It takes a lot for me to invest in a new “Hellraiser” movie as they’ve all but quit trying to give us anything new or interesting. Thankfully director David Bruckner is up to the task of offering not just a new story but a new take on the Cenobites. Despite the troubling title (This “Hellraiser” is not so much a remake, or sequel, but kind of a reboot…?), David Bruckner’s “Hellraiser” film is really quite good. It’s dripping in suspense and terror, and finally brings some mystique to the Cenobites once again. The Cenobites are pure terror on two legs with “Hellraiser” and Bruckner doles out some twisted machinations of the Lament Configuration.
Tag Archives: Mystery
Hellraiser: Judgment (2018)
Allegedly Gary J. Tunnicliffe originally drew up a script for a “Hellraiser” movie which he then retooled in to an indie horror film after it was rejected. Later his concept was reworked in to a “Hellraiser” movie as a means of keeping the series in motion. Without the bits about the Cenobites, “Judgment” feels like a cheap “Seven” knock off about a serial killer that weaponizes the ten commandments instead of the seven deadly sins. It feels like a movie that was made in 2002 with choppy editing and murky directing that made it feel like a music video for Evanescence or System of a Down.
Totally Killer (2023)
A lot of modern directors are cultivating a formula of taking classic eighties and nineties movies and giving them a clever horror twist. While many have likened “Totally Killer” to “The Final Girls,” I’m more prone to consider “Totally Killer” a horror twist on “Back to the Future.” It’s very much a nod to Robert Zemeckis’ film right down to the similar finale. The way director Nahnatchka Khan stages her horror comedy is so much in the vein of the classic film, but that thankfully doesn’t hinder the experience.
The Exorcists (2023)
When all is said and done, “The Exorcists” could have been so much worse. And that’s about as good as it gets with Jose Prendes’ horror thriller. As is typical of “The Asylum” studios, “The Exorcists” arrives right around the time of the big reboot of the classic William Friedkin film (I’ll see your two priests and raise you five!). This new film isn’t bashful in hiding its intentions, even styling the title fonts to look similar to “The Exorcist.” Even with all the reservations, “The Exorcists” has a decent concept, but what hinders it is that the script feels painfully under developed.
The Jester (2023)
The Jester originally began life like a lot of contemporary horror icons: debuting mainly through short horror films. The Jester was a character that appeared in a series of short horror films until finally garnering his own feature film. Like many modern horror characters, the Jester is a monster that’s all dressed up with nowhere to go. That’s not to say that Colin Krawchuk’s horror film is a bad movie, it just wastes what could be an interesting supernatural monster (if the cards are played right).
The Pumpkin Man: Demon of Fall (2021)
There’s nothing really more Halloween than a villain with a pumpkin for a head, and “The Pumpkin Man” introduces what should and could be a fun horror villain. “Demon of Fall” watches a lot like a mix of “The Ring” if penned by RL Stine for “Goosebumps,” and I mean that as a compliment. It’s a short film with a small budget, but it has a neat concept I’d love to see translated in to a feature someday.
Unsolved Mysteries: Behind the Legacy (2023)
When I was a kid, there were two shows I would watch that always scared the bejeesus out of me. There was “America’s Most Wanted,” and then “Unsolved Mysteries.” With the latter, CBS had created what is still considered one of the definitive series of the eighties and nineties. The precursor to the true crime documentary, “Unsolved Mysteries” was a series has often been imitated but never quite duplicated. While “Unsolved Mysteries” has been popularly known for dealing in true crime, “Unsolved Mysteries” reached for a lot more.