Hellraiser's David Bruckner Explains the Designs for the New Cenobites
In director David Bruckner's new Hellraiser reimagining, streaming now on Hulu, author Clive Barker's Lament Configuration introduces a whole new cast of characters to unimaginable sights and sadistic pleasures. Based on the 1987 horror classic of the same name, when struggling addict Riley McKendry (Odessa A'zion) finds herself in possession of said puzzle box, she unwittingly looses the will of the Cenobites on the people around her. In an interview with Bloody Disgusting, Bruckner revealed his approach to recreating some of the most iconic figures in horror movie history for audiences three decades later.
The Cenobites are entities from an alternate dimension that are summoned when someone "solves" the Lament Configuration, a totem of sorts that causes a rift between universes, allowing these beings to pass through. Like in the original films, Bruckner's Cenobites are led by the enigmatic Pinhead, played by actress Jamie Clayton in the reboot, whose single purpose of existence is to harvest anyone daring (or foolish) enough to summon them. The unfortunate souls are then whisked away to the Cenobites' dimension, where they are essentially tortured for eternity in a demented sort of limitless "pleasure" experience. Unlike the original films, Bruckner was tasked with devising wholly unique concepts for these new-generation Cenobites, because rather than copy what needn't be improved on, the director feels "creatively, that’s a way to show one’s appreciation... you have to be willing to allow it to change in some way or another. To not think of that as a violation of what we love, but as a continued conversation."
In order to achieve something that both honored the past and represented the present, the director acknowledged what it was about the Cenobites that made them pillars within the genre. "Back then we allowed some Cenobites, leather-clad Cenobites, to scare the hell out of some suburbanites that were afraid to look at themselves in some way," Bruckner said in reference to the original BDSM-inspired design. In the late '80s something like "fetish culture" was pushing limits, but now "you’re talking about a conversation that’s high in consent and communication...It’s kind of everywhere in some way...such an overt nod might play differently nowadays. We were exploring alternatives to that." Thus, six new Cenobites, not including Clayton's, were introduced: a new design of The Chatterer (Jason Liles), The Gasp (Selina Lo), The Weeper (Yinka Olorunnife), The Mother (Gorica Regodic), The Asphyx (Zachary Hing) and The Masque (Vukasin Jovanovic).
In regard to the thought process behind how to bring something sensually disturbing into a more sexually-realized 21st century, Bruckner said:
"How do we do that now in a way that is still shocking and can unsettle us? And we had an idea, and I don’t actually remember where the initial idea came from. But the notion came from a conversation of what is leather, if not a representation of skin form-fitting that can accent the human body in various ways. And we started thinking about extreme versions of body modification, and this idea emerged of, what if they were their own leather? What if they were so modified that their flesh was tailored in such extreme ways that it felt like clothing? And that it had all the personality you might find on a work of art bestowed upon a runway model. Except it was born of the body, and it could have the potential to capture the regal vanity that the Cenobites carry, which is, again, a reflection of their principled nature towards their pursuits."
Concept is one thing, but seeing the new Cenobites in the flesh (pun obviously intended) required the expertise of SFX artists Josh and Sierra Russell (The Ritual), and conceptual artist Keith Thompson (Crimson Peak). As a team they worked tirelessly beginning in 2020 to dream up these new nightmares, and then to actualize them with prosthetics — full-body prosthetics — was a huge feat in itself. That's full coverage for seven bodies, for which the Russells "came up with a really fascinating way to create the skin suits that was a two-layered approach where you have a muscular base layer, and then you have the skin layer that sits on top of it..." and then "a little bit of VFX augmentation to pull it all together and paint out the seams."
Bruckner's Hellraiser is adapted to an original screenplay by Ben Collins, Luke Piotrowski and David S. Goyer, who all worked with the director on the thriller The Night House. Barker served as producer for the film, which also stars Adam Faison, Drew Starkey, Brandon Flynn, Aoife Hinds, Kit Clarke and Goran Visnjic.
Hellraiser is currently streaming on Hulu. Check out Collider's interview with Bruckner and Clayton below:
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