I really wanted to love Hulu’s reboot/relaunch/continuation of Clive Barker’s Hellraiser and while there were many pleasures to be found – for instance, Ben Lovett’s music and Eli Born’s cinematography – there was one problem that I found to be unforgivable, virtually a cardinal sin as far as relaunching anything goes.

And that’s knowing when to – and when not to – change details pertinent to the mythology.

Hellraiser crosses that line, remaking the wheel when the one that already exists worked pretty well.

Having seen every movie in the series – and having re-watched five for this review – the functioning of the Lament Configuration was never a problem needing correction, yet for whatever reason someone (I suggest David Goyer, if only because he wrote the story along with Ben Collins and Luke Piotrowski, as well as produced the movie via his ‘Phantom Four’ production shingle. Goyer also wrote and directed Blade: Trinity, proving he isn’t above killing successful franchises) felt the need to change a detail that was never a problem in the first place.

As I said, I watched five Hellraiser movies before watching David Bruckner’s reboot and I never once had an issue with the mechanics of the Lament Configuration.

Mediocre, wooden acting? Soft-focus cinematography? Not-so-special special effects? Maybe, but the Lament Configuration?

Never a problem in need of correction.