Genre: Horror/Fantasy
Director: Pascal Laugier
Writer: John Malone
Based on the 1987 film
Cast: Alice Englert, Sarah Paulson, Matthew Goode, Danny Huston, Sean Harris, Jack Davenport, Lily Rabe, Mathieu Amalric, Lambert Wilson, Angourie Rice, Lily Rabe
Plot: 1784, Devil's Island. French libertine Duc de L'Isle (Lambert Wilson) falsely imprisons French toymaker Phillip Lemarchand (Matheiu Amalric) in order to get him to make a puzzle box he refers to as the Lament Configuration, the specifications of which will make it a portal to Hell. de L'Isle murders a woman, sacrificing her to open a gateway between Earth and Hell. The demonic Angelique (Lily Rabe) appears, inviting de I'Isle to join her. Angelique cuts de L'Isle in half at the waist, who then begins crawling away as hooks pull the skin off of his face.
1916, River Somme, France. Captain Elliott Spencer (Sean Harris) of the British Expeditionary Force finds himself in the middle of the bloody Battle of the Somme during the first World War. The snow is stained red with blood. One of Spencer's men blows up right next to him from stepping on a landmine. Covered in his comrade's blood and entrails, ears ringing, Spencer crawls away from the battle. He hides in a foxhole and begins praying to God as mortar shells explode around him.
1921, India. Disillusioned and jaded, Elliott Spencer finds himself wandering British India seeking any kind of meaning or feeling. He begins living a hedonistic lifestyle indulging in drugs and sex freely. One day, Spencer finds the Lament Configuration in an opium den. He solves the puzzle, and Angelique appears before him. She hammers nails into his face as Spencer screams.
Present Day, Morocco. Frank Cotton (Matthew Goode), a man traveling the world searching for greater forms of pleasure and living a life of sensual gluttony, purchases the Lament Configuration from a market after hearing rumor that solving it will unleash spirits of ecstasy and pleasure. Frank brings the puzzle box back home to his childhood home in Chicago and prepares to solve it. As he forms different parts of the box, lights begin to come through the walls. Hooks fly out and grab Frank's skin and he is torn apart by the demonic Cenobites. After Frank has been ripped to pieces, the leader of the Cenobites, "Pinhead" (the former Eliott Spencer) observes Frank's remains and closes the puzzle box. The room returns to its original state as if nothing happened.
Present Day, Chicago. Larry Cotton (Jack Davenport), Frank's brother, and his wife Julia (Sarah Paulson) move into Larry and Frank's childhood home. Larry and Julia find the house a mess, assuming Frank had recently trashed the place. Larry finds maggots and cockroaches all over the kitchen. Larry's daughter Kirsty (Alice Englert) calls him to check in, and Larry tries unsuccessfully to convince Kirsty to come and live in the house with he and Julia. Julia goes upstairs into Frank's bedroom. She finds polaroids of Frank and all the women he has had sex with, among the pictures is one of her and Frank naked. Julia pockets the picture of herself when she hears footsteps coming up the staircase.
Kirsty arrives for a visit on moving day. Larry pleads with his daughter to be nice to Julia as the move has her stressed. Julia is upstairs in Frank's room looking at the picture of the two of them. Larry is moving a mattress up the stairs when he cuts his hand on a nail sticking out of the wall. Larry walks into Frank's room to find Julia and asks her where she put the first aid kit. Larry's blood drips down onto the floor, but it is sucked through the floorboards. Frank's skinless body forces itself up through the floor.
One night Julia can't find the picture of her and Frank and heads back up to Frank's old attic bedroom. Frank emerges from the shadows. Julia tries to scream, but Frank covers her mouth with his fleshy hand. He tells her that he is Frank and the blood has brought him back and that he needs more. Julia goes out and picks a guy up at a bar. She brings him back to the house and up to the attic. She hits the man over the head with a hammer and Frank consumes the blood, restoring more of his body. Julia demands an explanation, so Frank shows her the puzzle box and explains what happened.
While Larry and Julia are watching the news one night, Frank begins banging on the wall in the attic. Julia claims she left a window open, but Larry goes upstairs to investigate anyways. Kirsty arrives and walks upstairs to see her uncle Frank eating her father as Julia sits at the top of the stairs, staring blankly ahead. Frank tries to grab Kirsty. She punches him through his stomach and grabs the puzzle box to use as a weapon. Frank freaks out and begs for the box back. Kirsty throws it out the window and runs out of the house and into the street where she grabs the box and escapes.
Kirsty plays with the puzzle box back at her apartment. When she solves it, her wall opens up. She walks through it and a Cenobite chases her. Pinhead emerges in front of her, and Kirsty frantically asks who they are. Pinhead explains that they are explorers in the further regions of experience. Kirsty explains that it was a mistake and that the box belongs to her uncle Frank. The Cenobites don't believe that Frank is still alive and asks Kirsty to take them to her.
Kirsty brings the puzzle box to her father's house where she finds Frank in disguise as Larry. She says that she saw Frank kill her father, but Frank tries to convince her that it must have been a nightmare. Julia tries to trap Kirsty for Frank to kill her, but as he tries to stab her he accidentally stabs Julia instead. Kirsty opens the puzzle box. Hundreds of hooks cut through Frank's flesh as he is dragged into the hell dimension. The Cenobites next come after Kirsty, and she runs out of the house and down the street.
A police officer encounters her frantically running and brings her in for psychiatric evaluation at the Channard Institute. Police search the house and find a bloody mattress in the attic and bag it as evidence. Dr. Phillip Channard (Danny Huston) introduces himself to Kirsty. She tells him her story as he takes notes. Kirsty has trouble sleeping that night and walks around her floor where she meets Tiffay (Angourie Rice), a young mute with a penchant for puzzles.
Channard arrives at his house where it is revealed that he has stolen the bloody mattress. He brings in a patient from the hospital and sacrifices him on top of the mattress. Arms come out of the mattress and begin devouring the patient. The skinless body of Julia emerges from within the mattress. He brings back more patients and she regains her skins, appearing as her old self once again. Channard takes Tiffany from the Institute and brings her back to his house. He has her open the Lament Configuation so that he can experience hell. The Cenobites are released, but Pinhead stops the others from killing the innocent Tiffany. Wires are pulled across Channard's face, cutting into the flesh, as he is turned into a Cenobite by Angelique.
Kirsty tries to find Tiffany in the hospital, but she can't, and one of the nurses tells her that Channard signed her out to see a specialist. Kirsty finds Channard's house and spots Tiffany running down the road away from it. Kirsty stops and asks Tiffany what happened. Suddenly Julia appears in front of them. She chases them all the way back to the Institute, where they encounter Channard Cenobite, who also chases after them.
Tiffany goes into the Hell dimension, and Kirsty follows. The dimension appears to be a puzzle. Tiffany attempts to solve the puzzle, but Channard interfers and attacks the girls. Julia emerges, distracting Channard long enough for Tiffany to solve the puzzle. Channard tries once again to kill Tiffany, but he is suddenly decapitated. Tiffany falls over the edge of a cliff, but Julia catches her and pulls her back up. Julia removes her skin, revealing herself to be Kirsty in disguise. Both of them escape Hell, back to the institute, just before the portal closes. Together, Kirsty and Tiffany leave the hospital. Pinhead and Angelique collect Channard's head and place it on top of a spire in Hell.
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