Yesterday, the good folks at USA Today unveiled their 2022 Fall Movie preview, and right smack dab in the middle of that post was a brand-new image of Jamie Clayton’s Pinhead, soon to be seen in David Bruckner’s forthcoming Hellraiser (which, as you surely know by now, hits Hulu on October 7th).
Their version’s a little dim, though. Let’s take a look at a hi-res, brightened version of that same photo and see what we can see.
So, a few fun details stick out here!
For starters, we’ve got those dual metal plugs in Pinhead’s throat, one right on top of the other. Each has a similar symbol on it (whatever that symbol is looks suspiciously close to the sorta thing you might see on Hellraiser‘s iconic Lament Configuration), and each seems to be plated in gold. We’re not sure if these will serve any real purpose in Pinhead’s day-to-day exploits, but they’re definitely cool to gawk at. There’s also the matter of that little light on the back of Clayton’s neck. That is a light, right?
Also worth noting: the deep, S-shaped incision running up the side of Clayton’s face. This is ultimately a very small alteration to the classic Pinhead formula, but it makes an impression: the wound looks like it’d be raw and angry – wide enough to look into, even! – but the way it curves along Clayton’s skull (and, in profile, finds a sort of symmetry with the spider’s web of flesh tendrils wrapped around the neck) is, well, kind of beautiful. If that dichotomy doesn’t perfectly encapsulate Hellraiser, I don’t know what does.
With Bruckner’s film only a month away, it seems likely that we’ll finally be getting a trailer for this one sometime soon. Stay tuned for that, and for any other Hellraiser updates that might come along between now and the film’s Oct. 7th arrival on Hulu (oh, and don’t forget to pick up the next issue of FANGORIA Magazine, which has a ton of great Hellraiser content tucked within its many pages).
