In this new movie, recovering addict Riley (Odessa A'zion) accidentally finds herself in possession of a strange puzzle box thanks to her bad influence boyfriend, Matt (Brandon Flynn). It's as much a 'reboot' as any of the franchise's other installments (there are 10 of them-11 now, counting this one) that tossed out new characters and ideas without so much as a backwards glance to the story put forth across 1, 2 (and 6, kind of, if you want to get technical). The characters-barring one or two familiar-ish Cenobites-are brand-new, the story is brand-new, and the mythology of the world has been changed to benefit them. It wouldn't be completely accurate to call new Hellraiser a proper reboot-it doesn't attempt to retread any of the ground covered in either the original Clive Barker novella, The Hellbound Heart, or the original movie from 1986.

And better yet-it turns out that it actually was worth the wait, however hellish the road to this point may have seemed. But now, thankfully, the puzzle has been solved at long last and the Hellraiser reboot is finally here with director David Bruckner (The Night House) at the helm and Hulu acting as distributor. It seemed strangely appropriate, if disappointing, that a franchise founded on the idea of being trapped in a nightmarish liminal reality would find itself in production hell for so long. There have been whispers of a Hellraiser 'reboot' for over a decade, with the project entering and exciting various stages of development, changing hands between production companies, writers, directors-you name it.

The hellbound heart review