HELLRAISER (2022)
It's spooky Halloween season, and so we've decided to record a lengthy chat on the recent Hellraiser reboot for Hulu this week on the show that talks about stuff on purpose! And I do mean lengthy. This week's episode isn't quite our longest yet, but it's very close, so fair warning. We get into a very in-depth and varied discussion that covers all the bases, so if you haven't seen the movie yet and don't want to be spoiled, you might want to skip listening to this episode for now. But for everybody else, get comfortable while we attempt to figure out this peculiar puzzle. The episode is below, and it's also available on Apple, Google, RadioPublic, Pocket Casts, Spotify and Anchor, so choose your own adventure and join us as we explore the further reaches of experience together...
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Thanks for listening!
This movie was too boring. There were good moments and the monster designs were great, but overall there was not much to enjoy. It was fine.
ReplyDeleteYou seem really hung up on the lack of nudity in the movie. It's not that big a deal. We don't really need boobs in a Hellraiser movie. It's really more of a distraction, I think. Really the problem with the movie is the rather tame violence. I was surpised by the real lack of visceral violence and gore. It was definitely an R rated movie, but it still felt like it pulled its punches a little too much. Plus I don't get the love for the new Pinhead. SHe sounds like she just smokes three packs of unfiltered cigarettes a day. That's not spooky. It just makes me want to offer her a lozenge.
ReplyDelete(Regular CJ kept trying to post this comment, but once again Blogger is being weird and won't keep it archived, so I'm reproducing the text below as an administrator. Sorry for the inconvenience, CJ!)
ReplyDeleteThere was a bit of an orgy going on in the background of that party during the prologue. I saw it with mine own eyes. It was hardly explicit, but it was there. So the movie definitely features sex to some degree, but maybe not enough if we're being honest, considering the basis for the franchise. Clive Barker was inspired to write The Hellbound Heart by what he had seen and experienced at an S&M club he frequented in the UK, and sex and eroticism are just a big part of most of his work that it's difficult to separate, and one really shouldn't try.
I seem to remember reading something from the reboot's director stating that it was his idea to minimize the sexuality in his film because it wasn't something he really wanted to explore, and if that's the case, why did he want to make a Hellraiser movie to begin with? I really do agree with most of your criticisms and even your praise for the Cenobites in general, although they spend (at least some of them) a little too much time chasing our protagonists like common monsters and that's not something we should ever see Cenobites doing in a movie. It reduces their effectiveness as otherworldly entities and only really serves to cheapen their role in the narrative.
Also, even though I love Jamie Clayton's role in the film overall as the new Priest, the facial prosthetic appliances make her face seem too puffy. Doug Bradley had a narrow face when he was younger (not so much as he got older, which is very noticeable in later films) and the prosthetics he wore didn't add too much bulk to his cheeks. Jamie Clayton's face is more naturally full on its own, so the addition of these thick latex appliances to her cheeks and jaw make her head look a bit like a big egg with a bunch of sewing needles jammed into it. Not terribly flattering, and honestly I feel like the veteran effects artists should have known better. Maybe if they make a sequel they'll correct that error. Either way, I'm down for more stories involving these Cenobites, as long as this director (or whoever else steps up to make the next chapter) acts a little less prudish regarding the inherent sexuality of the franchise.
Good episode overall, and keep up the good work.
The movie was okay at best. It felt too slick, too safe. And making the puzzle box a knife is stupid. That doesn’t make sense.
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