Hellraiser: Judgment is a 2018 American horror film written and directed by Gary J. Tunnicliffe, based on the characters created by Clive Barker. The tenth installment in the Hellraiser film series, the film stars Damon Carney, Randy Wayne, Alexandra Harris, Heather Langenkamp, and Paul T. Taylor, and centers on three police detectives who, investigating a series of murders, are confronted by the denizens of hell. The film expands the fictional universe by introducing a new faction of hell: the Stygian Inquisition. While the Cenobites offer sadomasochistic pleasures to humans that enter their dominion, the Inquisition processes the souls of sinners. Tunnicliffe plays the Inquisition's auditor, a prominent role in the film.
Unable to direct his screenplay for Hellraiser: Revelations (2011) due to a scheduling conflict, Tunnicliffe initially removed all references to the series from his Judgment concept and tried to have it funded as an independent film in 2013. He intended on making a "true" Hellraiser film because of his disappointment with the later films. Several years later, Dimension Films was required to make another Hellraiser film to retain the rights, giving Tunnicliffe a chance to propose his vision. The concept was initially rejected but accepted after he negotiated changes with the studio executives. It was filmed in Oklahoma with Children of the Corn: Runaway, both films produced by Michael Leahy. It is the second Hellraiser film without Doug Bradley as Pinhead; newcomer Taylor was cast after impressing Tunnicliffe in an audition. He and Tunnicliffe decided to develop a new look and interpretation, rather than imitating Bradley's performance.
Judgment was scheduled for release in 2017 with minimal marketing to avoid negative publicity, but was temporarily shelved. According to Taylor, its release was not a priority for Dimension until the sexual abuse allegations involving parent company co-founder Harvey Weinstein (when the film was put back into post production). It was distributed by Lionsgate Films in video on demand and home media on February 13, 2018. Although critics compared the film favorably to its predecessors, its low budget and police procedural aspects were criticized.
Plot In Hell, Pinhead from the Cenobite sect, and the Auditor of the Stygian Inquisition are discussing how to adapt their methods of harvesting souls in the face of advancing human technology that is making the Configurations—gateways to Hell—obsolete. Meanwhile on Earth, three detectives—brothers Sean and David Carter, and Christine Egerton—investigate a serial killer known as the Preceptor, whose murders are based on the Ten Commandments.
A connection with one of the victims leads the detectives to Karl Watkins, a local criminal who went missing near an abandoned house. Sean goes there and loses consciousness, waking up in the Stygian Inquisition's domain in Hell. As the Inquisition prepares to hand down a verdict on Sean for his sins, the angel Jophiel intervenes and tells them to release him. Sean escapes the realm with a stolen puzzle box, and the Auditor requests Pinhead's guidance on the matter. Sean and David return to search the house, finding no trace of Hell or the Inquisition. That night he is haunted by visions of the Cenobites and Hell's denizens, who promise "judgment and redemption" to anyone who opens the box.
Sean and Christine go to the coroner Hodge's office and find that a cell phone of one of the Preceptor's victims was stored in her body, recording her final location with its GPS. They find the Preceptor's hideout, where Sean incapacitates Christine and reveals himself as the killer. David deduces the Preceptor's identity and meets with Hodges to find the building. Upon arrival, Sean disarms David and reveals that he is holding his wife Alison hostage, outraged that she had an affair. He forces David and Alison to open the box at gunpoint, summoning the Cenobites and opening a gateway to their realm.
Aware that someone from Hell would come to collect his soul after his initial escape, Sean attempts to offer Alison and David to Pinhead. Pinhead tells him they will be dealt with for opening the box, but because a separate faction of Hell wanted his soul, no deal will be made. The Auditor appears, telling Sean the Inquisition has found him guilty of his sins. Jophiel intervenes again and protests to Pinhead and the Auditor that Sean is part of Heaven's plan to instill fear into sinners. Pinhead arranges for Christine to kill Sean, and spitefully dispatches Jophiel. As punishment, God banishes Pinhead to Earth, tormented by the want of suffering. In a post-credits scene, a group of Mormon missionaries in Germany approach a house and are answered by The Auditor.
