I don't know why they can't get a Hellraiser movie right since part 3. There is plenty of good material to work with, in comic book and short story adaptations. And yet most of the sequels have been a Hellraiser story grafted onto an average mystery or horror plot. This one is visually interesting for the most part. The acting is alright. And the Pinhead is really not bad. But the plot and visual style owe an incredible debt to Se7en, from the opening credits, to the Commandments killer, to the visual style, to the cop who looks vaguely like Brad Pitt. And yet it has none of that film's compelling story and characters. The opening scenes are a bit more reminiscent of Saw, at least in terms of being ugly, graphic and frenetically edited. But the movie doesn't achieve any element of its own and really just has no good story or original characters to suck you in. The real mystery here is why no one since the 90s has figured out that Hellraiser needs gore and visuals and surprises and mythos, but also character and story.
Review of Hellraiser: Judgment
