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Review: ‘Hellraiser: Judgement’ Verdict, a Step Up in the Franchise

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Hellraiser as a franchise seems to be as immortal as the Cenobites themselves, especially the iconic Pinhead. We’ve gone to Hell and back, to outer space and the world wide web, and needless to say, there have been dips in quality. After all these years, we find ourselves at entry number ten with Hellraiser: Judgement, and surprisingly, a return to form of sorts.

Image via Youtube

The story follows police detectives and brothers, the religious but quick-tempered Sean Carter (Damon Carney) and the more grounded and analytical David Carter (Randy Wayne) as they investigate a series of brutal serial murders perpetrated by a figure known only as The Preceptor, who kills based on violations of the Ten Commandments IE cutting off the hands of young thieves and leaving them on display. They are joined by the level-headed Christine Edgerton (Alexandra Harris) as they seek out the Preceptor, ending up snared by a concurrent plot by Pinhead and his new Cenobite crew to entrap and capture sinful souls.

The project was written and directed by FX veteran Gary J. Tunnicliffe, who also stars as one of the lead Cenobites. The German accented Auditor that calculates a captive’s sins. Tunnicliffe shows his love and appreciation for the roots of the franchise while also attempting to expand on the lore. Even setting the Cenobite’s base of operations at the familiar location of 55 Ludovico Place. As well, there’s The Assessor (John Gulager), who devours and regurgitates the written sins to a Jury of naked women, who then send the accused to the Butcher (Joel Decker) and Surgeon (Jillyan Blundell), a grotesque giant hunchback with a baby-mask and a gas masked gimp with twin blades. These Cenobites stand on their own, though their aesthetic is a little different from the usual types with leather and disfigurement. Standing out from returning Cenobites like Pinhead and even Chatterer.

Image via Youtube

After so many DTV entries, Hellraiser: Judgment is a breath of fresh air as it truly feels effort was put into the writing and production. And major kudos for doing so on a rather limited budget. The detective storyline is rather hit-or-miss, but the Cenobite scenes are on point. Now, for the pale white, nail encrusted elephant in the room: Pinhead. Sadly, Doug Bradley left the franchise with Hellraiser: Revelations but the Pinhead of this film, Paul T. Taylor makes a solid effort. Capturing the Cenobite leader’s presence an sense of forboding, acting as more of a calculating figure from behind the shadows.

This isn’t just Pinhead going around killing people as some of the sequels sadly reduced the character to. He has a philosophy and commands his Cenobites to do his bidding. The addition of an angelic seeming character, Jophiel (Helena Grace Donald) attempting to sway Pinhead did feel a bit out of place, bring the mythos to more Biblical terms rather than cosmic sado-masochistic horror.

Overall, Hellraiser: Judgment is a step in the right direction. It’s been compared to being a fan-film, but if anything, that’s a badge of honor at this point. Who knows the roots of the franchise better than fans? If you’re a fan of the more subdued original Hellraiser films, this is definitely worth checking out, and making judgement for yourself.

Hellraiser: Judgment is now out on Blu-ray and DVD.

Image via Movieweb

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Another Creepy Spider Movie Hits Shudder This Month

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Good spider films are a theme this year. First, we had Sting and then there was Infested. The former is still in theaters and the latter is coming to Shudder starting April 26.

Infested has been getting some good reviews. People are saying that it’s not only a great creature feature but also a social commentary on racism in France.

According to IMDb: Writer/director Sébastien Vanicek was looking for ideas around the discrimination faced by black and Arab-looking people in France, and that led him to spiders, which are rarely welcome in homes; whenever they’re spotted, they’re swatted. As everyone in the story (people and spiders) is treated like vermin by society, the title came to him naturally.

Shudder has become the gold standard for streaming horror content. Since 2016, the service has been offering fans an expansive library of genre movies. in 2017, they began to stream exclusive content.

Since then Shudder has become a powerhouse in the film festival circuit, buying distribution rights to movies, or just producing some of their own. Just like Netflix, they give a film a short theatrical run before adding it to their library exclusively for subscribers.

Late Night With the Devil is a great example. It was released theatrically on March 22 and will begin streaming on the platform starting April 19.

While not getting the same buzz as Late Night, Infested is a festival favorite and many have said if you suffer from arachnophobia, you might want to take heed before watching it.

Infested

According to the synopsis, our main character, Kalib is turning 30 and dealing with some family issues. “He’s fighting with his sister over an inheritance and has cut ties with his best friend. Fascinated by exotic animals, he finds a venomous spider in a shop and brings it back to his apartment. It only takes a moment for the spider to escape and reproduce, turning the whole building into a dreadful web trap. The only option for Kaleb and his friends is to find a way out and survive.”

The film will be available to watch on Shudder starting April 26.

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Part Concert, Part Horror Movie M. Night Shyamalan’s ‘Trap’ Trailer Released

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In true Shyamalan form, he sets his film Trap inside a social situation where we aren’t sure what is going on. Hopefully, there is a twist at the end. Furthermore, we hope it’s better than the one in his divisive 2021 movie Old.

The trailer seemingly gives away a lot, but, as in the past, you can’t rely on his trailers because they are often red herrings and you are being gaslit to think a certain way. For instance, his movie Knock at the Cabin was completely different than what the trailer implied and if you hadn’t read the book on which the film is based it was still like going in blind.

The plot for Trap is being dubbed an “experience” and we aren’t quite sure what that means. If we were to guess based on the trailer, it’s a concert movie wrapped around a horror mystery. There are original songs performed by Saleka, who plays Lady Raven, a kind of Taylor Swift/Lady Gaga hybrid. They have even set up a Lady Raven website to further the illusion.

Here is the fresh trailer:

According to the synopsis, a father takes his daughter to one of Lady Raven’s jam-packed concerts, “where they realize they’re at the center of a dark and sinister event.”

Written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, Trap stars Josh Hartnett, Ariel Donoghue, Saleka Shyamalan, Hayley Mills and Allison Pill. The film is produced by Ashwin Rajan, Marc Bienstock and M. Night Shyamalan. The executive producer is Steven Schneider.

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Woman Brings Corpse Into Bank To Sign Loan Papers

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Warning: This is a disturbing story.

You have to be pretty desperate for money to do what this Brazilian woman did at the bank to get a loan. She wheeled in a fresh corpse to endorse the contract and she seemingly thought the bank employees wouldn’t notice. They did.

This weird and disturbing story comes via ScreenGeek an entertainment digital publication. They write that a woman identified as Erika de Souza Vieira Nunes pushed a man she identified as her uncle into the bank pleading with him to sign loan papers for $3,400. 

If you’re squeamish or easily triggered, be aware that the video captured of the situation is disturbing. 

Latin America’s largest commercial network, TV Globo, reported on the crime, and according to ScreenGeek this is what Nunes says in Portuguese during the attempted transaction. 

“Uncle, are you paying attention? You must sign [the loan contract]. If you don’t sign, there’s no way, as I cannot sign on your behalf!”

She then adds: “Sign so you can spare me further headaches; I can’t bear it any longer.” 

At first we thought this might be a hoax, but according to Brazilian police, the uncle, 68-year-old Paulo Roberto Braga had passed away earlier that day.

 “She attempted to feign his signature for the loan. He entered the bank already deceased,” Police Chief Fábio Luiz said in an interview with TV Globo. “Our priority is to continue investigating to identify other family members and gather more information regarding this loan.”

If convicted Nunes could be facing jail time on charges of fraud, embezzlement, and desecration of a corpse.

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