Gary J. Tunnicliffe | The Auditor / Director / SFX

How did you first get involved with the Hellraiser franchise?

I’m hardly a visionary but it’s very kind that you would even consider me so.

How did I get involved?…I was a fan!…drawn in by the Books of Blood and the writings of Clive Barker, when I finally got to see Hellraiser in 1987 I think I was 19, I just sat in the cinema looking up at the screen (and in particular Pinhead) and said How did they do this, Who did this and THAT is what I want to do. I was a just a regular working stiff in a small town in Staffordshire, England, reading FANGORIA and horror novels, teaching myself make up effects, dreaming what my friend and family believed was a foolish dream of working in the film industry one day.

What is your creative process when designing new Cenobites for the Hellraiser films?

or me it was a constant, always thinking ‘what if?’ or ‘how would that look?’ most of them were compromised by cost unfortunately, I never really had the budget to do the grandiose designs I had in my head and in other circumstances I was limited by script or Directors ( Siamese twins or no that’s too scary or weird etc) some were inspired by odd things….famously the Angelique Cenobite was inspired by me seeing a clip of Sister Act 2 and imagining a nuns ‘wipple’ (head piece) in flesh.

Which special effects did you work on from each Hellraiser film you collaborated on and which are you most proud of?

I started off as the box maker and makeup FX workshop supervisor on Hellraiser 3, I designed and created most of the effects and Cenobites in Bloodline (except for the Chatter Beast Dog) then for Inferno, Hellseeker, Deader, Hellworld and Judgment I designed and created everything. For Revelations (sigh) the Cenobite concepts were mine and my crew built everything for that show while I was in Michigan Scream 4

Proud of?… I was very happy with Pinhead in Bloodline, that we got him looking good again after 3, where I felt he didn’t look his best, I was very proud of Angelique, I thought Torso Chatterer in Inferno was cool, considering it was never in the script, it was just a weird idea I had and a way to bring Chatterer back (even if only half of him lol) I thought the pulling apart of Winter in Deader was effective and I’ve always been proud of the fact that we did what we did on Inferno for a RIDICULOUSLY low budget and the same with JUDGEMENT, I think everything looks good on that film for a number that would shock the hell out of people!…I think generally I’m proud that throughout a franchise that was maligned and criticized (after the first few) we managed to keep the effects work at a decent level of quality despite ever shrinking budgets…people have often asked why I didn’t walk away, but the truth is I just loved the imagery and core material too much and kept hoping for a really good movie.

What is your favourite effect that you’ve created across the series?

Angelique, I always enjoyed working on the boxes, The Auditor…the Cenobites and the Stygian inquisition.

Which Hellraiser film is your personal favourite, and why?

Hellraiser 1 of course, even though I didn’t work on it! – why?… because it’s utterly unique and original, bringing us this incredible mythology and cast of characters. After that Judgement of course lol – only because I tried to inject something different into the mythology and I’ve been savaged and praised for it

What is your favourite memory from working on the Hellraiser franchise?

Oh wow…so many memories (good and bad) highlights??

Seeing Pinhead in person for the first time. Walking on set with skinned girl for Hellraiser 3 and hearing people just go ‘wow’. Watching Pinhead, Angelique and the Twins on set in Bloodline ALL together. The Wire Twins with their hands inside Craigs skin on Inferno – a very tricky effect but so cool to watch. Killing Winter (and shooting all the inserts) on Deader. Applying a perfect Pinhead make up in 69 minutes on Hellworld. Playing The Auditor.

I had SO many great memories of just spending time with Doug and laughing SO much, literally crying with laughter sometimes, It’s a great shame to me that relationship got destroyed.

Did Revelations end up matching your original script, or did it change in production?

NO and YES! – I wrote what I thought was a cool little ‘Hellraiser play’ that all takes place in one night at a dinner party (it was written with a strict 100k budget in mind) and then they added all this ‘found footage’ stuff and it was shot with some VERY over the top (in my opinion) performances – I know the director had a very hard task with that film, but I still believe there was a better film on the page than what ended up on the screen.

What are your thoughts on Hellraiser: Revelations looking back?

I should have been allowed to direct it. More time and money would have helped sure, but what was on the page would have worked at that budget and with a darker vision and more nuanced performances it would have been much better.

Can you tell us more about the story or concept behind the Stygian Inquisition?

Not really lol, I think you get the idea if you watch the movie, they’re a process, a spiders web, a way for Hell to keep feeding the machine, the concept is that these ‘houses’ exist all over the world in every neighbourhood, people are invited or just happen to knock on the door. I think there is more to it than seen in Judgement, the process is longer and different for some people and there are different characters too…hopefully there will come a day when we get to see them all!

The Auditor was really well received across the fandom, how did you come up with the idea for The Auditor in Hellraiser: Judgment and can you detail more of his past and role in the Stygian Inquisition?

I wanted a character that wasn’t as ‘cut and dried’ as the Cenobites, wanted him to have his own agenda and that forced the creation of this ‘separate order’ I needed him to have a voice, to be interesting and mysterious but different from Pinhead… so in the end it was character that evolved from necessity and the story. Regarding his physical appearance??…Oh I don’t know where the stuff in my head comes from lol – covered in lacerations (self inflicted possibly) shows he’s comfortable with pain and suffering, the glasses hide the vulnerability of the eyes, give him that soulless ‘shark’ stare, the suit etc….Schindler’s List? Shoes with no socks (in that one shot) – just something I find odd and creepy! lol

How do they marry with Leviathan and the original Order of the Gash? Do the two Pinhead’s exist concurrently in your world?

