A present vogue in movie is to take franchises which have been churning out under-the-radar sequels for many years and provides them do-overs which a) use the unique title, as if this had been a remake moderately than a Half Umpteen, and b) deliver in additional formidable writing-directing-acting expertise. This new tackle Clive Barker’s Hellraiser (1987) is directed by David Bruckner, contemporary from the wonderful The Night time Home, and scripted by Ben Collins and Luke Piotrowski (Siren, Tremendous Darkish Instances) from a narrative devised with David S. Goyer (Batman Begins, The Sandman).

Hellraiser runs lengthy and stately at two hours, particularly because it boasts a tiny solid and a cramped storyline not dissimilar from these of the final eight or so little-noticed Hellraiser movies. Wealthy sicko Voight (Goran Visnjic) obtains the acquainted puzzle field (which is given some new tips), earlier than different characters get trapped in his lair, which can also be constructed like a large puzzle field (it’d solely take just a few tweaks to retool the script for the Escape Room franchise). Inevitably, horrible issues occur.

It’s a difficulty that our viewpoint character – performed by Odessa A’Zion, an fascinating presence – is meant as a pawn, and solely turns into fascinating when she makes a troublesome alternative late within the day. The casting coup is Jamie Clayton as ‘the Priest’, a revamp of the character nicknamed Pinhead (bonce now bristling with pearl-tipped hatpins moderately than flathead nails). The flowery new Cenobite designs owe as a lot to Guillermo del Toro’s bioclockwork as Barker’s S&M physique mods, however but once more the emissaries of Hell stand round being philosophically evil moderately than doing a lot of something.