‘Hellraiser III: Hell On Earth’ Might Have Told A Very Different Story


Clive Barker is best known to moviegoers as the mastermind behind the Hellraiser franchise and, of course, Doug Bradley is best known as the lead villain in that franchise, Pinhead. Bradley just revealed that Hellraiser might have had a very different history if Mr. Barker had been allowed to pursue his original dream for the third film in the franchise, Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth. Long-time fans of the franchise know that story and it is one of the better installments in Hellraiser history, but it might have been better — and very, very different.

Doug Bradley Reveals Clive Barker’s Original Plans For Hellraiser III

There’s no denying that Doug Bradley made a massive impact as Pinhead in the first two Hellraiser films, but the actor now reveals that it was never Barker’s intention to continue on with the Pinhead character in subsequent sequels. In fact, Bloody Disgusting shares the news that Clive was already plotting out Hellraiser III during the filming of Hellbound: Hellraiser II (1988), and the story had nothing to do with Pinhead at all.

While die-hard Hellraiser fans may be shocked to learn that the author turned director wanted to get away from the Pinhead story arc, Clive may have had an even better story for us. The planned story of the third Hellraiser film would have gone back to ancient Egypt to tell the story of the very first cenobite.

“Clive had a plan for a third Hellraiser movie which he was working on while we were filming Hellbound that didn’t involve Pinhead at all,” Bradley explained. “It was a story set in Ancient Egypt. The Great Pyramid was the first Lament Configuration that was built to raise the great Pharaoh, who was the first Cenobite.”

Introducing the Great Pyramid as a Lament Configuration, possibly as the Lament Configuration upon which all others were based, might have changed the direction of the entire Hellraiser franchise and could have kept the franchise on top with bigger budgets and better stories. This different plot would certainly have changed Hellraiser: Bloodline, the follow-up to Hell on Earth, as Phillip L’Merchant (Bruce Ramsay) could no longer have been the creator of the Lament Configuration.

There’s no telling now how this alternate timeline might have played out unless Hollywood grabs onto this and tries to run with it. A rebooted Hellraiser franchise that doesn’t try to copy Doug Bradley’s Pinhead might do far greater than the direct-to-video releases, which have followed Hellraiser: Bloodline with poor acting and mediocre storylines.

Hellraiser: Judgment Introduces A New Pinhead And Another New Cenobite

While Doug Bradley is reminiscing about Hellraiser’s greatest hits and what might have been, filmmaker and long-time Hellraiser fan Gary J. Tunnicliffe is moving forward with his own addition to the franchise. Hellraiser: Judgment will recast the role of Pinhead, bringing in Paul T. Taylor as the new lead cenobite, reports Dread Central. The direct-to-video addition to the franchise will also introduce a host of new cenobites, including one known as the Auditor.

Hellraiser: Judgment released a first look at these newly cast characters and their look seems to fall in line with Clive Barker’s more traditional vision for the cenobite characters, but it still remains to be seen how the actors perform in these roles.

“Detectives Sean and David Carter are on the case to find a gruesome serial killer terrorizing the city,” reads the official synopsis for Hellraiser: Judgment. “Joining forces with Detective Christine Egerton, they dig deeper into a spiraling maze of horror that may not be of this world. Could the judgement awaiting the killer’s victims also be waiting for Sean?”

Hellraiser: Judgment, starring Randy Wayne, Heather Langenkamp, and Rheagan Wallace, will be released on DVD later in 2017.

[Image via Dimension Films]

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