| Hellraiser: Judgment | |
|---|---|
 Home media release artwork | |
| Directed by | Gary J. Tunnicliffe |
| Written by | Gary J. Tunnicliffe |
| Based on | Characters created byClive Barker |
| Produced by | Michael Leahy |
| Starring |
|
| Cinematography | Samuel Calvin |
| Edited by | Mike Leahy Michael Griffin[Note 1] |
| Music by | Deron Johnson |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Lionsgate Home Entertainment |
Release date |
|
Running time | 81 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $350,000[Note 2] |
| Box office | $426,290 |
Hellraiser: Judgment is a 2018 Americanhorror film written and directed byGary J. Tunnicliffe, based on the characters created byClive Barker. The tenth installment in theHellraiser film series, the film stars Damon Carney,Randy Wayne, Alexandra Harris,Heather Langenkamp, and Paul T. Taylor, and centers on threepolice detectives who, investigating a series of murders, are confronted by the denizens of hell. The film expands the fictional universe by introducing a new faction of hell: the Stygian Inquisition. While theCenobites offer sadomasochistic pleasures to humans that enter their dominion, the Inquisition processes the souls of sinners. Tunnicliffe plays the Inquisition'sauditor, a prominent role in the film.
Unable to direct his screenplay forHellraiser: Revelations due to a scheduling conflict, Tunnicliffe initially removed all references to the series from hisJudgment concept and tried to have it funded as anindependent film in 2013. He intended on making a "true"Hellraiser film because of his disappointment with the later films. Several years later,Dimension Films was required to make anotherHellraiser film to retain the rights, giving Tunnicliffe a chance to propose his vision. The concept was initially rejected but accepted after he negotiated changes with the studio executives. It was filmed inOklahoma withChildren of the Corn: Runaway, both films produced by Michael Leahy. It is the secondHellraiser film withoutDoug Bradley asPinhead; newcomer Taylor was cast after impressing Tunnicliffe in an audition. He and Tunnicliffe decided to develop a new look and interpretation, rather than imitating Bradley's performance.
Judgment was scheduled for release in 2017 with minimalmarketing to avoid negative publicity, but was temporarily shelved. According to Taylor, its release was not a priority for Dimension until thesexual abuse allegations involving parent company co-founderHarvey Weinstein (when the film was put back intopost production). It was distributed byLionsgate Films invideo on demand andhome media on February 13, 2018. Although critics compared the film favorably to its predecessors, its low budget andpolice procedural aspects were criticized.
InHell,Pinhead from theCenobite sect, and the Auditor of the Stygian Inquisition are discussing how to adapt their methods of harvesting souls in the face of advancing human technology that is making the Configurations—gateways to Hell—obsolete. Meanwhile on Earth, threedetectives—brothers Sean and David Carter, and Christine Egerton—investigate a serial killer known as the Preceptor, whose murders are based on theTen Commandments.
A connection with one of the victims leads the detectives to Karl Watkins, a local criminal who went missing near an abandoned house. Sean goes there and loses consciousness, waking up in the Stygian Inquisition's domain in Hell. As the Inquisition prepares to hand down a verdict on Sean for his sins, the angelJophiel intervenes and tells them to release him. Sean escapes the realm with a stolen puzzle box, and the Auditor requests Pinhead's guidance on the matter. Sean and David return to search the house, finding no trace of Hell or the Inquisition. That night he is haunted by visions of the Cenobites and Hell's denizens, who promise "judgment and redemption" to anyone who opens the box.
Sean and Christine go to the coroner Hodge's office and find that a cell phone of one of the Preceptor's victims was stored in her body, recording her final location with itsGPS. They find the Preceptor's hideout, where Sean incapacitates Christine and reveals himself as the killer. David deduces the Preceptor's identity and meets with Hodges to find the building. Upon arrival, Sean disarms David and reveals that he is holding his wife Alison hostage, outraged that she had an affair. He forces David and Alison to open the box at gunpoint, summoning the Cenobites and opening a gateway to their realm.
