Friday, September 23, 2022

Hellraiser : Butchering Pinhead

Hasn't Hollywood figured out we don't want remakes anymore? STOP IT!

One of the problems with modern remakes is too much CGI, especially a movie or franchise where the practical effects are so amazing they still hold up today.

Another problem with modern remakes is the race or gender swapping of main characters. Most of us don't care what the race or gender of the main characters are when they are brand new; just make them a great character either hero or villain. Changing the race or gender of a popular or well established character is just pandering.

So what is happening to the Hellraiser reboot : gender swap of Pinhead, kinda'. It might have too much CGI too, but I don't know.

Full disclosure, I don't care about the Hellraiser franchise. The first one came out when I was 18 and I found it boring; in fact, I don't know if I finished watching it or even just fell asleep during it. However, I've been meaning to try to revisit it.

So how established is Pinhead as a male, or how deep is the franchise before this swap?

  • 10 movies
  • 4 Novels
  • 103 Comic books (if I counted correctly)

What makes this gender swap more infuriating is that in the comicbooks there is a female Pinhead, Kirsty Cotton. In the storyline, after years of fighting cenobites, she agrees to take Pinhead's place as the Hell Priest and takes on his disfigurement. Kirsty Cotton even appears in the movies fighting cenobites. Maybe that's who they'll make this reboot Pinhead to be? But this is billed as a reboot, and the storyline reads like it is the same first movie.

Brace for fans picking this simplification apart.

So this Pinhead reboot is played by Jamie Clayton, a trans-woman, a faux-woman. So is this really a gender swap? Or is this appropriate casting having a mutilated man playing a cenobite?

All I know is this sounds woke, woke as Hell.