No, I think there’s one Pinhead and had Doug been in the film, he would have been recognizable as such, I would have WELCOMED Doug’s thoughts and inputs SO much during the prep and shoot. When Doug ‘declined’ and Paul came on board I made a choice to make Paul’s Pinhead slightly different so he is a ‘new’ Pinhead, think of those Pins as a crown and he is a new king.

What inspired you to introduce God and his Angels into the Hellraiser mythology?

To me it was obvious, even though I’m an atheist myself, it seems only logical that a mythos that acknowledges Hell (you’re suffering will be legendary in Hell, do I look like someone who cares what God thinks etc) therefore must acknowledge the existence of Heaven and for me the fun was then exploring how does that work and how does it play into it? I thought the idea that God in fact welcomes the existence of Hell and uses it to ‘its’ advantage was a fun and dark concept.

What was the idea behind Pinhead’s final scene in Hellraiser: Judgment, and how would you have developed it from there?

The idea was simple, I didn’t want another ‘final girl’ brandishing the box and saying ‘go to hell’ or some other cliché, I simply thought how do you really hurt someone in a position of power?….you strip them of that power, make them ‘normal’ without anything. Pinhead becomes arrogant and faces of with this very old entity (the angel Jophiel) and pays the price for it. Originally I wanted Jophiel to keep appearing in different guises, like she chooses her look based on her mood…sometimes a beautiful woman, a child, a man, I think she has ‘carte blanche’ to walk the earth and the corridors of Heaven and Hell, she’s a manipulator, an ancient as old as Lucifer, as old as sin.

How do you feel now how Judgment was received by fans and the audience alike? Do you have any hopes for what was taken away from the movie?

People came out ‘GUNNING’ for that movie, people wanted to hate it (some do!) but I have been nothing but over joyed with the responses I have read and received praising it, what It was trying to do and the characters. Could it have been better?…of course it could, could it have been better than the original Hellraiser?….of course NOT! It was made for $350 thousand dollars, it was a movies that was only cared about by the 60 or 70 people working on it and every one of them gave me 1000% for peanuts and I will always be SO grateful for that….from production design, costume, camera, producers and ad’s to cast (someone like Heather Langenkamp who I’d never met, who simply got to read the script and WANTED to be in this ‘weird’ movie she’d read, even if it was this tiny, almost unrecognizable cameo – and I apologize to people who thought she was going to be in the movie more, she just came in at the last minute and said ‘can I be in your film?…and I was like ABSOLUTELY!…. But I don’t know where!)

In the end the most common reaction I seem to get/hear is…. This movie is nowhere near as bad as I expected and actually has some really cool ideas and was clearly made by someone who gave a damn. I LITERALLY just watched a panel at a horror con with Doug Bradley and Ashley Laurence where during the Q & A, a fan actually asked Doug about Judgment and her opening comment basically says ‘I wasn’t expecting to like this movie as much as I did’ – Doug’s face is priceless!! LMFAO!

What REALLY thrills me is the amount of clips from JUDGEMENT on YouTube, some with MILLIONS of views and some amazing comments that at least make me think I got ‘something’ right.

Was there ever any discussions or plan for a sequel to Hellraiser: Judgment?

YEP, briefly and then the Harvey Weinstein situation happened, killed Dimension films (ran by his brother Bob) and that was the end of that

All the Cenobites from across the franchise are in a boxing-ring, who comes out on top and why?

LMFAO…I have no idea! I definitely don’t think they’re boxing though, would have to be MMA or a Donnybrook of sorts! – I cant see Pinhead in boxing gloves!

Have you yourself seen all eleven Hellraiser movies – If not, which ones have you not seen or actively avoided?

Of course I’ve seen them… all of them and no matter what happens in the future or who directs them and who is in them I’ll always be there first in line. I was there at midnight when Hulu released the reboot, ready and waiting without agenda or bias, just excited to see an entry into a franchise that I love.

Hellraiser has been experiencing a real renaissance, with the 2022 reboot and the upcoming Hellraiser: Revival, introducing the franchise to a whole new generation of fans. Does it bring you joy to see the series continue to thrive, and how does it feel to know you are part of such an enduring and fascinating legacy?

It brings me joy to see horror films of all kinds introduced to a new generation of fans whether its Hellraiser, Frankenstein, Dracula, Texas Chainsaw, Freddy, Jason etc etc etc and to see new horror characters emerge too SAW, Art the Clown even Gladys from Weapons. Regarding Hellraiser I always just hope to makes fans search out Clive’s other works and READ some of the wonderful stories and books he wrote.

Horror has and always will be the black sheep of Hollywood film making, the bastard son and yet most actors and directors got there start in the very genre that has, in many cases kept studios alive, making films that generate HUGE profits (by percentage) compared to the blockbusters

Are you a gamer yourself? If not, will you experience Hellraiser: Revival hands-on yourself?

Honestly I’m not really a gamer, I’m an old man Lol (58) and all my time is taken up by creating art or effects or writing stories… but I’m excited to see Pinhead unleashed into a new world and to a new legion of fans.

What can fans look forward to seeing from you next – any exciting upcoming projects?

A little film I did last year called CORPORATE RETREAT has just had its trailer released and is getting some attention, I can’t say too much right now, but there was a LOT of blood spilled on that set!…people should check that out.

I’m always waiting for a call from my good friend Patrick Lussier (My Bloody Valentine 3D, Drive Angry, Dracula 2000, Play Dead etc) when he gets a new project to unleash some FX madness….

Oh…..and I’m toying with some ideas for an Auditor short film! 😊