Aware that someone from Hell would come to collect his soul after his initial escape, Sean attempts to offer Alison and David to Pinhead. Pinhead tells him they will be dealt with for opening the box, but because a separate faction of Hell wanted his soul, no deal will be made. The Auditor appears, telling Sean the Inquisition has found him guilty of his sins. Jophiel intervenes again and protests to Pinhead and the Auditor that Sean is part ofHeaven's plan to instill fear into sinners. Pinhead arranges for Christine to kill Sean, and spitefully dispatches Jophiel. As punishment,God banishes Pinhead to earth, tormented by the want of suffering. In apost-credits scene, a group ofMormonmissionaries in Germany approach a house and are answered by The Auditor.
Grace Montie plays Crystal Lanning, a dog-loving socialite whose murder sets the plot into motion.[1][5]Rheagan Wallace plays Alison Carter, Sean's wife.[18][5] Diane Goldner plays a Cleaner, an aging nude woman and part of the Stygian Inquisition who forces her tongue on victims as penance. Tunnicliffe conceived the Cleaners as in their nineties (similar to thethree Witches fromMacbeth), saying his worst nightmare would be being chained to a bed with old women licking him clean.[19][1][5] Andi Powers plays one of the Jury, three nude women in their twenties with skinless faces who hand down verdicts from the Inquisition.[1][5] Other acting credits include Jeff Fenter as sinner Karl Watkins and Helena Grace Donald as the angelJophiel.[1]Judgment is the firstHellraiser film to includeHeaven in its mythology. According to Tunnicliffe, he took influence fromThe Scarlet Gospels, stating "I am in no way religious, but if you are writing a story that acknowledges the existence of Hell, then you have to acknowledge the existence of Heaven. I'm a big fan of things likeConstantine andProphecy, so it was fun bringing those characters into it".[20]
Only took a mere 30 years to get from being a 19 yr old [sic]make up fx wannabe living in ruralStaffordshire to finally getting to write and direct aHellraiser movie (whilst creating make up effects for a whole bunch of them along the way).[2]
Decades before the development ofHellraiser: Judgment,Dimension Films obtained the rights to theHellraiser andChildren of the Corn film series; Dimension's first films wereHellraiser III: Hell on Earth andChildren of the Corn II: The Final Sacrifice, shot back-to-back inNorth Carolina in 1991. Since then, the company has been required to produce films in both series to retain the rights.[21] Around the release ofHellraiser: Bloodline in 1996, Gary Tunnicliffe (who was involved with the special effects ofHellraiser III andBloodline) pitched aHellraiser story,Holy War, to Dimension executiveBob Weinstein; an opening scene, about a priest seeking a path to Heaven through suffering, wasstoryboarded.[22] Tunnicliffe continued to provide special effects for the series' sequels throughHellraiser: Hellworld (2005), which all were released todirect-to-video afterBloodline, but was unhappy with the quality of the films. Nearing a later deadline to retainHellraiser andChildren of the Corn, Dimension Films offered him an opportunity to write and direct aHellraiser sequel. Tunnicliffe wrote the screenplay for 2011'sHellraiser: Revelations, but could not direct it due to a scheduling conflict withScream 4.[23]
Instead of being an original screenplay converted into aHellraiser film, Tunnicliffe's idea forJudgment was intended as part of the series from its conception.[24] He removed itsHellraiser elements after trying to meet with Dimension, who were uninterested in making anotherHellraiser film immediately afterRevelations. Tunnicliffe showedJudgment to Mike Jay Regan, who enjoyed its premise and suggested the removal ofPinhead for a standalone project.[25] He then attempted to make it as anindependent film, but failed to find financial backers, leading to an unsuccessfulKickstarter campaign in 2013.[26] Five years after being unable to directRevelations, Dimension (facing another rights-retention deadline) offered Tunnicliffe the job of writing and directing anotherHellraiser film.[25] Tunnicliffe pitchedHellraiser: Judgment to Dimension three times (being rejected each time), and wrote a script treatment for a more traditionalHellraiser film,Enter Darkness, to demonstrate that he could come up with other ideas. The treatment's plot involvedpsychiatric hospital interns studying patients with shared experiences of the Lament Configuration, while the head doctor collates them to meet the Cenobites himself.[25] The studio approved it, but Tunnicliffe insisted on makingJudgment.[27] Dimension told him to write the script forJudgment with the proviso that if they disliked it, he would directEnter Darkness without being paid. After reading it, they allowed Tunnicliffe to directJudgment as part of the series after negotiating rewrites, notes, and suggested changes.[27][24] Saying thatJudgment "will have moments unlike any other [film] you have ever seen", he was inspired by the works ofHieronymus Bosch,Francis Bacon,David Cronenberg,David Lynch,David Fincher, andHellraiser creatorClive Barker.[2]
