10 Movie Villains Totally Ruined In The Sequels

2. Pinhead - Hellbound: Hellraiser II

The Original

Though the Hellraiser franchise has branched off in all manner of bizarre directions over the years, it's most fondly remembered for its uniquely grotesque antagonist Pinhead, played with blackly comic glee by the brilliant Doug Bradley.

The original 1987 movie does a fantastic job of depicting Pinhead and the race of BDSM-inclined Cenobites in all of their unsettling ambiguity. For despite their penchant for ripping people apart in order to claim their souls, they initially only target those who are literally asking for it.

Though Pinhead doesn't have a huge role in the first film, between his incredible design, gnarly power set and Bradley's performance, he's a one-of-a-kind horror villain amid a sea of generic slasher antagonists.

The Sequel

Though Hellbound: Hellraiser II isn't a terrible sequel by any means, it does make the fatal mistake of demystifying Pinhead by revealing that he was in fact a British military officer named Elliott Spencer, who upon opening the Lament Configuration was transformed into the Cenobite leader.

Given that Pinhead was far more interesting in the original movie where he was a mysterious inter-dimensional explorer seeking out carnal pleasures at any cost, revealing his human origins - which is further expanded upon in the third film - was a huge mistake.

Granted, the painfully low-budget later sequels did far more damage to Pinhead as a character than the earlier ones - eventually even recasting Pinhead in order to save money - but he is absolutely a villain whose origins should've always remained unknown.

And before you proceed to our #1 entry, bear in mind that MAJOR SPOILERS WILL FOLLOW for Avengers: Endgame if you haven't seen it yet...