‘Hellraiser: Judgment’ Director Offers Internet-Only Commentary

The latest chapter in the Hellraiser franchise, Hellraiser: Judgment, landed on Blu-ray last month and, while fans were eager to check out the feature film, were disappointed that the disc didn’t come with many special features. The film’s writer/director Gary J. Tunnicliffe has been involved in the series for many years, with fans left underwhelmed at not getting any insight from the filmmaker on the decisions he made on the production. Luckily, Midnight’s Edge uploaded a feature-length commentary on their YouTube channel which you can sync up to your copy of the film to learn more about bringing the film to life.

In the film, three detectives trying to stop a diabolical serial killer are sucked into a maze of otherworldly horror, where hellish denizens including the Auditor, the Assessor, and the Jury await to pass judgment.

This latest installment manages to both appease long-time fans of the franchise while also pushing the film into new territory. Pinhead actor Paul T. Taylor shared how his approach to the character offered a version of the character fans hadn’t quite seen before.

“I think it kind of came from the script. It came from Gary’s direction. In this script, it seems that Pinhead is in more of a sort of bored place, but the arrogance is all there,” Taylor told ComicBook.com of his more subdued portrayal in Hellraiser: Judgment. “He has all the power. As he says unknowingly, he doesn’t know what’s going to happen, he says, ‘I have nothing to fear.’ He’s just at a place in his life where he’s jaded. I think he’s possibly older than he’s been before in other films, if you can age, a demon can age. In Clive Barker’s world, a demon certainly can age. If you’ve read the Scarlet Gospels.”

Tunnicliffe also detailed that his inspiration for making the film came from an unexpected source.

“I was really trying to use the classic kind of [Alfred] Hitchcock mentality,” Tunnicliffe detailed of his process. “And it’s not a Hitchcock film, and I don’t mean to suggest that I’m Alfred Hitchcock, but I heard a story, and maybe I’m completely wrong, that Hitchcock would say, ‘Look, most of the film is just talking heads, and that’s how we’ll shoot it, but then we’re gonna pick three scenes, and those are the scenes we’re gonna go kinda crazy on, and make them kind of hopefully memorable.’ Then you think of Hitchcock’s movies, and you always go, ‘Oh, yeah. There’s that scene and that scene that are really, really good, and the rest of it is pretty standard coverage.’”

Head to Midnight’s Edge YouTube channel now to listen to the commentary.

Hellraiser: Judgment is available on Digital HD and Blu-ray now.

Were you a fan of the latest chapter in the Hellraiser franchise? Let us know in the comments below!

[H/T YouTube, Midnight’s Edge]

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