Hellraiser

Film adaptations of Clive Barker’s terrifying creations are in a league of their own. From Hellraiser (1987) to Candyman (1992) to The Midnight Meat Train, the adherence to tactile effects and visceral body horror make the outlandish narratives feel improbably plausible, and are further aided by lean storytelling with few, if any, wasted moments.

David Bruckner’s modern reimagining of Hellraiser flexes many of the prior Barker adaptations’ strengths, but is also bogged down by a meandering plot — likely the result of five (?!?) credited screenwriters, including David S. Goyer (Dark City; Batman Begins).

Despite a promising opening, in which wealthy collector Roland Voight (Goran Visnjic, aka Luka from ER) uses a familiar but slightly different puzzle box to sacrifice a houseguest and commune with “God,” Bruckner’s film quickly loses momentum by hopping ahead a few years and focusing on troubled 20something Riley (Odessa A’zion, TV’s Nashville).

The shift to her personal woes makes one wonder if this Hellraiser plans on delivering any more scares, and though the puzzle box coming into her possession gradually returns suspense and gore to the equation, sights of inter-dimensional monsters — the reason for any Hellraiser film’s existence — remain sadly rare.

That all changes, however, when Riley and her friends (none of whom warrant a mention here) break into Voight’s mansion and attempt to stop their supernatural haunting. There, Pinhead — err, The Priest (Jamie Clayton, Sense8) — and the other Cenobites get the chance to shine, with The Chatterer (Jason Liles) and its ceaseless dental chomping proving especially memorable.

The steady sights of these evil entities and the exquisitely crafted body horror that they inflict result in a generally captivating finale and ably sets up an intriguing sequel. But the overlong journey to these payoffs makes one hope that Bruckner chooses different collaborators going forward — or hands the series’ reins to someone else altogether.

Grade: B-minus. Rated R. Available to stream Oct. 7 via Hulu

(Photo: Searchlight Pictures)