Tunnicliffe's originaltreatment began with a Christian missionary approaching a rundown house to spread theGospel and being captured by the Auditor at the door. The film's next fifteen to twenty minutes would focus on the missionary's audit as he is processed (judged) by the Auditor, the Assessor, the Jury, the Surgeon, the Butcher, the Seamstress, and the Bone Collectors. Two days later, a police officer is captured by the Auditor when he searches for the missing missionary. Tunnicliffe wanted the scenes in Hell to be more nightmarish than they were in the finished film. The Assessor chokes on the pages of the policeman's sins during the audit, leading the distraught Auditor to seek assistance from Pinhead. Pinhead gathers the Chatterer and the Female Cenobite to find out what went wrong.Flashbacks show several police investigations, misleading the audience into thinking the police officer is innocent. An angel confronts Pinhead, demanding the police officer's release. The officer leaves the house, returning to raid it with armed colleagues, but find it to be empty. Pinhead and the Auditor review the officer's sins, discover that he is not innocent, and confront the angel. The next day, the officer awakens to the Cenobites invading his home. The audience learns about his sins, and the next fifteen minutes of the film would involve the Cenobites capturing and tormenting him.[25]
Judgment was cast by a team led by casting director Chris Freihofer.[28][2] Gary Tunnicliffe wantedDoug Bradley to reprise his role asPinhead, the lead Cenobite;[6] Bradley refused, criticizing Dimension Films for the quality of theHellraiser sequels. Tunnicliffe pleaded with him, but Bradley again declined when he learned that he would have to sign anon-disclosure agreement to obtain the screenplay.[27] In an interview withBloody-Disgusting, Bradley said he had not read the script and declined to comment on the film's quality, but he expressed chagrin that it was another rights-retention project.[29] Paul T. Taylor was cast as Pinhead, and Tunnicliffe played the Auditor. Mike Jay Regan reprised his role as theChatterer, andHeather Langenkamp would play a character in the film.[1]
Taylor became involved when he received an email inviting him toscreen test as the Auditor;[30] after the test, he was asked to audition as Pinhead.[31] The latter audition took place inLos Angeles, where Taylor thought he "nailed" his performance. Tunnicliffe allowed him to interpret the character, and he was given months to prepare before filming began. The preparation includedsmoking (unusual for Taylor), to give his voice a gravelly quality. He took late-night walks in high-crime neighborhoods near his home, which he described as "facing the fear".[32] He said of his performance: "I have a vulnerability in my acting no matter what I do. It's just there ... It's about the stillness. [Pinhead]'s already so terrifying that when he makes a move, it means something. He's very economical and when he speaks, he's so eloquent". Believing "Pinhead has to be British", the American actor used a British accent when in-character. For research, he visited a comic-book store to readHellraiser comic books in which Pinhead appeared.[33] Tunnicliffe detailed his reasons for selecting Taylor, saying he was prepared and open to listening, but also wanting to give his own interpretation: "I wanted a slightly different Pinhead for this new tale, there's a stillness, a dry resolve to this new version, coldness, sarcasm. I wanted a Pinhead with a regal sense of arrogance and boredom and Paul delivered".[2]
