Pinhead is back and guaranteed to give you nightmares. After months of waiting, the new horror film Hellraiser has finally launched in streaming in Germany
The Hellraiser series is cult. Over a period of 31 years, the story created by Clive Barker grew into a franchise with 10 films. These thrilled fans with a dark mythology, gore scenes, terrifying torture creatures called cenobites, and last but not least, horror icon Pinhead.
Last year, the Hellraiser series was rebooted by director David Bruckner (The Ritual and The House at Night). Now that the reboot Hellraiser: The Castle to Hell has been available to watch on Hulu in the U.S. since the fall of 2022, German horror fans can finally experience this hellish nightmare for themselves. Hellraiser is now available to watch on the streaming service Paramount+.
This is what the horror reboot of Hellraiser is all about
The plot of Hellraiser: The Castle to Hell begins with a gruesome ritual. A young sex worker accepts the invitation of a millionaire. However, he is not supposed to provide him with sexual services, but to solve a puzzle for him – with terrible consequences. The mysterious structure opens a portal to a hellish dimension. Metal chains guided by an invisible power suddenly cut into the flesh of the young man and make him suffer agonies of hell.
Watch the German trailer for the Hellraiser reboot:
Six years later, the real story begins when drug addict Riley (Odessa A’zion) also comes into possession of the strange puzzle box. Out of curiosity, she solves the puzzle, setting in motion a cruel game that she will never be able to stop and will claim the lives of those around her (including Dead Girls Don’t Lie star Brandon Flynn).
The new Hellraiser film is not a remake of the original Hellraiser – The Gates of Hell or an adaptation of Clive Barker’s original novella The Hellbound Heart, but instead focuses on a new story. Fans of the horror series can expect an exciting expansion or reinvention of the mythology here.
In this version, the mysterious cube consists of six different puzzles or configurations. Each of them requires a human sacrifice to proceed. Whoever ends up with the relic still alive in their hands will receive a gift from the hell entity called Leviathan.
Hellraiser unleashes disturbing horror creatures from hell
A Hellraiser movie, of course, would not be complete without the appearance of the ghoulish Cenobites as well as their leader, the torture master Pinhead – who is referred to in the reboot simply as Priest. Each of these beings lives on the border between pain and pleasure.
This is also reflected in the macabre creature design, which is at once gruesome and disgusting, but also grotesquely beautiful. Unlike the original series, the focus is less on a punky leather look and more on the disturbing body modifications of the cenobites.
