Abandoned Hellraiser Prequel Plans Revealed
For all the much-loved horror franchises of days gone by to have been rebooted in the 21st century - ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre,’ ‘Halloween,’ ‘Friday the 13th,’ ‘Nightmare on Elm Street’ - one iconic series has to date remained untouched: ‘Hellraiser.’
While rights-holders Dimension Films have for many years been working on a fresh take on the reality-bending, S&M-tinged misadventures of the diabolical Pinhead (Doug Bradley) and his fellow Cenobites, no attempt has managed to get off the ground thus far.
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Now, one of the filmmakers previously attached to the ‘Hellraiser’ reboot - Patrick Lussier, director of ‘Dracula 2000,’ ‘My Bloody Valentine 3D’ and ‘Drive Angry’ - has spilled the beans on what his take on ‘Hellraiser’ might have been.
In an interview on podcast The Movie Crypt (quotes via Bloody Disgusting), Lussier - who worked on a ‘Hellraiser’ pitch in 2011 with his frequent collaborator, screenwriter Todd Farmer - reveals their plan was not for a straight remake of Clive Barker’s 1987 film, but more of a prequel.
Where Clive Barker’s original opens with criminal thrill-seeker Frank (Sean Chapman) opening the mysterious Lemarchand puzzle box which summons the dreaded Cenobites, Lussier’s film would have explored the events building up to that point:
“The idea essentially was that we never see the story of Frank getting the box. So imagine if Frank is actually the darkest version of Jack Bauer (from ‘24′) and Nicolas Cage from ‘National Treasure.’ It would have been the evil ‘National Treasure’ story.
“In the beginning [Frank] is going to get the box, and he’s in Shanghai. He gets caught and they hold him down and they hammer these f***ing nails into his head, but he gets free and kills everyone.
“But he does get the box which is being held by this guy who looks like he’s all bloated and has been ripped apart by the Cenobites. Frank steals the box and then… bad things happen.”
It seems that, in this version of events, Frank himself was to become Pinhead - and the actor Lussier had in mind for the role was William Fichtner, who had not long since given ‘Drive Angry’s most scene-stealing performance.
In some respects it’s not too surprising that Dimension passed on this take; ‘24′ and ‘National Treasure’ don’t seem the most obvious reference points for a reboot of one of the most notoriously twisted of horror franchises.
That said, it was widely reported that Dimension were after a more commercial, teen-friendly approach to the concept, which this more action-adventure themed take would surely have been.
Lussier and Farmer came on board ‘Hellraiser’ after previous attempts at a remake from Pascal Laugier (’Martyrs,’ ‘The Tall Man’) and Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury (’Inside,’ ‘Livid,’ the upcoming ‘Texas Chainsaw’ prequel ‘Leatherface’).
After these reboots were aborted. Dimension instead made ‘Hellraiser: Revelations,’ a low budget found footage film which cast Stephan Smith-Collins as Pinhead, and was released direct to DVD in 2011.
Almost universally panned by fans and critics, It was widely believed the sequel was only made to renew the studio’s rights to the franchise, which had been on the brink of expiring.
In October 2013, the original ‘Hellraiser’ writer-director Clive Barker himself announced on Facebook that he had signed a deal to write the screenplay for a reboot. However, very little has been heard on the matter since.
Picture Credit: Dimension, WENN, Lionsgate
