LEVIATHAN: THE STORY OF HELLRAISER & HELLBOUND: HELLRAISER 2 Is Underway!

 
I remember a huge turning point for me, when I went from being scared stiff to absolutely entranced by horror movies, was when I began to have this unexplainable feeling and desire to learn everything I could about the horror movies that I was beginning to love, as opposed to despise. I spent hours watching the special features and documentaries on films like The Omen and The Exorcist, and I can safely say that this is something that has never really changed with me. I still spend hours watching YouTube videos of behind the scenes footage, make up tests, camera tests, anything I can feast my eyes on. 

I was very excited to hear about this, K. John McDonagh has begun production on what will be the most in depth and prolific Hellraiser documentary ever released. Entitled Leviathan: The Story of Hellraiser & Hellbound: Hellraiser 2, the documentary will take you behind the scenes of the two greatest films of the franchise (as well as two of the greatest films in horror history) by bringing back key members of the cast and crew for interviews and stories. Simon Bamford, Barbie Wilde, Nicholas Vince, Oliver Parker, Christopher Figg, Geoff Portass, Roy Pudefoot, Cliff Wallace, Mark Coulier, John Midgley, and many more are set to make appearances. 

“Leviathan: The Story of Hellraiser and Hellbound: Hellraiser II is a feature length documentary uncovering the history, making of and unknown details of the making of Clive Barker’s Hellraiser and Hellbound: Hellraiser II films.

With interviews and testimonies from those most closely involved, we hope to bring a comprehensive insight to these classic cult films.

Following the story of the films from their inception through production to release and the their subsequent lives and growing fan base, we aim to show fans and those less familiar with the films both the technical skills, the creative idea, the symbolism and the legacy of these movies.

Delving deep into the director’s vision and ambitions for the project we’ll be exploring where he came from, where his career had taken him and the inspiration for the story and world he created. We’ll be telling the story of his journey of making them and how close they came to his vision at the time and how he feels about them over 25 years later.”

I'm surprised to see that Doug Bradley's has not been attached yet, but I feel that it's pretty safe to say that we will see the man himself sharing plenty of stories from behind the pins. I can't wait to see how this comes along, and you too can keep up with the news at the film's website and Facebook page. 

More HELLRAISER News Trickles Down From Clive Barker's Camp

Bloody Disgusting reported today that, in a completely unsurprising turn of events, the remake of Hellraiser currently being penned by original creator, Clive Barker, will in fact be rated R. Now, just take a second and picture a Hellraiser with a rating of PG-13. Makes ya feel funny, doesn't it? Well thank God that ain't gonna happen, but with all of the other doubts surrounding this one that is one that never crossed my mind.

Barker elaborated on his Facebook page, where all of this news is emanating from: “As questions are asked I’ll do my best to answer them, though as you all know making movies is a volatile art, and things seldom remain fixed. One question regarding the rating has been asked. I asked it too, and Dimension confirmed that they are purely interested in an R-rated picture."

In another interesting bit of news, when asked why he isn't embarking on an original artistic endeavor, he had this to say: “Somebody else asked why I’m not writing something original. The answer is that I am. After Hellraiser I intend to write and direct a completely new horror movie, which will mingle graphic horror and erotic content, to create an unrated film which will push the envelope of extreme content further than ever…”

Now that I am very interested in seeing. 

But folks, let's keep something in mind. BD posted an editorial about this last week and I think it needs to be said across all mediums that are reporting news of the potential Hellraiser remake. This is not official. Nothing is set in stone. That being said, this is merely news of an idea that has been pitched, and Pinhead is not officially out of development hell yet. In the past week since this news has been announced I have been approached my hoardes of friends, and co-workers (all people who know my love for his film, and have love for it themselves) asking my thoughts on the matter, and I've told them the same thing. While it's very exciting that Dimension bit on the pitch, that doesn't mean anything. Think about the countless other films (especially horror) that were going to happen and then just fell by the wayside. 

Doug Bradley himself took to Facebook to share his thoughts on the matter as well: 

"Hi everyone! Just arrived in Orlando for Spooky Empire, to be greeted by the news via Clive Barker’s Facebook that he is writing a new Hellraiser script and intends that I should play Pinhead again. This is intriguing news, about which I know absolutely nothing. No one has contacted or spoken to me about returning. So until you hear from me to the contrary, assume that all rumors about me returning as Pinhead are only rumors.