Cast and characters
Damon Carney as Detective Sean Carter / The Preceptor: A police detective and Iraq War veteran who investigates a string of murders and discovers an other-worldly threat. Unbeknownst to his colleagues, he murders people who violate the Ten Commandments. Randy Wayne as Detective David Carter:Sean's partner during the investigation. Wayne initially questioned some of Tunnicliffe's decisions; according to the director, defending a character to the actor was not a problem for him: "I think Randy wants to trust the Director and you have to earn that by showing respect for the process. Once that trust was established, Randy relaxed and found David". Alexandra Harris as Detective Christine Egerton: A detective who assists Sean and David in the murder investigation. Although Christine did not appear in the original story, the studio suggested her as a foil to Sean and David. Heather Langenkamp as the Landlady: Langenkamp, known for her role as Nancy Thompson in A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), plays an obscene, cigarette-smoking landlady in Judgment. Casting director Chris Freihofer, who was acquainted with Langenkamp, showed her the screenplay before suggesting her to Tunnicliffe. He was pleased that Langenkamp agreed to take part in the film, since she is regularly offered horror-film roles. Paul T. Taylor as Pinhead: The leader of the Cenobites, a religious faction of mutilated humans in Hell who belong to the Order of the Gash and offer those who solve the Lament Configuration sadomasochistic pleasures. His face is marked with cuts arranged in a grid, with nails inserted into the intersections of creased flesh. Taylor made his debut as the priest of Hell, who was played by Doug Bradley in the first eight films and Stephen Smith Collins in Hellraiser: Revelations. According to Taylor, in Pinhead's Judgment character arc events directly affect him (unlike the more recent sequels, with "him just showing up and doing his job"). Tunnicliffe was inspired by Hellbound: Hellraiser II (1988) in crafting Pinhead's fate in Judgment climax: "I got to a point where I was writing the end of the film, and I thought, 'Well, he came from being immortal. We saw him birthed in Hellbound,' which I really loved, and I thought, 'If you're the king, then the very worst thing that can happen to you is you get stripped and thrown out with the paupers'". The filmmaker said that if he had had the budget, Pinhead would have been shown getting stripped of his pins and his clothing shredded. He suggested an ending in which a naked, now-human Pinhead is found on a rainy night bleeding in a gutter by a policeman, with the grid still in his face. Gary J. Tunnicliffe as the Auditor: A clerk in Hell who notes a person's sin before sending the person to the Assessor for judgment. The Auditor's typewriter paper is made of flesh and inked in blood; he often carries a music box that plays "Für Elise" as a comforting remnant of his human past. According to Tunnicliffe, the character is German. Not a Cenobite, he is part of the Stygian Inquisition separate from the Order of the Gash (one of Hell's many orders). There are many auditors in the Inquisition; Tunnicliffe's character shares the faction with the Assessor, the Jury, the Butcher and the Surgeon. Other members (the Bone Collectors, the Seamstress, the Sentinels, the Order of Exudation, and the Effluviam) were planned for introduction but removed for budgetary reasons. The character was influenced by Sam Lowry from Brazil (1985) and Itzhak Stern from Schindler's List (1993). The Stygian Inquisition lures their victims (candidates) to houses on earth that connect to Hell, evaluating their sins and desires to decide their fate. Occasionally, its victims are deemed more suited to the Cenobites. Time and budget contributed to Tunnicliffe playing the character, allowing him to come in before shooting to apply the make-up; prosthetics could be applied in advance, and a body double could be used as needed. He accepted acting advice from a number of sources (including Damon Carney), and Mike Leahy and script supervisor Pepper helped direct his on-screen scenes. Tunnicliffe said: "I've been acting for many years, I love the franchise and I wanted to play the character. I thought in the very worst-case scenario if I suck, then I can dub myself later!" John Gulager as the Assessor: A gluttonous member of the Stygian Inquisition who processes pages given to him by the Auditor and passes the results to the Jury. Although Tunnicliffe had never seen filmmaker John Gulager act, he knew that Gulager is an actor and wrote the Assessor for him. Gulager previously directed the horror films Feast (2005), Feast II: Sloppy Seconds (2008), Feast III: The Happy Finish (2009), and Piranha 3DD (2012). Mike Jay Regan as the Chatterer: A Cenobite and follower of the Order of the Gash with facial deformities and continuously-clicking teeth. Succeeding Nicholas Vince in the role, Regan played the Chatterer Torso in Hellraiser: Inferno (2000) and the Chatterer in Hellraiser: Hellseeker (2002), Hellraiser: Deader, and Hellraiser: Hellworld (both 2005).
Grace Montie plays Crystal Lanning, a dog-loving socialite whose murder sets the plot into motion. Rheagan Wallace plays Alison Carter, Sean's wife. Diane Goldner plays a Cleaner, an aging nude woman and part of the Stygian Inquisition who forces her tongue on victims as penance. Tunnicliffe conceived the Cleaners as in their nineties (similar to the three Witches from Macbeth), saying his worst nightmare would be being chained to a bed with old women licking him clean. Andi Powers plays one of the Jury, three nude women in their twenties with skinless faces who hand down verdicts from the Inquisition. Other acting credits include Jeff Fenter as sinner Karl Watkins and Helena Grace Donald as the angel Jophiel. Judgment is the first Hellraiser film to include Heaven in its mythology. According to Tunnicliffe, he took influence from The Scarlet Gospels, stating "I am in no way religious, but if you are writing a story that acknowledges the existence of Hell, then you have to acknowledge the existence of Heaven. I'm a big fan of things like Constantine and Prophecy, so it was fun bringing those characters into it".
Production Development