Filming took place over a three-week period inOklahoma, on a relatively small budget of $350,000.[34] Tunnicliffe andcinematographer Samuel Calvin prepared substantially beforehand to maximize shooting time, using a daily average of 30 to 35 complex camera and lighting set-ups. According to Tunnicliffe, all departments were enthusiastic about their work and a work day never exceeded thirteen hours. Filming locations included a derelict building, a bar, a luxury apartment building and penthouse suite, a church interior, a children's playground, alleys, and stages and sets built by the film's art department.[2] Some actors had to be persuaded to arrive at certain shoots, partially because of the film's budget. Tunnicliffe said about filming: "I'm a great believer in really using the time on set. You only get up to twelve to thirteen hours a day, maximum, and I don't like going over time and over budget. I like to have a strong plan going in and the way I do that is that I act out the entire script with my D.P. [director of photography], we act out everybody's roles in every scene. We pick our angles based on that". Local residents contributed to the shoot by suggesting specific locations, and a car dealership loaned a van for the film.[27] Taylor shot his scenes in anOklahoma City studio, where a set for the "offices of hell" was built.[33] The film was shot at the same time and place asChildren of the Corn: Runaway, also produced by Mike Leahy;Judgment actorJohn Gulager directedRunaway. According to Leahy, "blood has been flowing here in Oklahoma City. These are two horror films that are going to be seen by a core audience".[35][36] Another three weeks were devoted to editing, and the film's limited budget restricted the number of lengthy edits. This was followed by the implementation ofcolor timing, sound, and music. Thescore was composed byDeron Johnson, who was influenced byTrent Reznor and the score ofSeven. Although Tunnicliffe's original cut had cues fromChristopher Young'sorchestral soundtrack fromHellraiser andHellbound, a more modern approach was adopted for budgetary reasons. The domains of hell inhabited by the Cenobites and the Stygian Inquisition were distinguished by color, with a bluepalette used for the Cenobites' domain and a "piss" yellow applied to the Inquisition's.[37]
Some of the film's sexual content and violence was deemed too extreme by the studio, and was removed. Tunnicliffe said: "I don't think people could stomach my original version. The studio certainly couldn't. I could have easily made the film ten to fifteen minutes longer with a more intense cut, but it would probably be TOO much. In the end, wiser heads prevailed".[37] AmongJudgment's deleted content were a longer scene of Karl Watkins (Jeff Fenter) being skinned to death by the Inquisition's surgeon (Jilly Blundell),[38] and scenes involving the Cleaners. The original version of the sex scene between Sean (Damon Carney) and Alison Carter (Rheagan Wallace) was more intense, with the camera cutting back and forth between Sean's view of Alison and visions of the Cenobites. Several false endings were conceived for the scene, including Sean'shallucination of Alisonfellating him when he looks up after hisorgasm to see David Carter (Randy Wayne) smiling back at him. The nightmare scene in which Sean enters an alley and sees flashes of hell was originally longer and more graphic; at one point, he stumbles across Alison as part of athreesome behind a dumpster with two strange men in pig masks. Tunnicliffe wanted to use surreal imagery to convey that "Sean's world was being torn apart, undone by his experiences at the house within the hellish dimension".[39] InJudgment's original concept pitch, the Jury eats the Assessor (Gulager)'s regurgitated pages (not sifting through them) before handing down its verdict on the Stygian Inquisition's captives.[25]
The makeup-effects team was led by Mike Regan and Mike Measimer.[2] Taylor's portrayal of Pinhead was intended to be leaner and more serious than previous incarnations, lacking the earlier films' glib one-liners. This was incorporated into the makeup and costume design, with longersilver pins, deeper blade-slice cuts, solid black eyes and a more-visceral, sleeker wardrobe. The character's original attire was replaced with a ragged robe and butcher's skirt made ofchain mail. His many tools and weapons were replaced by a streamlined skinning utensil.[2][24][37] Some grid-like cuts were rearranged from his previous design, with one square removed from each side of his jaw and one added to the back of his head.[37] The flesh exposed on his chest was made arhombus in honor ofLeviathan, the god worshiped by the Cenobites;[2] a homage to theEye of Agamotto symbolism fromDoctor Strange lore was integrated into the costume.