Peace & Pain.
-Doug”

This, of course, doesn't mean you should keep your fingers crossed. I want to see Pinhead up on the bigscreen just as much as the next guy, but we can't get too ahead of ourselves. That will only lead us towards disappointment and pain (but maybe that's what Pinhead wants anyway). 

- Rg Lovecraft

Holy HELLRAISER, Clive Barker Is BACK And He's Bringing Doug Bradley With Him!

So this weeks kicks off with amazing news, and ends with amazing news (let's forget the terrible nougat of meat in the middle). Good god almighty, I couldn't be more excited to announce this on here. 

There's something called in the horror industry, lovingly referred to as development hell, in which hopeful films-to-be never see their way out of. Unfortunately, after the last four Hellraiser films, and especially Revelations, Pinhead has been dwelling in that very place for years.  Meanwhile fans have been clamoring for Doug Bradley to don the pins and terrify us once again in a true-to-the-original re-imagining of the hellish world we all visited since 1987. 

Well my friends, by beautiful, beautiful, friends, according to Clive Barker's Facebook he HIMSELF is embarking on the quest to unleash Pinhead from development hell and he's making sure that Doug Bradley is the one (and the only one) who will be feasting on our suffering.

He wrote an open letter to his fans, which you can read below, which discusses how this has come to be but I'm warning you, you may want to have a tissue on hand because it's just so damn beautiful: 

“HOT FROM HELL! My friends,I have some news which may be of interest to you. A few weeks ago I had a very productive meeting with Bob Weinstein of Dimension Pictures, in the course of which I pitched a remake of the first ‘Hellraiser’ film. The idea of my coming back to the original film and telling the story with a fresh intensity-honoring the structure and the designs from the first incarnation but hopefully creating an even darker and richer film-was attractive to Dimension.

Today I have officially been invited to write the script based upon that pitch.

What can I tell you about it?

Well, it will not be a film awash with CGI. I remain as passionate about the power of practical make-up effects as I was when I wrote and directed the first ‘Hellraiser’. Of course the best make-up in the world loses force if not inhabited by a first-rate actor. I told the Dimension team that in my opinion there could never be a Pinhead without Doug Bradley, and much to my delight Bob Weinstein agreed. So once the papers are signed, I will open a Lemarchand Configuration, dip my quill in its contents and start writing.

I promise that there will be nowhere on the Internet where the news of my progress will be more reliable than here, because the only author of these reports will be Your Infernal Corespondent, me. My very best wishes to you all, my friends.

Clive.”

Give me a minute while I collect myself. The Horror Gods have been good to us this week. Army of Darkness 2 AND Hellraiser? What's next, Scream 5? Good things do come, and my god, are they coming in droves this week. 

We will see Pinhead again, in all of his BDSM glory! 

Cheers my friends, as always, keep it spooky,

Rg Lovecraft

Is Pinhead Lost Forever in Development Hell? HELLRAISER: ORIGINS, A Fanmade Trailer/Pitch Video, Begs Dimension Films To Differ

Remakes. They are such a hot button topic in the horror world. Some people love them, some people hate them. Some people, such as yours truly, sits on the fence. I don't agree with the mindset of shooting something down simply because it falls under a certain set of criteria. Some remakes have been amazing. Others, well, as with any genre, subgenre of category, there are the stinkers. 

This however, is very hard to stay on the fence about. There have been a lot of those this year; the television adaptation of Scream has me very much on edge while talks of adapting The Exorcist for the small screen has my stomach in knots. Hellraiser is special though, much in the same way that people feel that A Nightmare on Elm Street without Robert Englund is a travesty (I am somewhat in that camp), I do not think that Pinhead should be resurrected unless Doug Bradley is beneath the pins. You can put anyone behind the hockey mask, or the white blank ghost face mask, but when Pinhead speaks, reasons and articulates thoughts. This brings it into murky territory. 

