimension Rushing a Sequel Into Production?
Last year we broke the news that Dimension Films had lost the rights to the Halloween franchise. The short version of the story is that they have to make a sequel every X amount of years in order to retain the rights. The same goes for Hellraiser.
After Michael Myers stabbed his way out of The Weinstein Company’s grasps, it was pretty clear the duo wouldn’t let it happen again with Pinhead and his fellow Cenobites (or did they?).
I knew that Dimension was on the cusp of losing the Hellraiser rights, too, and was curious to see how things played out. So, it’s not all that surprising that they may be quickly rushing another sequel into production.
The news comes from a surprising source, Heather Langenkamp, best known as “Nancy” in Wes Craven’s A Nightmare On Elm Street films.
In an interview with Scare Tissue, Langenkamp reveals she begins filming a role in the new Hellraiser next week.
“I actually have an opportunity to play a small part in Hellraiser. I’m so excited about it. I go next week to do the shooting…” she said. “The script is amazing and that I got the part is something that I find incredible.”
When asked who was behind the camera, Langenkamp revealed: “It’s Gary Tunnicliffe, who did all the makeup for all these years. They gave him an opportunity to direct the movie. I think it’s going to be pretty outstanding.”
While Langenkamp specifically calls it a Hellraiser film, it’s filming under the title of Judgment, reports NewsOK, who says shooting began today in Oklahoma City and Guthrie (thanks to Bloody reader Jacob Grim for the tip).
Judgment, which we’re also being told is going by the moniker Strike Accord, features a police officer’s pursuit of a serial killer who undergoes a final accounting of his soul by creatures of the underworld. Ahem, creatures of the underworld? CENOBITES?!
Here’s the kicker: it’s being produced by Mike Leahy of Strike Accord and in association with Puzzle Box Returns Inc. Yes, the company behind the Hellraiser films.
A deeper dig into Google reveals a 2013 Kickstarter campaign that was a massive failure, which resulted in this teaser for “A horror film like no other.”
Tunnicliffe had campaigned to direct the ultra-rushed 2011 Hellraiser: Revelations, which was eventually helmed by Victor Garcia. The movie was made in order to retain the rights to the franchise and was filmed, I believe, in only a week.
Tunnicliffe has worked in the make-up department since the early 90’s and has been on amazing productions from Candyman to Lord of Illusions, Hellraiser III, Wishmaster, Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers and more.
Even though it’s titled Judgment, if I were a betting man, I’d guess the screenplay for the film has been retooled to live in the Hellraiser universe. It could end up being yet another half-assed sequel that will result in another half-decade of us hearing about a Hellraiser remake that will never happen. (Dimension did the exact same with with the direct-to-DVD 2005 Hellraiser sequels, Deader and Hellworld).
A new update has just come in via Doug Bradley, who played Pinhead in all of the films leading up to Revelations. On a fresh Facebook post he confirms that the film is in fact a Hellraiser sequel, and that he won’t be involved, again.
“Anyway, story short: a new movie is happening and I have nothing do with it,” he explains. “I was unable to make a decision about it because I was not allowed to read the script, unlike Revelations where I made a conscious decision not to do the movie based on the motives for making it and the poor quality of the script.”
Ouch.
We are huge fans of Clive Barker’s Hellraiser franchise and are hoping for the best. Jon even shared a loving and passionate plea to fix the Hellraiser franchise. Anything is better than that chubby-ass Pinhead (am I right or what?!), which makes me wonder who they’re going to cast in the role this time around? Shit, maybe there will be no Pinhead, as Jon suggested, launching the franchise into new territory?!
Here’s a piece of concept art of “The Auditor,” Judgment‘s villain that was part of Tunnicliffe’s Kickstarter pitch.
Latest Update: 9:40PM 2/17/16
A contemporary reimagining of H.P. Lovecraft’s short story Herbert West: Reanimator is on the way, and Deadline has unveiled the first look at the new Herbert West and the pathologist drawn to his orbit.
The original screenplay and storyline come from Jade Sandberg Wallis.
Michael Grossman (“The Originals”, “Pretty Little Liars”) directs.
The new images introduce star Joseph Morgan (“Vampire Diaries“), who plays “brilliant surgeon and scientist Herbert West, who is obsessed with creating a serum to reanimate the dead.” Katie Cassidy (Speed Demon) stars opposite as the pathologist with a troubled past who joins his efforts.
Together, they prove that conquering death may be the ultimate sin against life itself.
The film’s official synopsis: “As a child, Herbert West watches his father Peter reanimate his dead mother Judith in a secret basement lab — only for Judith to mortally wound Peter and nearly kill Herbert before Peter shoots her. The trauma leaves its mark on Herbert, but so does one final image: his mother’s finger, twitching after death. Thirty years later, Herbert West is a brilliant, secretive surgeon still chasing his father’s obsession.
“Pathologist Kate Locke arrives in town and is drawn into his orbit — first through a spark at a hospital fundraiser, then through his secret lab, where he reveals a serum capable of reanimating severed tissue. Kate, hiding a dark past of her own, is thrilled rather than horrified, and moves into West’s mansion to work alongside him. Their early experiments on a cadaver succeed only briefly. West concludes that dead tissue is the problem — they need something fresher.”
Supporting cast includes Scott Aiello, Ira J Amyx, Randall Newsome, Emma Reinagal, James D. Bryce, Kathryn A Bentley, Jack Lancaster, Amy Holland Pennell, John Pierson, Mindy Shaw, Eric Dean White, Tristan Wilder Hallet, Adrienne Lamping, Aaron Crippen, and Drew Patterson.
Makeup artist Jeff Lewis (“Star Trek: Voyager,” “Star Trek: Enterprise”) and cousin Roger Lewis are heading the production via their newly established Woodlake Entertainment.
Lovecraft’s short story, first serialized in Home Brew magazine in 1922, is the first among his works to mention the fictional Miskatonic University. It was most famously adapted into a 1985 horror movie from Stuart Gordon, starring Jeffrey Combs as Herbert West.
Herbert West: Reanimator is set in Alton, Illinois, where production is now underway.
Herbert West: Reanimator. Photo credit: Matt Lief Anderson
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