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Stream Queens Horror Podcast Episode 87: Hellraiser (2022)

·2 hr·10 clips

I do hold you in totality responsible.

Rachel opens by saying Hellraiser 2022 has been a long, long, long, long time coming. Mars comes back excited and admits she had to rewatch the movie quickly because the screener memory had already gone soft. Lerold and Justin return for one last misadventure through the entirety of the Hellraiser series for now, and the reunion immediately slides into friendly blame, old jokes, and the kind of loose chatter the show wears well. The group spends time catching up before the film talk really settles in. When it does, the panel is clear that this reboot is not being praised because the plot is elegant. It is being praised because it actually feels considered. One host says the movie starts and finishes as a Hellraiser movie, which sounds simple until the rest of the franchise is put beside it. That comparison matters because the conversation keeps circling back to how messy the later sequels got. The panel also compares the reboot to other horror titles like Prey and finds it lacking in a broader sense, but that complaint is softened by how much better it behaves than Hellraiser 3 through 10. The original Hellraiser, The Hellbound Heart, and Hellraiser 2 are treated as examples of how simple this series can be when it works. The hosts argue that the simple version usually works best. They are less impressed when the movie starts explaining itself too much. That is where the plot draws the most side-eye. Still, the group likes the turn where Riley realizes the Lament Configuration can be used against the Cenobites. That moment gives the humans a little power back, and the panel clearly enjoys that shift. The mansion also gets a lot of love. The show leans into the idea that the house itself becomes part of the puzzle, almost like a weird Lament Configuration of its own. The hosts keep landing on the same point: this film feels more thought out than the last nine Hellraiser movies. The bar is low, and everyone knows it, but the episode uses that low bar as both joke and standard. By the end, the whole thing feels like a rowdy horror hangout that actually stops to notice what the movie is doing right.

As heard by us

A candid Hellraiser check-in that gives the reboot credit for feeling more considered than much of the series.

Stream Queens treats Hellraiser 2022 less like a fresh verdict and more like a reunion with a movie they had been waiting to hash out. The strongest stretch is the one that sits with what the reboot gets right: Riley turning the Lament Configuration back on the Cenobites, and…

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

You want a Hellraiser 2022 discussion that is equal parts banter and franchise comparison.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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