Perhaps you don’t know it, or you don’t want to know, but Dimension Films has scheduled for this year another straight to video sequel for Hellraiser, entitled Hellraiser: Judgment (2017). This would be the follow up for Hellraiser: Revelations (2011), by far the worst one of all the films in the series. In this film, “Detectives Sean and David Carter are on the case to find a gruesome serial killer terrorizing the city. Joining forces with Detective Christine Egerton, they dig deeper into a spiraling maze of horror that may not be of this world” (taken from IMDB.com).
This time, the direction duties rely in Gary J. Tunnicliffe, an experienced make up and special effects artist with over 100 credits since the 1990s but with a limited experience in directing. Yet, he is not unfamiliar with the Hellraiser universe, since he’s been in charge of the make up and effects in several of the titles in the saga. He has also been in charge of the script.
To have the chance to portrait one of the most iconic characters in horror movies is something that doesn’t happen to everyone. And actor Paul T. Taylor has had the honor to incarnate Pinhead, the most recognizable of the cenobites in all the Hellraiser films. The journal The Dallas Observer published an extense interview with the actor last week. Find here a few excerpts from the whole article:
– “It was the coolest thing that’s ever happened to me in my life. Being on that set was the coolest thing I’ve ever done.”
– “[Pinhead] was always my favorite horror icon because he was the most twisted and intelligent in my mind. And I love the fetish wear, and it’s just wrong. He’s just so wrong. Chains on hooks? That’s so gruesome and grotesque. Clive Barker’s mind is just so twisted.”
– “I opened the first page and there on the first page is a slightly balding priest in a white collar and Pinhead is summoned, and there’s this convict [on death row] with a priest and Pinhead, and you think he’s going to destroy the convict he’s helping and instead [Pinhead] destroys the priest. I was like, ‘Oh my God, this is what’s wonderful about this.’ You can either believe in destiny or not.”
– “I have a vulnerability in my acting no matter what I do. It’s just there. I think an actor has to have that first of all, to be brave enough to be vulnerable. I get cast a lot because of my vulnerability, even if it’s an evil character.”
– “He’s British because I think Pinhead has to be British, and I do a good British accent so I’d just go all the way with it and that worked. While I was in L.A., Gary [director Gary J. Tunnicliffe] showed me a clip of Peter Cushing in Star Wars where he’s making Leia choose between destroying her planet or giving him the information he’s after, and he destroys the planet anyway and he just casually says, ‘You’re far too trusting,’ and Gary says, ‘There you are,’ because Cushing is so gentle in horror films in a cold way.”
– “It’s about the stillness. [Pinhead] is already so terrifying that when he makes a move, it means something. He’s very economical and when he speaks, he’s so eloquent.”
You can read the full interview here.
