Pinhead Actor Doug Bradley Tears New Hellraiser Sequel Apart

It seems the ‘Hellraiser’ franchise still has some sights to show us… but original Pinhead actor Doug Bradley wants no part of it.

Bradley - who played the leader of the demonic Cenobites in 1987′s original ‘Hellraiser,’ and reprised the role in all but one of the eight sequels made to date - has distanced himself from the latest film in the series, which quietly went into production this week.

The 61-year old Liverpool-born actor declined to star in the last film in the series, 2011′s straight to DVD ‘Hellraiser: Revelations,’ over concerns about the direction and script - but in the case of the new film (also expected to go straight to DVD), Bradley hasn’t even seen the script.

This, the actor explained to his followers on Facebook, is due to what he considered very unreasonable demands made by the writer-director:

“First I heard about this new film was around Christmas in a phone call from Gary Tunnicliffe, who was my make-up artist on Bloodline through Hellworld. Gary, you may recall, also wrote the screenplay for Revelations. He has written and is directing this new effort…

“Gary said he would send me a copy of the script when he had completed a second draft, but before I could be allowed to set eyes on the precious document, I was required to sign a gagging order.

“This was a three page document preventing me from talking about the script ‘in restrooms’, 'on elevators’, 'in restaurants’ or 'in cellular telephone conversations which may be overheard’. There was also dark reference to 'people talking out of turn at conventions’. I read this thing in disbelief, and informed Gary I would not be signing it.

“And that’s that. Clearly, I am deemed too much of a security risk to be allowed to read a Hellraiser script. People are starving to death in Syria and they’re worried about me talking about a Hellraiser movie? Get a f***ing grip. Can you say 'sense of proportion’?”

Dimension Films, who have owned the rights to the ‘Hellraiser’ series since 1993′s ‘Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth,’ have reportedly been trying to get a big screen ‘Hellraiser’ reboot off the ground for almost a decade, but to no avail thus far.

Most fans and critics were of the opinion that 2011′s ‘Hellraiser: Revelations’ - a quickly and cheaply produced found footage movie, which saw Bradley replaced by Stephan Smith-Collins as Pinhead - was only made to keep Dimension’s option on ‘Hellraiser’ from expiring.

It seems fair to assume the same situation may apply to this new sequel - and Dimension are presumably keen to keep hold of these rights, particularly considering they have not long since lost ownership of another long-standing horror franchise, ‘Halloween.’

Bradley also confirmed that ‘Hellraiser’ creator Clive Barker has no involvement in the new film either. However, it is confirmed that actress Heather Langenkamp - famed for her work in another iconic horror series, ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’ - has a role in the film.

Picture Credit: Dimension Films, Flickr/Ian Aberle

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