First Look At Hellraiser Reboot's Pinhead Will Live Rent-Free In Your Nightmares
The iconography of "Hellraiser" is already fully ingrained in the collective consciousness of pop culture for good reason. Truly original and creative takes on the concept of Hell tend to stick with us. And a version that revolves around the unsettling relationship between pleasure and pain –- an alternate dimension populated by the cursed, entered through an ancient puzzle box –- has got to be one of the most original in recent film or literary history. Add in a heavy dose of body horror and you've got something that quite literally sits beneath the skin for some time.
Though not all of the entries in the franchise have been memorable in their own right — for example "Hellraiser VIII: Hellworld," which was released straight to DVD and has a rock-bottom 0% on Rotten Tomatoes – the images, events, and characters endure pretty easily.
At the center of it all is Pinhead, aka the Hell Priest, the lead and quintessential cenobite, whose voracious appetite for pain is literally all over his gothic visage. For most of the franchise's history, the interdimensional specter with nails in his face was played by Doug Bradley. News of a reboot obviously meant we would need to acquaint ourselves with an all-new version of Pinhead. And now, we have a first look at this fresh take on the classic villain.
She has such sights to show you ...
On September 1, Entertainment Weekly dropped an exclusive image of the new head cenobite, played by Jamie Clayton. The headshot walks the line between familiar and new by "Hellraiser" standards. The pale skin, the black eyes, the meticulously placed nails ... they are all there. But of course, there are differences. What are those coins embedded in the peeled-back flesh of her neck? We don't know.
Most notable, of course, is that this new Hell Priest is not male. Actress Jamie Clayton, most recognized as Nomi Marks on Netflix's "Sense8," will be bringing Pinhead to life in the new David Bruckner-directed version. The Entertainment Weekly shots also give us a glimpse at an all-new cenobite, referred to as "the Masque," whose flesh has been cut back and refastened into a costume of some sort. "The Masque is one of my favorite Cenobites," said Bruckner, "and it's just a tease of really what's to come as far as the Cenobites are concerned."
Along with Clayton, the new "Hellraiser" will feature Odessa A'zion as Riley, a young woman grappling with obsessive behavior and addiction issues who discovers the dreaded puzzle box and consequently unleashes its literal Hell into our reality. "Hellraiser" premieres on Hulu on October 7.