For years, there has been talk of bringing Pinhead back; of bringing him into the 21st century. Stuck in development hell for years, some headway was supposedly made in August of 2012 when it was announced that art designed by Paul Gerrard (Battle: Los Angeles) was used in a pitch trailer directed by Mike Le Han (Mrs. Peppercorn's Reading Room) at the request of Dimension Films. Was it finally happening? Well, I imagine that you can guess the outcome of that since this is probably the first you're hearing of it. The art however, looks pretty damn badass: 

 Here's a better idea of what this fabled pitch trailer entailed:

“In July Paul Gerrard and Mike Le Han produced a teaser trailer to accompany the pitch document which has many more conceptual designs that revision Hellraiser. Paul designed the new look for Pinhead and was production designer on the shoot and Le Han pulled in all of his film resources and directed the teaser on the new Alex 4:3 camera with anamorphic lenses.
 
With a crew of 47 an over 100 bloodied extras, the shoot was completed and is now in the depths of post production with a massive amount of VFX work being undertaken. Method Studios, Fugitive Studios and Flipbook Animation are helming the chi/VFX with the talented Glen Southern designing (CG build of) the new Hellraiser box.


When the teaser is complete they’ll be presenting it to Dimension Films along with an outline of the first film story and conceptual art pitch document with the hope to work on rebooting the Hell raiser franchise and bringing it into the 21st Century.”

THAT is where this story ends, HOWEVER, the journey to get Pinhead back onto the big screen is not over. Reported today on various other horror sites, there is a fan made trailer (some are calling it a pitch video) that is starting to make it's round on the rumor mill. A site has been posted (hellraiserorigins.com), which as of now is only a countdown to Halloween, when the trailer will be released. As of now, it is only known as a fan made pitch video, with the hopes to catch the attention of Dimension. A lot of fans want Pinhead back (especially after the travesty that was Hellraiser: Revelations), but what I'm interested is, do you?

Series Review - Hellraiser: Bloodline (1996)

 

Oh, you suffer beautifully.

Hellraiser: Bloodline, the fourth chapter in the Hellraiser saga, reveals the story of Lament Configuration and Philip L’Merchant, the man who designed it. It’s an interesting film, spanning from the 1700’s to 2127 AD, where the film begins. While it delves heavily on the history of the box and how it came to be, we still see Pinhead with a new team of Cenobites who are hell bent on destroying L’Merchant’s ancestor before he can destroy them first. 

In this review series we left off with Hell on Earth, and you know that my thoughts were less than satisfactory. I was much happier with this film than I was with its predecessor, read on past the break to get the synopsis and to read my thoughts! 

Friday night I decided to take a trip to my local record/used CD and DVD store to pick up some new DVD’s to add to the collection. I stumbled across this and had to take it home. 

Let me just say, it sounds magnificent.

Spooky Tunes: Lovecraft's Top 10 Horror Theme Songs

I’ve said it many times before, music (or lack there-of) makes a horror film. Over the past 50 years, the horror genre has pumped out some of the most iconic film scores of all time. Songs that send chills down your spine and make you think of impending doom every time you hear their ghastly melody.

I love a good horror soundtrack, it’s a big appeal for me and something that I think modern horror has lost a sense of. In this here article, I’m going to list some of the most iconic (as well as some of my favorite) horror theme songs that you may, or may not, have heard of.

10. The Shining – Wendy Carlos & Rachel Elkind

What a beautifully haunting main title. As the Torrance’s little VW Bug winds its way through the jagged Rocky Mountains, we’re subjected to a collection of sounds that sound both human and supernatural. It is a perfect indication of the fear and trepidation that the film instills on its viewers as it progresses to its rocky finale.

9. The Twilight Zone – Marius Constant

This is probably the most iconic television theme song of all time. It was composed for the second season of Rod Serling’s seminal hit television show by Marius Constant and it has become a staple of many lives, mine included. Every time I hear that fantastic little jingle I get excited about whatever strange and wonderful journey I may be going on, even if seen the episode a hundred times already. You can almost see the swirling, hypnotic background when you hear it.

8. A Nightmare on Elm Street – Charles Bernstein

Considered by Rotten Tomatoes to be one of the best films of 1984, Wes Craven’s Freddy Krueger sliced his way into horror fan’s hearts forever as one of the crudest, rudest and generally hilarious slasher villains out there. The theme is another great, haunting and melodic, and funnily enough, heavily inspired by Gary Wright’s Dreamweaver (seriously, check it out here).

