HELLRAISER: JUDGMENT director Gary Tunnicliffe spoke to the kind folks at Dread Central about the tenth entry in the franchise, releasing a cool new backstage photo in the process. You can check out the bloody, urban, black-and-white photo below! But perhaps the most important bit of information to come out of this interview regards the film's rating.
A lot of films have been disappointing hardcore horror fans lately by trimming gore and language to appeal to a PG-13 audience, but not HELLRAISER. Says Tunnicliffe emphatically:
Yep, R, with hopefully an unrated version too, although don’t expect lots of gratuitous gore. It’s the nature and context of what we shot that made it intense. But yes, no PG-13 horror films from me, I’m happy to say. I’ve never seen the point personally! I like my horror like I like my coffee: no sugar and very strong!
Now that's a quote we want to hear from a horror director! The gross, goopy, psychosexual HELLRAISER franchise has no place in the realm of teen horror, and it's reassuring to see that Tunnicliffe intends to keep on carrying that torch in this film, which is certainly looking to be a bit more accessible than the endless sprawl of direct-to-video sequels that only haphazardly connect with the franchise mythology.
HELLRAISER: JUDGMENT tells the story of
a police officer’s pursuit of a serial killer who undergoes a final accounting of his soul by creatures of the underworld.
Paul T. Taylor leads the cast as the demonic Pinhead. He is joined by Damon Carney as Detective Sean Carter, Randy Wayne as Detective David Carter, Alexandra Harris as Detective Christine Egerton, Jeff Fenter as Karl Watkins, Helena Grace Donald as Jophiel, Grace Montie as socialite Crystal Lanning, FEAST / PIRANHA 3DD director John Gulager as The Assessor, Diane Goldner as The Cleaner, Andi Powers as a member of a hellish jury, and Mike Jay Regan as Chatterer (Regan has worked on six previous HELLRAISER movies and played Cenobites in four of them).
A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET's Heather Langenkamp as a foul-mouthed landlady. Regarding her role, Tunnicliffe says:
What I can tell you is her character isn’t called Nancy; she doesn’t wear a red and green striped dress or work at the Elm Street Motel… She plays a pretty grungy character, and she plays it straight. We’re trying very much to play the whole thing intense and unflinching, and Heather came on board and did just that.
Check out the full interview with Dread Central RIGHT HERE!