Hellraiser: Judgment

Plot

Three detectives — Sean Carter, David Carter, and Christine Egerton — investigate a serial killer, only to discover a much deeper threat of other worldly proportions.

Cast

Development

Although most of the direct-to-video Hellraiser sequels were conceived as original screenplays that were later converted into Hellraiser films, Hellraiser: Judgment was intended to be a Hellraiser film from the beginning. After not being able to direct Hellraiser: Revelations, which he wrote, Gary J. Tunnicliffe was given the opportunity to write and direct a new Hellraiser film by Dimension Films. Dimension Films were required to make another entry in the franchise in order to maintain the rights of the intellectual property. Tunnicliffe pitched Hellraiser: Judgment to Dimension Films three consequetive times, only to be rejected by the studio. As a result, Tunnicliffe wrote a script treatment for a more traditional Hellraiser film titled Hellraiser: Into Darkness to show that he could come up with other ideas. Although the studio embraced Into Darkness, Tunnicliffe insisted on making Judgment. After the studio demanded that Tunnicliffe make excessive changes to the Judgment script, Tunnicliffe removed the Hellraiser elements from it and attempted to make Judgment as an independent film. After Tunnicliffe was unable to find financial backers, he tried to obtain funding via Kickstarter for a brief period of time, but later removed the funding campaign from the site. Dimension Films eventually agreed to allow Tunnicliffe to write and direct the film as part of the Hellraiser franchise.

Although the film originated as a Hellraiser film, it was still Tunnicliffe's intention to differentiate Judgment from its predecessors, with his mantra being to "innovate, not replicate". Tunnicliffe promised that Judgment "will have moments unlike any other [film] you have ever seen", taking inspiration from the works of Hieronymus Bosch, Francis Bacon, David Cronenberg, David Lynch, David Fincher, and Hellraiser creator Clive Barker. Tunnicliffe later elaborated, "I knew what I wanted to make, and I felt like 'you know what, I wrote a traditional Hellraiser story with Revelations and I got raped by the fans. I'm not going to try and appease the fans anymore.' I'm going to make a film for me and I have a very strong idea visually on where I want to go with the story and its going to be very different. I'm going to make a food for me and offer everybody a bite." In regards to the negative reception of the most recent entries in the series, Tunnicliffe responded "I think there has been a huge gap since Dimension are actually trying to do their best by the franchise. I think [The Weinstein Company is] well aware that Hellworld was rushed into production and suffered for it, and Revelations suffered a similar set of problems (when the rights issue came up fast and furious without anyone knowing). Judgment is a rights issue movie, but has been made with the sensibilities and input given to a regular budgeted Dimension feature." In acknowledgment of the negative reactions to Hellraiser: Revelations, Tunnicliffe stated that he was devastated that he was unable to direct the film, and that he was unhappy with the final cut and divergences made from the script. According to Tunnicliffe, "To the fans, I would say this… I know you’ve been let down, and trust me, I have too, but simply give me a chance. I know we can never make a film as great as the first two Hellraiser's, but I think we have a fun script here [and] an opportunity to give you all something that feels a little familiar, a little different, completely terrifying and is a worthy part of the Hellraiser Canon."

Casting

Gary Tunnicliffe wanted Doug Bradley to reprise his role as the lead cenobite known as Pinhead. Bradley refused, criticising Dimension Films for the perceived quality of the Hellraiser sequels. After Tunnicliffe pleaded with him, Bradley again refused to accept the role after he learned that he would have to sign a non-disclosure agreement to obtain the screenplay. In an interview with Bloody-Disgusting, Bradley commented saying "I’m not really in a position to comment on Judgment, having been prevented from reading the script. For the moment I only have Gary [Tunnicliffe]’s comments to go by. He certainly talks a good game: let's wait for the proof of the pudding. It's depressing that, as with Revelations, this again seems to be happening to save Dimension from losing the franchise rights." Paul T. Taylor was later cast in the roles of Pinhead and a separate character known as The Auditor. Tunnicliffe described Taylor as "a classically trained stage and film actor who brings a great physical presence and more than a hint of Peter Cushing and Ralph Fiennes." In addition, it was announced that Mike Jay Regan would reprise his role as the Chatterer from the previous films, with A Nightmare on Elm Street actress Heather Langenkamp also portraying a character in the film.

Filming

Filming for Hellraiser: Judgment took place in Oklahoma, United States, on a relatively small budget. Gary Tunnicliffe and Director of Photography (D.P.) Samuel Calvin prepared substantially before shooting in order to maximize shooting time, and put complex camera and lighting set-ups into place, with an average of 30-35 set-ups per day. According to Tunnicliffe, all departments were enthusiastic about their work and a single work day never went over thirteen hours. Filming locations included a derelict building, a bar, a high end apartment building and penthouse suite, a church interior, a children's playground, alleyways, and on stages and sets built by the art department. At one point, one of the lead actresses nearly passed out during the filming of a particularly graphic scene. During the filming of another scene, three people had to leave the set in order to vomit. Partially due to the film's low budget, some of the actors had to be persuaded to arrive at certain shoots. Speaking of the filming process, Tunnicliffe stated "I'm a great believer in really using the time on set. You only get up to twelve to thirteen hours a day, maximum, and I don't like going over time and over budget. I like to have a strong plan going in and the way I do that is that I act out the entire script with my D.P., we act out everybody's roles in every scene. We pick our angles based on that." Many of the local Oklahoma civilians contributed to the shoot by suggesting specific locations and, at one point, a car dealership loaned a van for the film.

Special effects

The make-up effects team was led by Mike Regan and Mike Measimer, who helped bring to life a number of characters in the film including Pinhead, Chatterer, the Stitch Twins, The Butcher, The Surgeon, and The Auditor. Paul T. Taylor's portrayal of Pinhead is intended to be leaner, meaner and more 'no-nonsense' than previous incarnations of the character, lacking the glib one-liners from the earlier films. This was incorporated into the make-up and costume design of the character, with longer pins, deeper cuts, solid black eyes, and a more visceral and sleeker wardrobe. Tunnicliffe had to balance directing the film and overseeing the FX work. When discussing the quality of the blood effects, Tunnicliffe said "I don’t think it’s so much the quantity of blood but more the nature of the effects, the content and the context. I think some of our blood gags are actually quite beautiful; when you see blood raining down on a naked girl with a skinned face at 300 frames per second you can’t help but be mesmerized by the fluid dynamics." For the wardrobe, Tunnicliffe would send pictures to the wardrobe department of what he wanted the characters to wear; the department would go on to size the actors. The costumes that had to be designed and build for the Cenobites and other characters were handled by Tunnicliffe's department.