Even before the new Hellraiser came out, we are already in love with the new Pinhead, Paul T. Taylor.
Taylor is taking up a role of epic proportions as Pinhead is the most loved character of the franchise and he will be first seen in the upcoming Gary J. Tunnicliffe movie Hellraiser: Judgement. He has been extremely chirpy and has given several interviews about strapping on leather and dishing out a saga from hell to the audiences. Most of the interviews have seen Taylor in a jovial mood, which indicates that he is a true blue horror lover who is relishing the thought of regaling his fans.
We will pick up his snippets now as during a chat with TrunkSpace. He clarified that Hellraiser: Judgement is not going to create any confusion among the younger audiences, but, said that it served as a great platform for future films and confirmed that there are plans for a sequel (assuming that Dimension Films were set to approve that).
“Some people may not understand exactly who Pinhead is,” Taylor said when he was questioned about ‘Judgement’ being a good launch pad for future films. “They may want to go back and look at ‘Hellraiser’ 1, 2 and 3… maybe even 4… and see some of the history. But, at the same time, it is a new chapter. It’s an unexplored part of Hell; I would say, introducing some new characters and some new mechanisms behind where Pinhead and all of that comes from. And, it’s also a jumping off point for a sequel following this one that could continue the story that it tells because it’s a true ‘Hellraiser’ script with a beginning, a middle, and a sort of ambiguous end. And these new characters they introduced could be in future ‘Hellraiser’ films.”
He, in fact, went on to relate the film to torture porn, which was quite surprising:
“I think people are going to be fascinated with it and the gore elements that we get from like the ‘Saw’ movies and the things that are total, what I would say, on the border of horror porn,” he added. “There’s some elements of [‘horror porn’] in it, and that will please many ‘Hellraiser’ fans and many fans of just what contemporary horror can be these days where it’s just a gross-out.”
When it comes to special effects, Taylor is not fascinated by CGI and he loves the practical work. He said as far as he knew, there was no CGI in the film.
“‘Judgment’ is using, of course, real effects, but also there is a possibility of using CGI,” he explained. “I don’t know how much CGI is used in this. I only know that where I shot, we used real effects, which I was really happy about because, I mean, you go back to the first few ‘Hellraiser’ movies and that’s all real effects. It’s like REALLY well done…I prefer real effects over anything. If you can make that stuff look real… there you go.”
As we told earlier, Taylor is a happy person who doesn’t get bogged down by fan negativity, no matter whatsoever. Although, he will bring to screen his own version of Pinhead, he went on to appreciate the work done by Doug Bradley.
“I was warned from the very beginning about [fan reactions]. My first meeting with Gary J. Tunnicliffe, the director, when I went out to LA to get my head cast done so they could do the makeup… or actually, maybe it was a conversation over the phone even before that… he said he had my back and that he was on my side, but he did warn me that the hardcore fans were going to be brutal. So, I went into it with open eyes and an open mind. I’m not afraid of anybody. I mean, it’s just words and, you know, words can hurt, sure. If they see the film and they don’t like me as Pinhead, that’s their prerogative to spew hate, but really, every actor is different. As much as I’m going to try to do sort of an homage to Doug Bradley’s Pinhead and ‘Hellraiser’s’ history, this is a new film, and I’m a different actor.
I can’t be Doug Bradley. Hopefully, I bring myself to it and people like what they see. I just hope that I’m appreciated in the role for the work I did do. I really, truly believe that more than one actor can play one role… in any case. There are so many actors and so many talented actors; it’s silly to think that only one person could play the Frankenstein’s monster, for example. Look how many people played him. So, yeah… people are entitled to their opinions, but I’m not worried.”
He further added: “I’m more excited about people who DO like me as Pinhead than I am worried about people who don’t like me as Pinhead.”
Apart from Taylor, the film is also starring Heather Langenkamp (A Nightmare On Elm Street), Damon Carney, Randy Wayne, Alexandra Harris, John Gulagher, Mike Jay Regan, Diane Goldner, Andi Powers, Jeff Fenter, Helena Grace Donald and Grace Montie.
The new sequel shows that “Detectives Sean and David Carter are on the case to find a gruesome serial killer terrorizing the city. Joining forces with Detective Christine Egerton, they dig deeper into a spiraling maze of horror that may not be of this world. Could the Judgment awaiting the killer’s victims also be waiting for Sean?”
We will update you further about the release etc. as soon as more news is available.