[40] The Lament Configuration was also altered, built with bleached wood andcopper etching.[37] The self-inflicted lacerations on the Auditor's face were intended to be less patterned and more chaotic than that of the more-ordered Cenobites. The facial cuts' positions were borrowed from anunsolicited redesign for Pinhead created by Tunnicliffe forPascal Laugier's cancelledHellraiser remake. A blood-stained shirt and threadbare two-piece suit cover the cuts on the Auditor's body. Religious symbols, implicitly torn from the necks of the guilty, are on the bracelet of his right wrist.[13][40] His black spectacles convey the impression of soulless eyes.[25]
Tunnicliffe had to balance directing the film and overseeing the effects work. About the quality of the blood effects, he said: "I don't think it's so much the quantity of blood but more the nature of the effects, the content and the context. I think some of our blood gags are actually quite beautiful; when you see blood raining down on a naked girl with a skinned face at 300 frames per second you can't help but be mesmerized by the fluid dynamics".[24] Taylor compared the simulated gore to that of theSaw series: "I think people are going to be fascinated with it and the things that are, what I would say, on the border ofhorror porn, there's some elements of that in it and that will please manyHellraiser fans and fans of just what contemporary horror can be these days where it's just a gross-out".[41] He later clarified: "I think [the gore in the film] is done because of the style and aesthetics in a beautiful way. This is not masturbation, and let's just throw blood at the screen".[31]
Tunnicliffe sent pictures to the wardrobe department of what he wanted the characters to wear, and the department measured the actors. Costumes designed and built for the Cenobites were handled by Tunnicliffe's department.[27] He chose to have certain characters nude because he thought it would look visually more interesting than designing cheap costumes.[42] The costume department used acast of Taylor's head to design a pin mask for him to wear as Pinhead, which covered his entire head except for his ears. Although he found the costume and makeup extremely uncomfortable, he integrated the discomfort into his performance as the sadomasochist.[33] When he saw his reflection in the mirror in the Pinhead makeup, he said he instantly fell into the character's mindset. Taylor thought the makeup menacing enough that he had a minimalist approach to his performance, feeling that attempting to be conventionally frightening would beoveracting.[41][43]
Hellraiser: Judgment was initially scheduled for a 2017 release. In his interview withDread Central, Tunnicliffe stated that marketing would be kept to a minimum, aside from the promotional images and casting news that had been released: "It seems to me that any images or fodder given out in good faith are kinda twisted around – usually to the negative – so the best response really is the film itself".[44]Harvey Weinstein is said to be too embarrassed in promotingJudgment, thus credited to delaying the film's release.[45]
Taylor gave a possible explanation in October for the delay, saying the film may not have finished post-production: "I have a reliable source who just informed me thatHellraiser: Judgment has been on a shelf for a while, unfinished. But now that Harvey Weinstein is out of the picture,Hellraiser: Judgment has been taken off that shelf and is back in post-production".[46] Taylor expanded on his reasoning in a later interview, stating the film might not have been released if not for thesexual abuse allegations against Weinstein, which financially compromised the studio.[32]
The film's trailer and release date were released on January 9, 2018. After nearly two years of silence from Dimension Films,Lionsgate Films picked up the distribution rights forHellraiser: Judgment andChildren of the Corn: Runaway; the former was released on digital andhome media platforms on February 13.[47][18][35][48] In the United States and Canada, the film made a total of US$426,290 in home media sales: US$83,599 onDVD and US$343,029 onBlu-ray.[49][50]