7. Poltergeist (Carol Anne’s Theme) – Jerry Goldsmith

This is one of my absolute favorite themes in the horror world, because it’s the exact opposite of what you would expect with the theme for a horror film. It’s a beautiful song, and it perfectly exemplifies the sweet innocence of our protagonist, Carol Anne. It’s sweet melody, sung by a choir of children, soothes the heart in the oddest of ways and helps you realize that maybe, just maybe, everything will be alright.

6. The Omen (Ave Satani) – Jerry Goldsmith

A double-whammy for Jerry Goldsmith, then again he’s one of my favorite horror composers, this being my favorite of his compositions (however, on the complete opposite end of the spectrum). This is the theme for Damian, the son of Satan, in the amazing occult film The Omen. “Ave Satani” features a choir singing a Latin chant that translates to “We drink the blood, we eat the body, raise the body of Satan. Hail! Hail, Hail Anti-Christ! Hail Satan!” It’s dark shit, and it’s exactly what The Omen needed. I remember being immediately taken with this score when I first watched the film some 12 years ago. It played a huge part in my future fascination, and borderline (who am I even kidding) obsession with the horror genre.

5. Hellraiser – Christopher Young

Clive Barker had original commissioned a the soundtrack from his breakthrough film from the industrial band Coil, however he later rejected it. The job then fell upon the shoulders of Christopher Young, who created the eponymous theme song, and Lemarchand’s Lullaby that makes us all immediately imagine chains flying at us from all directions. I fucking LOVE this whole soundtrack, it sets up the film with a grandiose feeling of dread and wonder.  

4. Suspiria – Goblin

Suspiria is one of the most talked about horror films of all time. I feel as if I’ve always heard people referencing this film, in some way or another. It’s a fantastic film, more art house than anything, that tells the story of a young American girl who attends a prestigious dance school in Italy only to discover that it’s no mere dance school (forgive the cliché ridden summary). The reason I find this theme so intriguing (aside from the fact that it’s really just pretty damn awesome) is that it is so regularly used in pop culture references that most people probably don’t even realize they’ve heard it, and would recognize it almost immediately. Finnish rock band HIM, used it as intro music for their American tours for years, as an example.

Who made the final 3? Head inside to find out. 

 

“This is my body, this is my blood. Happy are they who come to my supper.”

Continuing with Hellraiser, we move onto the third part in the franchise: Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth. This is the first film to break away from the canon of the first two. While we hear of Kirsty Cotton, and see a tidbit of video footage of her, it breaks away with a whole set with new characters, new Cenobites, but of course, Doug Bradley returns as Pinhead.

I love Hellraiser, andI love Pinhead, but does that mean that I love every film in the franchise? Read on to find out.

“It is not hands that summon us. It is desire.”

In the sequel to Clive Barker’s 1987 directorial debut Hellraiser, we see the events that follow the devastation of Kirsty Cotton’s life. Since I started this series, I figured I would finish and review each chapter as I watch. As with most any horror franchise, the first chapter is normally the strongest. While Hellbound: Hellraiser II was by no means a bad film and I actually think it stood up pretty well with the first, it too fell privy to this pattern.

Head inside to take a more in depth look at my thoughts on the film.

“No tears, please. It’s a waste of good suffering…”

Now, I’ve been working on the Stephen King series post, I promise I have, but the more I work on it the more I realize I have to add on and it’s become quite the exercise in repetition. I’ll make good headway, edit, then add a bunch more, edit that, change things, edit that. Aaaand you get the idea. I will be getting it to you, I’m hoping this weekend, and once I have the first one done all others will come along quite easily.

But last night, I decided to take a break from Pet Sematary and put on something I haven’t watched in years. And I mean, yeeeears. One thing that I love about doing this blog is it affords me the opportunity to watch films I haven’t seen in years, some that I may not have even liked, and revisit old memories, old thoughts and ultimately share them all with you on here. As you all saw last night, my choice for the evening was Clive Barker’s Hellraiser. 

And in honor of tonight’s pick, here is who greets my door all dressed up for this past Valentine’s Day.

Tonight’s movie, the debut from mastermind director Clive Barker, Hellraiser. Watch it with me on Netflix.