Hellraiser: Revival is here, finally, and it’s safe to say I thought it was great, and the majority of reviews seem to back that up. Boss Team Games, taking what was a mostly dead franchise in Hellraiser, and giving it life again. We don’t know what the future holds for the franchise, whether we’ll get a sequel, more films, or none of the above, but I have some thoughts on what other franchises I’d like to see the studio tackle. Strap in, there’s some odd ones.
Re-Animator
The first of the films released back in 1985, and the last of the three in 2003. There’s been several attempts to ‘re-animate’ the franchise, with an effort in 2017, and potentially something happening as we speak, but nothing has captured the magic of the original. Following Dr. Herbert West as he attempts to bring back dead bodies to life, the story sees it all go horribly wrong, or right, in this horror comedy.
How Boss Team Games could reinterpret this H.P Lovecraft based story is rather open-ended, and it’s inarguable they can push the body horror and sexual-aspects to the same, if not further level than they did with Hellraiser: Revival.
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Ginger Snaps
The 2000s werewolf horror movie through angst-filled emo teenagers wouldn’t be many people’s first choice for a franchise revival, but in my opinion, it’d work with a few tweaks. Make it a story in the same universe where someone is feverishly trying to stop a transformation, find a cure and stay human perhaps, or uncover a deeper society of creatures that hide in the darkness. Any excuse to get more of Katherine Isabelle’s Ginger back.
The Collector
A horror film franchise in the same vein as SAW, The Collector is and its sequel features a torture-porn like premise where a character, The Collector, hunts down a former criminal, and the family he was working for, in their own house. Transforming the house into a death chamber, containing a myriad of deadly and at times grotesque traps aimed at catching his prey for his ‘collection’.
Unlike Ginger Snaps, this is a much more one-to-one translation to Hellraiser: Revival, and could either be interpreted as a single player story where you have to get someone back from The Collector, or just an asymmetrical multiplayer game similar to that of Halloween, Dead by Daylight and so on.
Candyman
Another supernatural story originating from a story by Clive Barker, Candyman is the infamous story of the hook-handed murderer by the same name, played by Tony Todd in the original 1992 film. Summon him by saying his name five times in a mirror at your own peril, and the unfortunate demise of Tony Todd in 2024 will make a story featuring his iconic portrayal impossible to replicate, unlike Doug Bradley in Hellraiser: Revival.
That said, with the film series showing that the Candyman is the antagonist, not the character driving the story as much, it allows a wide array of ideas to be plausible within the universe. Either way, it’s something we need a video game adaptation for, so it’s a no-brainer to me.
Cube
The puzzles in Hellraiser: Revival wouldn’t be out of place in the Cube franchise. The only detractor would be the franchise’s lack of environmental changes, as it’d be hard to argue that cube room after cube room would be anything other than monotonous and boring. The deathly puzzle traps would be incredible though, and of course, plenty bloody.
Paranormal Activity
Paranormal Activity has been a horror franchise on the decline for a long while, but it does have a surprising amount of lore involved. Boss Team Games have shown that they’re more than capable of balancing the supernatural and the grounded aspects of a story. If I had a choice, I’d rather it be a completely new story in the universe though. The established characters are a bloated mess of competing creative visions, no real idea of the end point, and in some cases, irritating and nonsensical in their decisions.
The Exorcist
We’re going to ignore the upcoming film for the sake of this list. The Exorcist is a franchise on life support, and even though it’s got a film from Mike Flanagan releasing soon, the original IP is as iconic, if not more so than that of Hellraiser. The head-turning scene alone is known by people that may not even know that film.
Set the game as a sequel to the first film, ignore any and all other entries and lore, and pivot the universe in a new direction. This seems tailor-made for another first-person survival horror adventure, so again, wouldn’t be too much of a stretch for the developers to transplant their skills to.
There are countless more horror franchises, or just cinematic franchises as whole, that Boss Team Games could take their skills to, having finished with Hellraiser: Revival. The likelihood of it happening is slim, but the Narrative Director and Game Director of Hellraiser: Revival did admit they’d like to take a crack at either Hyperion, or something original from Robert Eggers, so it’s clear they’re not against more licensed IP video games.
For your next read, don’t miss our top tips for Hellraiser: Revival, or our review of Control: Resonant.
Luke Addison is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Thumb Wars. Having previously been a part of multiple outlets over the years, including building an entire gaming team from nothing to something, he thought it best to forge his own path and answer only to himself. As likely to be found playing the latest game as he is in the kitchen relaxing (by cooking), he always brings the same bold and brash attitude to everything he does, with a heavy leaning on sarcasm and dry wit!
