Clive Barker returns to 'Hellraiser' franchise as horrifying HBO series
Horror lovers can't ever get enough of Hellraiser. The saga started with the 1987 horror film which author Clive Barker himself directed successfully. He is returning to HBO with another adaptation of his novella The Hellbound Heart as one of the various executive producers of the series. Halloween director David Gordon Green is on board to helm the initial episodes of the series.
Barker's vision and Green's execution culminating on one of the greatest horror franchises sounds like music to the ears of lovers of this genre. Mark Verheiden of Battlestar Galactica fame will be the show-runner, while also writing the series with Michael Dougherty (Trick r' Treat). It were co-executive producers Dan Farah and Marc Toberoff who got Barker interested in this.
Talking about expectations from the franchise, Barker said he was, "delighted the Hellraiser mythology is seeing a new life. It's time the stories went back to their roots." "I'm eager to bring to a new audience the most powerful and ancient elements of horror: the darkest evil invading our human lives and how we must find in ourselves the power to resist it."
Certainly, any adaptation without keeping the original author in the loop would have spoiled the efforts of recreating a masterpiece such as Hellraiser, and Farah agrees to that notion. "Hellraiser started with Clive's imagination and we couldn't be more excited to have him on board," he said. This is Hellraiser's first TV series and Barker is back to this after working on Bloodline (1996).
As per the 1987 film, Hellraiser narrates the life of Frank, who opens a gateway to hell through a box. The gateway brings back monsters called Cenobites who tear Frank apart. Frank's remains are rescued by his former lover Julia and her husband Larry, who fall prey to Frank's commands. The franchise has 10 films, several books, comic books and merchandises to its credit.
