Doug Bradley, the guy who played that character with all those pins sticking out of his face about 8 times, was recently interviewed in Playboy magazine, where he sounded off on what it’s been like being Pinhead all these years – and more importantly – what he thinks of the remake, which we’ll get to first:
“I just saw that announcement about an hour ago [laughs]. I have no idea whether anybody intends I will be involved in it, but I will do it again like a shot. If it involved taking different beats with Pinhead, that would also be fine by me. I think there are lots of areas that we never looked and never went to. History is not on my side with remakes that don’t intend to use original cast. You know, if it’s going to happen, it’s going to happen—and I wish it absolutely nothing but good, if I’m involved or not. I’m not the biggest fan of remakes. I saw The Omen remake on a plane because I wouldn’t have gone near a cinema to see it otherwise, because the original The Omen is one of my all-time favorite horror films. And I thought it was weird—it was like watching The Omen through a fog—it was a bit like The Omen, but it wasn’t. It was like meeting your best friend who’s been taking over by something ghastly.”
“The fans are being absolutely wonderful and it’s quite humbling to hear the things they say to me. I try to be hardheaded about it. They say, “It has to be you, it won’t be Pinhead if it isn’t you. It won’t be a Hellraiser film is it isn’t you.”
On the rumored “Michael Myers vs. Pinhead” movie from years back: “I had talked to Clive about it. My understanding was that Clive was going to write it and John Carpenter was going to direct it. It was the late [producer] Moustapha Akkad who decided he didn’t want the movie to be made. But it would’ve been interesting to find out how that would’ve worked. Pinhead likes a good conversation—and that’s a bit of a problem when it comes to Michael [laughs].”
On how well the original has stood the test of time: “Evidence suggests that it is standing the test of time inordinately well. I did see it again a couple of years ago and apart from obvious things like 1980s haircuts–ooh big hair, big hair—it didn’t seem to me that it really aged. I think partly because the ideas that Clive Barker is addressing in the film are timeless ideas. The Cenobites look like a fairly timeless kind of image to me as well. I’m aware that there’s a new generation finding the film when I’m at conventions and signings. I’m now getting people saying, “Could you sign this for my dad? He’s a huge fan.” My feeling is that there’s more interest and enthusiasm for the film now than there was then.”
For the full interview, click it HERE.
And if you want to purchase the new 20th Anniversary Edition of HELLRAISER, click it HERE.
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