Hellraiser: Bloodline original screenplay by Peter Atkins is now available!

Last Updated on December 18, 2021

Here’s a cool bit of Hellraiser news that flew under my radar until our own Lance Vlcek brought it up on the latest episode of The Arrow in the Head Show, which you can check out in the embed above: paperback and Kindle editions of screenwriter Peter Atkins’ original script for Hellraiser: Bloodline (watch it HERE) are now available for purchase at THIS LINK!

Hellraiser: Bloodline was a famously troubled production, with director Kevin Yagher leaving the project when distributor Miramax / Dimension demanded substantial reshoots. Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers director Joe Chappelle ended up taking the helm for the reshoots, the movie was recut, and Yagher took his name off of it. Getting the chance to read Atkins’ script will help fans get a better idea of the movie Hellraiser: Bloodline was meant to be… but wasn’t.

Here’s the info on the published screenplay:

With a brand new introduction by author, Peter Atkins

You may well be a fan of the first two or three Hellraiser movies who found that your relationship with this fourth one was … well, what shall we say? Complicated, maybe? You may, if you were of a kindly and forgiving nature, have found the film somewhat interesting, even occasionally entertaining, but you probably also found it confusing, felt that something just wasn’t right about it. You may have noticed the director’s name—Alan Smithee—and googled it, and discovered that Alan Smithee doesn’t exist, that the name is a pseudonym sometimes applied to movies that have been significantly troubled during production and post-production by crises both financial and creative. Whilst you’ll never get to see a Director’s Cut of Hellraiser: Bloodline, you can read in this book what was supposed to be…

Hellraiser: Bloodline has the following synopsis:

Three generations of the same family deal with the consequences of unleashing the forces of hell. In 18th-century France, Paul L’Merchant works as a toymaker until he’s coerced into creating a box that serves as a portal between hell and Earth. The box summons demonic Angelique and Pinhead, who — 200 years later — hunt down John Merchant. Then, centuries later, Phillip Merchant prepares for a final confrontation.

Bruce Ramsay, Valentina Vargas, Kim Myers, Adam Scott, Courtland Mead, and Christine Harnos star, with Doug Bradley as horror icon Pinhead.

You can find out more about the mess behind the scenes of Hellraiser: Bloodline and its screenplay in the episode of WTF Happened to This Horror Movie embedded below.