Special effects artist Gary J. Tunnicliffe has been associated with the HELLRAISER franchise for over twenty-five years now, first becoming involved when he joined the FX crew of HELLRAISER III: HELL ON EARTH. He has provided effects for every sequel made since, writing and directing his own HELLRAISER fan shorts along the way… and then even getting to write and direct feature installments in the series.
Tunnicliffe wrote 2011's HELLRAISER: REVELATIONS, and wrote and directed the most recent sequel, HELLRAISER: JUDGMENT, which was just released on home video last week.
The future of the HELLRAISER franchise may now be in question, because things seem to be uncertain at production company Dimension Films – which has been quite shaken by scandals in recent months. But if the series does continue anytime soon, Tunnicliffe has an idea for how he would like to follow up on the shocking conclusion of HELLRAISER: JUDGMENT, which finds horror icon Pinhead in a very unexpected situation. SPOILERS if you haven't seen JUDGMENT yet – the movie ends with Pinhead having been turned back into a mortal man.
Speaking with ComicBook.com, Tunnicliffe revealed that he didn't make that ending with a story of how to follow it up in mind, it just seemed like a great way for Pinhead to be defeated at the end of the film. But since filming JUDGMENT two years ago, a sequel story has occurred to him:
I have thought about it afterwards, what I think would be great fun. Maybe a new Cenobite ruler comes in, or takes over, and a new head priest comes in, and it's not working out and clearly this person, this Cenobite's not doing a great job. And underhandedly, the Auditor is leaving a trail of breadcrumbs for the guy who is Pinhead to find his way back, and he gets pulled in. And then it's like, he turns up, and it's like a showdown between the newly born Pinhead and this guy who's taken over his mantle. It's like, and we do a bit of a standoff, and it's like battle of the Hell priests."
That sounds like it could be interesting, and I do think JUDGMENT needs a sequel, because that ending leaves a major question in mind: how will Pinhead become a Cenobite again? We know he regains his immortality, because HELLRAISER: BLOODLINE showed us that he was his powerful Cenobite self in the year 2127. The story of him getting his place in Hell back should be told.
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