Though to be fair that has less to do with the quality of Books Of Blood (2020) – though it is quite good – than because most of the adaptations of Barker’s extensive body of work aren’t particularly worth watching.

Hellraiser (1987), Hellbound: Hellraiser II (1998) and Hellraiser: Bloodline (1996) are the best of the bunch (though my third entry is HIGHLY debatable in that I imagine some probably prefer Hellraiser: Inferno (2000) over Hellraiser: Bloodline though I’m reasonably certain no one prefers Hellraiser: Revelations (2011)).

The most recent version of Books of Blood is story-wise and thematically similar to the 2009 movie, with the exception that John Harrison’s movie feels padded compared to Brannon Braga’s version.

That might have something to do with this most recent version adding additional stories lines to Barker’s original, expanding it’s scope. This makes sense because the original story while conversely pretty accurate to the original story I aways felt was given more than it deserved.

And that’s not a dig at the story more than it doesn’t warrant an hour and 40 minute movie.

This latest version shrinks the size of Barker’s original story, which makes the entire affair that much more effective.