While the studio had entertained the notion of a full reboot, they settled on a sequel instead, to be run by make up effects designer, writer and director Gary J. Tunnicliff.
Three detectives (two of whom are brothers) are tracking a gruesome serial killer. But asa they search for clues and information, they find that their killer may not be exclusively of this world. One of the brothers is haunted by nightmares after a terrifying experience in which he is brought before the Auditor.
The film adds an entirely new bit of mythology, that kind of ties Pinhead to an old school religious demon role. The Auditor sits and has those who open the box sit and confess their sins. They then feed the confessions to Assessor who then vomits them to the jury who give judgement…adding a whole trial process is kind of interesting. It is more gross than horrifying, and really, not the kind of grossness you would normally associate with the franchise. They also introduce an opposite to Pinhead in a
The Auditor is probably the most interesting addition. He types the confessions using the Confessor’s own blood. This creates quite a visual. However, at the same time, the color schemes for scenes involving Pinhead really dull the character down. While the Actor looks a little more like Bradley’s Pinhead in make-up, the dark blues and bright whites light Pinhead in a distinct and ominous way that Judgement fails to do. And this is just not Doug Bradley…and so it never really feels like Pinhead for me.
The final product is some interesting ideas, but nothing all that compelling to watch.