Original Pinhead performer Doug Bradley, who brought the Hellpriest to life in Clive Barker’s “Hellraiser,” made an appearance at Silver Scream Con in Massachusetts over the weekend. The horror icon spoke about David Bruckner‘s upcoming “Hellraiser” reimagining, which features Jamie Clayton stepping into the role of Pinhead.
“It seemed like [a female Pinhead] was coming. It’s an interesting piece of casting,” Bradley reportedly said. “I don’t know Jamie. Of course, they’ve taken even a little bit of a wrinkle in that, because Jamie is transgender. I’m not familiar with her recent work, but there was a science fiction series on Netflix several years ago called Sense8, which I was quite a fan of. Jamie was in that, and I really, really liked her performance in that.”
He also pointed out Pinhead broke gender norms of the time, especially in horror. “I do like to point out that I did wear a skirt as Pinhead. It’s an interesting casting decision. Well, that only goes so far. We say ‘female Pinhead’ like we know what that means, but there are a million shades of femininity. Where exactly are they going to go with that?”
“Everything about Hellraiser has always been transgressive. Everything, always, from start to finish. It’s not a new idea in that sense, but I’m intrigued. I’m in the same position as all the rest of you, I guess, to see where that goes,” he said. Bradley also emphasized the story is really what makes or breaks these movies. “It’s the story. If the story is strong, the movie will work. That’s why Hellraiser has succeeded; not because the Cenobites are gloriously fucked up and so is Julia, which they all are. All of those elements are magnificent in the film, and Chris Young’s score is one of the best ever written. All of that is true, but the story is what makes Hellraiser work, so we’ll see what happens.” This a safe stance to take since details on the new project have been vague, to say the least.
Though Bradley did give fans one new bit of information- confirming Cenobite Chatterer will be returning! “I was at Monsterpalooza, a convention in Pasadena, a couple months ago, and I met the guy who’s playing the new Chatterer. He’s like 6’9″ and a beanpole, so they’re going in lots of different directions. It’s another interesting casting idea. Cenobites of all shapes and sizes!”
The new “Hellraiser” is set to hit Hulu on October 7th, 2022.
