Hellraiser remake gets a director... or two

We’ve known that a remake of Clive Barker’s seminal horror tale Hellraiser was coming for months. But now Dimension, fresh off of the success of Halloween, is kicking things up a notch.

French directors Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo have been anointed by Clive Barker himself as acceptable choices for the remake challenge. But to make sure things go smoothly, Barker’s also planning to produce. We’re not sure how much involvement he’ll have though, and whether he’ll want to get too close, particularly has he’s been burned by Hollywood before.

The plot finds a couple moving into an old, spooky house (which really should have been their first clue as to the trouble ahead) where they meet the man’s half-brother. So far, so normal, except he’s been shorn of his skin by nasty demon types called Cenobites. And they’re not finished with him. Fortunately, no one tries to meddle with the puzzle box that unlocks the gates of hell and brings them calling. Oh, wait…

Maury and Bustillo seem like decent choices for the job, since their most recent film, Inside, featured a woman being violently haunted. "Julien and Alex showed their incredible creative talent on Inside, and I'm excited to have them at the helm, working with Clive Barker, to create a fresh, suspenseful and scary reimagining of the classic tale," blabbed Bob Weinstein to Variety.

Let’s hope they escape the re-editing curse that seems to befall all foreign helmers tackling US horror thrillers…