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HELLRAISER MOVIE REVIEW
Not many film franchises get to eleven movies, and barely any that do manage to maintain a level of quality that will bring in any new fans who may discover the series with one of the latter installments. However, the horror genre is a forgiving one. Fans remain steadfast and diehard, even when the iconic creature or character of the series has nowhere else to go except space! But when that well finally does run dry, and the good faith of those fans fizzle out, there’s always the reboot. And here we are with Hellraiser 2022. Very much attempting to recapture the haunting creepiness of Clive Barker’s 1987 original, based on his novella, this movie once again centers around the Cenobites, including the primary antagonist Pinhead (dubbed so by the fans but officially named The Priest by Barker). The overall plot of any of these movies focuses on a puzzle box that opens a gateway to the Hell-like realm of the Cenobite lifeforms called the Lament Configuration. The Cenobites are an order of former-humans turned-monsters, who harvest human souls to torture in their sadistic experiments. Our main hero this time around is Riley (Odessa A’zion) who is a recovering addict. Her boyfriend ropes her into a robbery where they stumble upon the puzzle box. After naively solving the first configuration, Riley begins the downward spiral through the checklist of Hellraiser-isms. Tessa, Neil, and T.C. thrown on their leather gear and peel back the layers of this new film, and we learn that T.C. clearly has a kink.
DIRECTED BY: David Bruckner
STARRING: Odessa A’zion, Jamie Clayton, Adam Faison, Drew Starkey, Brandon Flynn, Aoife Hinds, Jason Liles, Yinka Olorunnife, Selina Lo, Zachary Hing, Kit Clarke, Goran Višnjić, Hiam Abbass, Gorica Regodić, Vukašin Jovanović
YOUR REVIEWERS
T.C. De Witt (Screener Squad)
T.C. De Witt is a multi-awarded writer/director originally from Wisconsin and now based in Los Angeles. His life has been devoted to the arts since he was a child. He’s been a stage performer, playwright, stand-up comic, film and television actor, radio DJ, podcaster published author, recorded musician, and comic writer/illustrator. He is now a professional screenwriter and has been thriving for the past decade, regularly offering his talents to production studios in LA, Chicago, Milwaukee, and internationally in Sydney and Poland. He’s provided content for Amazon Prime, Netflix, and several YouTube partners. His films have screened internationally, and his stageplays have been performed across the country. In the last ten years, he has directed 57 films, 23 episodes of his series The One Minute Rewatch, 300+ episodes of podcasts, and his multi-award-winning short film Screen: Righter screened at the Festival de Cannes in 2016. He has released two feature films, The Princess Knight and A Christmas Sunset. He thrives on collaboration and the thrill of sharing stories in all forms.
Tessa Morrison (Highly Suspect Reviews, Screener Squad, Unstabletop Gamers)
Well-rounded nerd and artist, Tessa Morrison grew up in the misty mountains of West Virginia and was constantly ridiculed for being a “weirdo.” Then moved to Austin in 2009 where people said the same thing, but in an endearing tone. Tessa works an office day job, creates puppets and fiber art, cosplays, models for gaming and animation studios, and volunteers for various organizations. One of which is the Other Worlds Film Festival, Austin’s first SciFi film fest, working in the capacity of Outreach Director and programmer. Another is local DIY-comedy-wrestling league, Party World Rasslin’, where Tessa scrambles around stage-handing and doing art department nonsense. Wrote and contributed to website and magazine Strange Kids Club for five years reviewing films, video games, and Halloween candy. Co-hosted a Public Access show called Ladies of Fandom. Previously guested on podcasts Blood Over Texas, Threequel Club, Trash in the Can, Retro Movie Roundtable, and Nerds with Mics.
Neil Anderson (Screener Squad)
I first got hooked on movies when I saw Star Wars at a drive-in theater as a kid. Growing up in a small, rural town meant not having access to a lot of movies. In college, that all changed. I couldn’t get enough. I love it all — flicks, films, movies, and cinema. I still have that wide-eyed wonder of that kid watching movies from the back of a pick-up truck at the drive-in.
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