It’s fun to think about who might win in a hypothetical fight between horror movie icons, but most of the time there is never any definitive way to settle those arguments. In the case ofHalloween’s Michael Myers vsHellraiser’s Pinhead, there was almost a movie that would have shown us the outcome of that exact scenario. Yes, according toDoug Bradleyhimself, aHalloweenandHellraisercrossover movie almost happened.
Doug Bradleyis an absolute horror legend, having played Pinhead in theHellraiserfranchise ever since the first movie came out in 1987 up through 2005. The actor recently did an interview withYour Move Magazineand discussed in detail plans that existed for aHalloweenandHellraisercrossover movie that almost happened in the early 2000s. Here is what he had to say.
“I was told that the year before Freddy vs Jason was released, Dimension Films rejected two scripts for a Hellraiser-Halloween crossover, which was obviously where they would go because they owned both franchises. I was told the reason they turned it down is because they didn’t think it would work. They predicted that Freddy vs. Jason would bomb, but it opened at the top of the box office and stayed there for a second weekend - I think I’m right in saying that it was the first movie that year to do so. After its success, Dimension wanted a Hellraiser-Halloween movie made immediately, so it was certainly going ahead. I had a couple of phone conversations with Clive [Barker] about it and I was getting quietly excited. Clive said he would write it and I heard reportsJohn Carpenterwould direct.”
Freddy Vs. Jasoncame out in 2003 and made $114 million worldwide from a comparatively small $30 million production budget. So there is no reason to think aHellraiser-Halloweenmovie wouldn’t have been able to do similarly well. Especially withClive Barker, who wrote and directed the originalHellraiser, writing the script andJohn Carpenteron board to direct. Even though no story details were ever released, the timing seemed perfect and the talent was there, so what happened? Here is howDoug Bradleytells it.
“The version of events I got back on this is that the Akkad brothers, who produced Halloween, retained control of the sequels and didn’t want the crossover to be made. I guess they didn’t want Michael Myers hanging around with the likes of Pinhead.”
Michael Myersand Pinhead definitely occupy two very different spaces in the horror world, but so did Freddy and Jason. So there is no reason to think that they couldn’t have made it work. Sure, a lot ofFreddy Vs. Jasonis pretty cheesy and over-the-top, but there is a lot of joy to be had for horror fans in watching those two legends duke it out. It would have been at least as entertaining to see theHalloweenandHellraisercrossover version of this. With the talent involved it could have definitely been something that was at the very least interesting, if not downright special.
This was more than a decade ago, so the odds of the movie ever coming to fruition at this point are much less likely, especially since both franchises have moved on. Anew Halloween movieis currently in the works withJohn Carpenterproducing, which is due out next year. The tenthHellraisermovie,Hellraiser: Judgment, is currently being filmed. There have also been plans for a reboot of theHellraiserfranchise withClive Barkerdirecting andDoug Bradleyset to star again asPinhead, but there has been no word on that recently. So unfortunately, we are left with what could have been in terms of aHalloweenandHellraisercrossover movie.
