# Can somebody explain Hellraiser 2022 to me? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted, movies\ **Created:** [October 18, 2022, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-somebody-explain-hellraiser-2022-to-me/973437 "2022-10-18T15:21:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2022, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-somebody-explain-hellraiser-2022-to-me/973437/1 "2022-10-18T15:21:51Z")
Anybody? Yes I know it’s fantasy. But I can’t discern any consistent internal logic. Yes I know it’s a magical object. But so is the One Ring. Which is grokkable Can anyone draw me a map? "Yes I’ve seen the original, several times, and some of the sequels. But even they didn’g make much sense.) ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2022, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-somebody-explain-hellraiser-2022-to-me/973437/2 "2022-10-18T15:23:48Z")
You sacrifice six people and you get to choose one wish from the six options, but surprise… you get fucked instead. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2022, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-somebody-explain-hellraiser-2022-to-me/973437/3 "2022-10-18T16:03:31Z")
The puzzle box makes no sense. The cenobites make no sense. I mean i get the underlying premise, but not one step along the way makes any consistently logical sense. I had similar issues with the original, but i think with that one the whole was better than the sum if its parts. But i cant be sure which elements the remake retains and which it drops or adds. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2022, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-somebody-explain-hellraiser-2022-to-me/973437/4 "2022-10-18T16:06:40Z")
Could’ve maybe been some kind of masterpiece if directed by Cronenberg ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2022, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-somebody-explain-hellraiser-2022-to-me/973437/5 "2022-10-18T16:09:20Z")
There isn’t much to make sense about the puzzle box in this one, it just changes after each sacrifice. The cenobites are sadomasochistic pain worshippers from another dimension we’d probably think of as hell. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2022, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-somebody-explain-hellraiser-2022-to-me/973437/6 "2022-10-18T16:32:40Z")
If the Cenobites are seeking pleasure, and they find it in pain, wouldn’t that mean that pain was the better sensual thing? I mean, they could always stop. If you stay with them long enough, wouldn’t you find you agree? I get the impression they are there willingly. I suppose flaying alive is the best starting point. It certainly gets your attention! If you can stand that, you know what to expect. Of course, looking for logic in horror films is a fool’s errand. But _Hellraiser_ was certainly creepy! ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2022, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-somebody-explain-hellraiser-2022-to-me/973437/7 "2022-10-18T17:40:26Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > If the Cenobites are seeking pleasure, and they find it in pain, wouldn’t that mean that pain was the better sensual thing? For them, sure. I did get the impression that they 100% meant all the things they said. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2022, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-somebody-explain-hellraiser-2022-to-me/973437/8 "2022-10-18T17:51:50Z")
As with some Steven King I’ve a feeling that Cenobites are only fully understood with sufficient alcohol, cocaine, and, in their case, a ‘gimp suit’\*. \*IOW an interest in BDSM . . . as opposed to SDMB of course. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2022, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-somebody-explain-hellraiser-2022-to-me/973437/9 "2022-10-19T17:22:23Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > The cenobites are sadomasochistic pain worshippers from another dimension we’d probably think of as hell. In the source written material, which doesn’t always apply to the movies, explicitly hell as of the most recent novel (and it weakens them IMHO). > [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > I mean, they could always stop. If you stay with them long enough, wouldn’t you find you agree? I get the impression they are there willingly. In HR 2 (movie), yes, one of the people taken in HR 1 fully embraces the ethos of the cenobites. Then again, said individual was already drawn to that sort of experience, so, more of a matter of stepping up to a higher level (or lower depending on POV). Actually, the movies are always a mess, especially after 2 in which the author was no longer involved. Pick and chose what you like, what you consider canon, and shrug at the rest. Or just don’t watch most of the others, many of which were absolute crap. And I’m not letting the author off the hook, as I said his latest book involving said characters The Scarlet Gospels makes all the hints and possibilities of the earlier works explicit and single-sided to the point that it becomes trite. The cenobites were a lot more interesting when you go with the more original assumption that given an eternity of time and substantial power, that any sensation, any action that evokes a response is equally valid. Sort of like how the Eldar of Warhammer 40k fame literally murder-sexed a dark God [Slaanesh](https://warhammer40k.fandom.com/wiki/Slaanesh) into existence in a search for pleasure and meaning in a world where they were near-ageless and had no challenges to their power and influence other than themselves. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2022, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-somebody-explain-hellraiser-2022-to-me/973437/10 "2022-10-19T20:06:32Z")
Based on the other movies I’d be surprised if anyone can explain it. I am surprised that once I start watching those movies I watch them to the end. I never know what’s going on but I can keep on watching those movies I’d ordinarily have no interest in. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2022, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-somebody-explain-hellraiser-2022-to-me/973437/11 "2022-10-19T20:14:05Z")
I didn’t think this latest one was all that complicated to tell you the truth. It was your standard monkeys paw story.