 You either die seeing an original film or you live long enough to watch everything get remade. Let's talk about Hellraiser 2022. Director David Brockner takes things back to the beginning with an original setup for Hellraiser. I haven't seen the original Hellraiser since I was like 11 years old. I did actually go back and rewatch it after this new one to see how it holds up. Pushpins on the table, I'm not a huge Hellraiser fan to begin with, so I went into this with open arms, with an open mind, with open eyes. And I was left with the thought that the original is probably better still. This isn't your standard remake of the 1980s film, this is a reboot. We're starting from scratch, we got new characters, we got familiar faces looking different, and it's not good, not horrible, it's just there. It's really just there. A watchable, confusing mess is how I would say it. Not since Zack Snyder's last zombie movie that takes place in Las Vegas has there been a lead character so, so unlikable. Here we have Riley, she's the worst. And no, it's not because she's an addict of all natures. She loves to drink, she loves to pop pills, she loves to bang. Those are all things that I can, you know, kind of get behind. No, it's because she's just obnoxious to listen to. She's always crying, she's always arguing, and she's always got her hair in her goddamn eyes. This woman's all lips. She reminded me of the character from the Muppets, I don't remember her name, but she's just got huge lips, and you can see her a little bit of her eyes, and that's about it, then just hair everywhere. It's not fun to look at. The rest of the young adults are fine, they're actually all better than her, so it would have been nice to like push her aside and focus on someone else. As it stands though, we spend a lot of time with Riley, and the first hour is a chore to sit through. It's a bore to sit through, and this movie is a snore to sit through. Did I say that? Did I rhyme three things? Anyway, it's two hours long, needed to be a half hour shorter for sure. Things don't really ratchet up until the last half hour, and I know the originals like that too. The first hour is just kind of building to the final crescendo, but the difference is the 80s movie was far stronger with the mystery and with the build-up, whereas this one I'm just waiting for it to get somewhere. People will go into movies like this, not caring at all about characters, plot points, the fact that the movie is very convoluted. There's a lot being said, not much of it's making sense. They just want to see the screams. They just want to see the murder. They just want to see the unbridled pain and anguish on display. And in that sense, you're also going to be disappointed. There's some, there's a couple moments where I was like, damn, that's cool. I like what they're doing. And they use some practical effects work, which is nice. There's just not enough of it, especially for 2022. We have all the tech at our disposal. We have top talent working in the makeup and the costume design, and all these departments put them to use. Instead, so much time is spent on Riley's internal conflict and trying to get her brother, who's gone missing, back. I thought the Cenobites looked great for the most part. It isn't until they get out in the open more, when you can really see them that you think, maybe keep them in the shadows, give them some mystery, you know? Don't put them on fully in display and light them up well. I like when they're a little bit more mystique behind them. I saw some complaints online early on. I know, it's crazy to think. People were upset that the original pinhead actor wasn't coming back. They didn't cart his ass out in a wheelchair, stick the bobby pins back in him and whatever and make him do the part. You know, the guy's like 70, I think. He's older. Yeah, he's been doing it a long time. But now they got a woman. I thought the makeup was fantastic. I thought this character was great. Doesn't come off as a woman or a man, something in between, a mix, which I believe is closer to what the book had in mind, or whatever this shit's based off of. I know it wasn't originally just a movie. Something preceded it. The puzzle box phenomenal. That thing's twisting and turning. Things are moving around. If you're looking for some scares, check something else out because there's none to find here. I didn't think the atmosphere was that great. And also, I will point this out. I had to watch this on two different TVs. The first half hour or so, we tried on our main TV downstairs. It's larger. It's not an OLED. I think it's just your standard 4K. And I couldn't see shit. Also, if you're thinking about watching this movie during the daytime, don't even bother. Throw your TV in the trash. It's not going to be able to handle the night shots, which are miserably, miserably hard to see. Once we went upstairs blanketed in darkness on the beautiful newer TV, I could see things much clearer. It looked a lot better, honestly. But what is going on with movies nowadays that just cannot get night shots correct? And it varies depending on your TV. I see people in the comments saying, you got to make sure to adjust this and this and this on your TV. People don't know how to do that shit. And they shouldn't have to. It's a problem with how these things are shot and filmed. This is one of those movies you probably could just fast forward to the last half hour. So figure things out pretty easily and just enjoy some of the debauchery on the screen. If you're looking for a movie that's a little bit more sexually charged, this doesn't really have any of that funny soft-core porn you got from the original film. There's a couple scenes, but I don't think there's really any nudity. Kind of just some dry, thrusting and nothing exciting there. Score is solid. CG work is very well done. A lot of practical effects being thrown in. We still get the scorpion chains going through people. Get over here! You get those close-ups of the flesh getting torn. It just doesn't, again, it doesn't do as much as it should for a 2022 movie. If you're trying to outdo the original, then go all in, you know? Go all in and get rid of all the crap. I don't care about the personal conflicts of these characters that are on drugs or addicted to whatever. It's not fascinating. We're here to see the torture. We're here to see the pain. But I have seen worse. I've seen much worse. So let me know if you saw this in the comments below. What you thought. Did you love it? Am I wrong on this? This was an absolute win. You can't wait for more in this franchise that inevitably will come if this does well. Let me know in the comments. Like the video if you had some fun. Subscribe if you haven't. I post tons of movie reviews every single week on the channel. Would love to have you stick around. And until then, I'll see you next time. Thanks again for watching the video. If you want to talk further about this, you can join me on Discord at AdamDoesMovies. If you really like what I'm doing here, you can check me out on Patreon at patreon.com slash AdamDoesMovies or hit that join button to become a YouTube member. You get access to 300 exclusive videos. It's a lot of good content there. No one else is seen, but the select VIP. One of them could be you. And that's an exciting prospect. See you there.