Bloody-Disgusting spoke exclusively with horror icon Clive Barker yesterday for the first part of an extensive and very frank interview on a number of topics, from The Midnight Meat Train release fiasco and the new DVD/Blu-ray (which Barker admits he is pleased with) to the many upcoming projects he has going, from short fiction to novels and film projects. Read on for the skinny and an update on the Hellraiser reboot.
On the highly-anticipated remake of Hellraiser by director Pascal Laugier, Barker says he is in regular contact with the director and will soon be reading Laugier’s treatment. "I'm supposed to get his treatment this week,” Barker tells BD. “After which, I think I'm meeting him here in Los Angeles and then I guess he’s going to go in and write the screenplay. I liked Martyrs a lot. I’m very excited at the idea of him doing it.”
Barker is happy to pass the reigns of the franchise over to the capable hands of Laugier and says he feels confident that the Martyrs director will do the Cenobites proud. “The first version will always be there,” says Barker. “Pascal is a very talented filmmaker, obviously a lot more talented than I was when I stepped onto the sound stage on [the first] Hellraiser and I hadn’t really directed anything before... I am completely open and ready to be blown away. I don’t have any possessiveness about it. I just want people to have fun.”
As to Barker’s involvement in the production, he admits that will depend on the location. “I assume if it’s shot in Los Angeles, I won’t be able to stay away. But if it’s shot in Europe or [elsewhere], I haven’t been told about any of that, so we’ll see what happens.”
The Hellraiser remake recently got some unintentional focus when makeup designer (and Hellraiser franchise vet) Gary J. Tunnicliffe created a new design for Pinhead on spec, hoping to land the job on the remake. The designs weren’t popular with fans, nor with Barker. “I didn’t like them,” Barker admits. “I thought they were provocative in the sense of hopefully making people take notice of what worked and what didn’t work. I feel that the Pinhead design works best because it’s geometric. It’s very severe and schematized. Each of the squares are the same size, all the scars are laid out in a straight line. It isn’t the work of somebody going at somebody else’s face with a chainsaw. That, I think, is what makes the thing scary - ritual scarification. This is not crude, vicious slashing.
“I think the combination of a very organized system of scarring with a nail at every intersection is almost mathematical in its precision. The fact that that’s been done to somebody or worse, that they’ve done to themselves, is what makes that image powerful. Once you take away the squares all being the same size and the nails all being the same length, you are just left with a slasher victim, which I don’t think Pinhead is. I think Pinhead is a priest at the alter of a S & M.”
We’ll have more next week from our series of interviews with Barker including updates on Dread, Tortured Souls, Down Satan and The Midnight Meat Train trilogy plans.
He took the words right out of my mouth. I want to know how strong he is pushing for the return of Doug Bradley, which I think is absolutely necessary to have. I would love to interview that guy.
While I personally feel Doug Bradley IS Pinhead, in the same way Legosi is Dracula and Englund is Freddy, I wouldn't mind seeing some new blood here. If this is going to be a "new take" on Hellraiser, then I don't want my classic Pinhead in the mix. Now if they would ever decide to make a true sequel to Hellraiser III, then by all means put in Doug Bradley.
Doug would probably be best, but you know how Hollywood is with new talent and such...But if they do the revamp closer to how the hellbound heart was written I don't see a prob..and Yes Doug is pinhead,Lugosi the big D, Kane Jason..but I guess we'll see
I just hope Pascal has the ability to push the Weinsteins to do what he wants. I keep hearing that they went it to take place in a college with hot chicks and stuff. That's NOT a Hellraiser movie.
Pascal will take care of it, I'm not worried about that at all. I think he's the person to be directing if any. Also, I welcome a new Pinhead, shit could get darker than you think.
Mr. D "I keep hearing that they went it to take place in a college with hot chicks and stuff. That's NOT a Hellraiser movie."
My god, no. Please, just...no. I'll F'n vomit.
Pinhead just like Freddy, I can't see anyone else doing their parts. They did the characters so well that it would strange to see another person in their role. So I'm not really wanting them to remake this movie. OR Freddy!!!
Someone (Big Bad Wolf, actually) beat me to the punch: WHERE THE FUCK ARE THE SCARLET GOSPELS?! And the next Book of the Art? It's kinda like the Stephen King situation with The Dark Tower series: what the hell is gonna happen if anything happens to Clive before he drops these puppies? I wanna know how they end!!! Hellraiser remake? Meh. Just gonna end up with an assload of unsatisfied people bitching and moaning about how Laugier fucked it up totally and how they, as simple moviegoers, could've done better. Gimme mah books, Barker!!
Yes, I do agree that Pinheads scars are geometric and the nails are perfectly positioned. This gives the effect of deliberate torture, nothing random which is truly sadistic and calculated by evil. I want the Scarlet Gospels also Please ,Clive give us a break !!!! Yes, I do feel since Hellraiser is one of my fave movies of all time in the genre, I am feeling mixed emotions about a remake . I would be elated if it actually was a quality film but I like others are used to being disappointed by the remakes that have been done lately.
I'm sorry but Martyrs was fucking dire and so having the remake in the hands of the guy who made that rubbish does not bode well, however happy Barker maybe with him! As for Pinhead, while I get what Barker is saying regarding his look, surely just following the same vision is pointless as this is supposed to be a remake and a new vision.
Any time the douchebag duo of the Weinsteins is involved, I get worried. They have ruined many a film with their pushy meddling. They don't seem to have any interest whatsoever in making a good film. They just want to cash in the easiest way possible.
Anyway, I'm still looking forward to this remake. The Hellbound Heart was a wonderful short(ish) story that morphed quite a bit into a whole other entity with Hellraiser. I hope this remake will look to the original source for inspiration and come up with its own interpretation (at least somehwat) rather than try to be a carbon copy of Hellraiser with CGI. I loved Hellraiser and the sequel, but there's no need for a full retread of those films.
don´t be ridiculous. There is NO OTHER Pinhead then Doug Bradley. There just isn´t. Nobody could ever give this role its elegance as Doug does. If Doug doesn´t play Pinhead I swear to Leviathan I will NOT watch the movie. Maybe I go a little far here and I would watch Nightmare with a new Freddy but I could NEVER watch a Pinhead which is not Doug. Not even Englund is making every single scene his very own like Doug does. Everyone else would fail compared to Doug. Bring a new Michael,a new Jason,a new Leatherface even a new Freddy thats fine with me. But you just can´t put any other actor in this costume and make up then Doug. It just can´t be done if you want this movie to be taken seriously as a Hellraiser movie.
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