Pinhead in Clive Barker’s Unmake 2014 Remake Was Someone Else—But Someone We’ve Met Before!
A few days ago, we shared a video produced by one of our favorite UK film critics and academics, Mr. H, in which he pieced together the plot of Clive Barker’s unmade Hellraiser remake, announced in 2014. Though information was scant, he managed to unearth some tantalizing fragments, enough to create a thrilling window into what might have been.
Related Article: Video Pieces Together Full Plot of Clive Barker’s Unmade HELLRAISER Remake
Since then, Mr. H has gotten his hands on the notoriously hard to get script. He’s promising to share its contents in a series of upcoming videos and began today with a look at everyone’s favorite Cenobite: Pinhead! If you’re worried that the information revealed contains spoilers, it’s important to note that this film will likely never see the light of day.
The WWI British Captain Elliot Spencer no longer exists in the reimagined Hellraiser; rather, Pinhead was Phillip L’Merchant, the 18th Century toymaker who created the Lament Configuration! It’s a stunning yet brilliant bit of retcon, one that eternally links the puzzle-box to its creator. To learn how L’Marchant became the Hell Priest, along with his new function and power, give Mr. H’s video a spin below.
If you can’t stream, the main points are briefly summarized below the video. Enjoy!
- Phillip L’Merchant is a prisoner on Devil’s Island where an evil warden forces him to create and then open the Lament Configuration. Once opened, the warden eviscerates L’Merchant, his blood flowing into the puzzle box as he carves a grid into the toymaker’s forehead. Moments later, Pinhead emerges with his signature nails at the intersections of the grid.
- Pinhead is dressed in a white robe, a far cry for his leather/vinyl attire of the blackest black.
- Pinhead is no longer a balanced, administrator of order; rather, he’s a being of pure evil. In a display of extreme cruelty and indifference, he murders an entire maternity ward full of newborns using a mist that emanates from his wrists. He later uses this same mist to reanimate a dead body.
- Pinhead can create Cenobites at will but travels with none, another departure from the original (and the novella The Hellbound Heart) where Pinhead was a member of a sect known as The Order of the Gash.
- There is a scene where Pinhead opens a “third eye” by depressing one of the nails in his head; from there, he’s able to pull fluid into a syringe. It’s not clear what the liquid is, but he intended to inject it into Kristy Cotton.
- Pinhead no longer comes with hooks and chains; rather, he’s followed by vines that grow and weave along the walls wherever he goes.
What do you think of Pinhead as he’s reimagined in Clive Barker’s unmade Hellraiser remake? Sound off in the comments below or on Facebook, Twitter, and/or Instagram!
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