Hellraiser Creator Clive Barker "Astonished" By Revival

Hellraiser: Revival Gets Clive Barker's Seal Of Approval Published Oct 15, 2026, 8:38 AM EDT James Lucas is an Executive Editor at TheGamer who has worked in professional journalism since 2018. A Newcastle University graduate with a degree in Journalism, Media, and Culture, they have written hundreds of guides, news stories, and original reports, with bylines in IGN, NME, GaymingMag, and VG247, sourcing interviews with studio heads, legendary industry figures, prominent actors, and more. An expert on FPS games, Soulslikes, RPGs, and survival horror, James has intimate knowledge of a wide variety of titles, providing in-depth coverage and exclusive profiles. Some of the games they have extensively covered include: Half-Life 3, Counter-Strike, Elden Ring, and Fallout. They pride themselves on their consistently thorough research, leveraging nearly a decade of industry experience. You can reach them at James.t@thegamer.com Sign in to your TheGamer account Hellraiser: Revival might be divisive among critics, with a Metacritic score of 69 (fitting), but the game just got the one seal of approval that matters most: Clive Barker's. "I was fearful at one point that the game would be overly censored, but I'm genuinely astonished by how far they've been able to push it," Barker said in an interview with Dread Central. "I think for the audience that loves Hellraiser and horror video games, this will be a knockout." In fact, Hellraiser: Revival has pushed things so far in the opposite direction that a YouTuber's channel was permanently banned for showing the game despite censoring the game's explicit intro. Barker says that he's "proud as fu**" of the end result, telling Dread Central that he was "astonished by the quality of the content" and that the game's "defiance is extraordinary." "Astonished By The Quality" Barker's delight that the game refuses to flay Hellraiser's edges is hardly surprising; he was fighting the same battle nearly 40 years ago, when he gave an interview with The Daily Calumet speaking out against the censorship of the original movie. "I don't think there's anything in my picture which is gratuitous. I think it's trying very hard to break some new ground in terms of what you can show, but it's all related to the narrative," he explained at the time. "I don't care how grisly, strange or gory it is if it makes sense within the narrative. We're making a horror picture, not Terms of Endearment 2." But it's not just the guts, gore, BDSM, and sexual excess of the cenobites that matter to Barker. It's also Doug Bradley reprising the role of Pinhead. "Doug is Pinhead and Pinhead is Doug," Barker continued. "They occupy the same space. He does a wonderful job and I would have hated to see anyone else in that role. I've known Doug since he was 14. He's been my best friend for most of my life. We worked on theater together for 7–8 years before Hellraiser. Doug was always magnificent. We had no money, but we learned to become artists with each other. We taught each other. We didn't go to theater school." Released October 8, 2026 ESRB Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Nudity, Strong Language, Strong Sexual Content, Use of Drugs Developer(s) Saber Interactive Publisher(s) Saber Interactive Genre(s) Action, Horror, Psychological Horror, Survival Horror, Puzzle