Hulu’s reboot of the ’80s supernatural slasher “Hellraiser” takes big swings at original writer/director Clive Barker’s established lore. Aside from updating the setting and cultural concerns of the main characters, this iteration reimagines Barker’s sadomasochistic vision of cosmic hell with new creature designs and rules that inform the worldbuilding.

The story involves a young addict in recovery named Riley (Odessa A’zion) who is temporarily living with her brother Matt (Brandon Flynn) and his boyfriend Colin (Adam Faison). When she begins to date Trevor (Drew Starkey), someone she meets in AA, the group dynamic bends under the stress of their possible relapse, as it’s obvious that Trevor isn’t as committed to staying clean. Soon, Riley finds herself in need of quick cash, so her new lover takes her to an abandoned storage center to find something they can sell. There she finds the mysterious occult puzzle box. After the box is altered, she sets into motion a series of configurations that brings on untold anguish and punishment from another realm.

Director David Bruckner is not without a vision here. The set design, the lighting, the cinematography and the costume/make-up find the perfect balance between Barker’s imagined world and something modern and streamlined. The film provides atmosphere in spades and the fleshy demons known as the cenobites blend perfectly into the rainy urban setting. Jamie Clayton as the iconic demonic leader Pinhead owns this new interpretation without falling into the trap of trying to do an impression of the original actor Doug Bradley. Previous “Hellraiser” reboots have attempted to change the setting or the principal cast and failed to bring anything as visually stunning as Bruckner’s tasteful interpretation.

Unfortunately, in perfectly capturing the tone and spirit of this world on an aesthetic level, the film is hobbled by a meandering script full of woefully unlikeable characters. Riley slips into becoming a helpless victim of circumstance through most of the runtime and whines and cries through sequences where her problems should be the last thing on her mind. Matt and his partner constantly squabble with the protagonist and never develop into anything that moves the plot in an interesting direction. The only character who seems to have agency is the criminal screw-up, Trevor.

The time spent acclimating us into this dysfunctional family drags the movie into a bog of irrelevant and unconvincing drama. The movie recovers somewhat when we reach the final act and the cenobites play a bigger role, but the opportunity comes too little and too late to save the picture.

Bruckner does what he can with a mediocre screenplay and the twists towards the third act keeps the story barely above water, narratively speaking. There have been a glut of terrible direct-to-video “Hellraiser” sequels, and if we’re grading on a curve, this one surpasses most of those. Even still, Barker’s low-budget attempt to adapt his own short story in 1987 taps into something more archetypal and literary in its crass deconstruction of the gothic romance genre. Instead, “Hellraiser” 2022 is a collection of impressive set pieces and art direction, strung together by the bland motivations of a passive set of CW youths.

Grade: C-

Cassidy Robinson is a former Idaho State University student with a master’s degree in film studies from Orange County’s Chapman University. He is currently working as a media journalist in Los Angeles, California.