So it’s been a while since I’ve written anything basically because I just don’t have the time to do as many full movie/comicbook/whatever reviews, so I’ve been doing a lot of quick posts on Facebook or Instagram. Anyway I’m pretty excited about this: This is an image that was shared in an exclusive Bloody Disgusting article, but I’m not here to discuss their exclusive details. I’m just excited about this image and while it isn’t much to go on, it gives me some hope. When Hellraiser (9): Revelations came out, Doug Bradley, the only man to don the guise of Pinhead opted out of the film. This was becuase of, I’m sure many factors, 2 of which being that the script was barely ready and due to odd happenings within the studio, they had something crazy like a 12 day shooting schedule. Not exactly the best scenario to be in when making a sequel to a beloved horror franchise. I’m sure he was tired of being in shitty Hellraiser sequels too. To make things worse for the film, it was deemed the worst of the worst (probably by some basement dweller that just didn’t like Pinhead being recast). Now it is not a very good movie and the new Pinhead is nothing to write home about, BUT it is not the worst thing out there. Hell, it’s not even the worst Hellraiser. And that’s saying something.
When it came for Judgment to be cast, the studio again looked to Bradley to reprise the role. This did not go as planned. They asked him to sign a confidentiality agreement just to read the script, a little much to be asking a veteran of the franchise, but not really an outlandish request either. Well, he felt it was ridiculous and opted out of the film right there. I guess he had been burned by too many bad sequels and was afraid of having anything legally binding him to this project if he wasn’t going to actually participate. And in case you’re wondering, no, Clive Barker has no creative stake in this either. That had been the plan as well.
But I digress, I’m posting this to talk about the new Hellraiser and the new Pinhead. Now a few weeks back most horror sites were chiming in about this new movie and whether or not it’d be shit. They were pretty excited to tell us that Heather Langenkamp (Nancy of A Nightmare on Elm Street) would in the film and that yes, Pinhead would be recast again. This time around we got a man named Paul T. Taylor, an actor/writer you’ve never heard of, but he’s been attached to films you know. Go ahead, look him up, I’ll wait. By his looks I was not impressed (not putting his looks down, just his features in regards to Pinhead), but Dimension Films was raving about his acting and presence…though we all know to take anything Dimension says with a grain of salt.
So. Here it is. In all it’s glory: The new teaser image for Hellraiser: Judgment and Mr. Taylor as the new Pinhead. And he looks crazy good, like if you told me that was Doug Bradley I would believe you. Granted the image is artistically fuzzy, but now knowing what Paul T. Taylor looks like I can tell that’s him under there and he does look great. I am looking forward to this and I hope it does for the series what they are hoping it will. A theatrical release would be nice, but eh who knows. Anyway, I wish them and special f/x guru-turned-director, Gary J. Tunnicliffe the best of luck.
Who Goes There? 