The film was favorably compared to the franchise's earlier sequels,[51][52][53] with Brad Miska ofBloody Disgusting calling it "the most authenticHellraiser sinceBloodline."[54]Collider's Haleigh Foutch praised its attempt to expand the Hellraiser universe, but found the execution sloppy due to a low budget and "pedestrian" human drama.[51]Forbes critic Luke Y. Thompson wrote that it integrated the Earth and Hell scenes more effectively than previous sequels and praised the additional mythology as "the best attempt since the early, more [Clive] Barker-infused theatrical films to deliver a coherent cosmology." However, he criticized thesuggested retail price of the release, recommending it only forHellraiser fans.[52] Although Miska foundJudgment "sluggish", he noted the narrative served its purpose as a lead-in to the finale: "Everything comes full circle in the final moments, adding an entirely new dimension to the Hellraiser franchise," yet the film is "solely forHellraiser apologists."[54]
Some critics deemed it the worst of the franchise, withThe Irish Times' Tara Brady becoming pessimistic over the franchise's future, and Scott Weinberg ofThrillist giving up on it entirely, also noting that its reputation has decayed anyway, leavingJudgment with few potential buyers.[55][45] Critical reviews mainly decried bland acting[55] and storyline.Birth.Movies.Death's Scott Wampler was also disappointed by the lack of screentime for Pinhead, though he anticipated a future Tunnicliffe film "with a decent budget, or less meddling from the rights holders."[56] Andrew Gaudion ofFilmHounds additionally called it a boring copy of the 1995 thrillerSeven and "half baked when it comes to constructing its central gimmick." He, andWe Got This Covered's Matt Donato, found thepolice procedural elements generic and cliched, with the latter opining that the gore and Hell elements are inadequate; he called the film "one of the least realized, most throwaway" of the series.[57][58]
The film's special effects andsurreal imagery received mixed reviews: Foutch and Gaudion enjoyed them,[51] whileThe Guardian's Felperin calling the effects fake looking, though praised the production design;[55] the imagery was criticized by Weinberg.[59] AlthoughIGN's William Bibbiani called the pacing "brisk," he deemed the story a faded carbon copy of other, better serial killer thrillers, and felt the new additions to theHellraiser mythology rob the Cenobites of their deviant allure and otherworldly menace.[53] Wampler criticized the acting, story, and lack of screentime for Pinhead, calling the film a "mixed bag with the stuff I enjoyed ultimately outweighed by the stuff I did not."[56] Steve Barton ofDread Central disagreed, stating that the acting and story are surprisingly good: "Pinhead is omnipresent, and Taylor delivers a worthy performance and is every bit as majestic as you'd hope he'd be."[12]
Judgment expands on lore introduced in the earliest films, with Taylor calling it a jumping-off point for a sequel that tells a "true"Hellraiser script with an ambiguous ending. He said the characters in the film could be used in future installments and expressed an interest in returning as Pinhead,[41] but stated he would also be content with a bigger-budgetedreboot starring Doug Bradley.[43] Tunnicliffe had no particular idea for a sequel,spin-off, or follow-up of any kind when developing the film, but has since suggested a scenario where the Auditor helps Pinhead reclaim his status to overthrow an incompetent successor; a "battle of the Hell priests".[10]
In May 2019,Spyglass Media Group began to develop a reboot of the series, withDavid S. Goyer serving as a writer and producer alongsideGary Barber, who described the project as an "evolved" reimagining of the original film.[60] In April 2020, writing teamBen Collins and Luke Piotrowski came on to write, withDavid Bruckner attached to direct.[61] The film,Hellraiser, released in October 2022 onHulu, withJamie Clayton taking over the role of Pinhead.[62]
In April 2020,HBO finalized a deal withDavid Gordon Green to direct aHellraiser television series, penned byMark Verheiden andMichael Dougherty.[63] The rights to the Stygian Inquisition remain with Tunnicliffe, who has expressed an interest in doing a novel or short story involving the Auditor or the Order of the Effluvium.[64]
Bradley is open to returning to the Pinhead role, but only with the "right place, right time, right motives, right script ... Since I turned down both movies, I knew other actors would get to play the part. I don't know about 'taking over': enjoying temporary ownership, maybe". He was interested in starring in a film version of theHellraiser novelThe Scarlet Gospels, but is unaware of any plans for such a film.[65]
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