First-look images from Hellraiser 2022 show off Jamie Clayton's Pinhead and three new characters, including a never-before-seen Cenobite. The Cenobites, extradimensional beings who exist in a realm that bridges the gap between pain and pleasure, were originally introduced in the 1986 Clive Barker novella The Hellbound Heart, which was later adapted by Barker into the 1987 film Hellraiser. That film introduced the lead Cenobite, Pinhead (Doug Bradley), who emerges to torment a British family when one of their number plays with an occult puzzle box known as the Lament Configuration. Over the years, Hellraiser has received nine sequels, all but two of which featured Bradley as Pinhead.
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The upcoming eleventh entry in the horror film franchise is prepping to stream exclusively on Hulu beginning October 7. Hellraiser, which is another story taking place in the universe of Hellraiser rather than a proper remake, will follow Riley (Odessa A'zion), a young woman whose addiction and compulsive behavior will lead her to play with the Lament Configuration. She is then thrust into a world of terror where she must contend with Pinhead (Clayton, the first woman to play the role), the Cenobites, and a rich man who is obsessed with the box (Goran Visnjic). The project was directed by The Night House's David Bruckner.
Today, EW shared an exclusive set of first-look images from the new Hellraiser. In addition to the first look at the characters played by Visnjic and A'zion, they show the closest look yet at Clayton's iteration of Pinhead. The images also reveal the very first look at a brand-new Cenobite known as The Mask, who is reportedly one of several new Cenobites who will be gracing the film. Check out the full-size images below:
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The most intriguing thing about these images, as is the case with most Hellraiser projects, is the Cenobites. First, Clayton's Pinhead, while featuring a similar makeup design to the Bradley original, features entirely dark eyeballs that add to the creepiness of her image. Even creepier is The Mask, who seems fleshy yet somehow robotic, with a hollowed-out face whose eye sockets reveal that there is nothing behind its face, merely showing the wall behind it.
While these images are quite dark and might be difficult to parse, they certainly show that the new Hellraiser film can bring its own sensibility to the established universe of the franchise. The Mask is certainly one of the most stunning new designs that have been brought to the world in many years. Hopefully, the rest of the film can live up to the small slices that have been revealed thus far.