10 Smartest Decisions In Recent Horror Movies

5. Refusing The Cenobites' Gift - Hellraiser (2022)

Hellraiser 2022 Riley
Hulu

Throughout the vast Hellraiser franchise, there are so many characters who have fallen afoul of the series' Cenobites and been swayed by their charms and promises.

One such person who you can not say that about, though, is Odessa A'zion's Riley McKendry of the most recent Hellraiser outing.

A recovering drug addict, Riley's life is thrown upside down when she stumbles across the Lament Configuration puzzle box. After initially solving this puzzle, chaos, carnage and twisted imagery ensues for A'zion's character. And on that front, the biggest shock to Riley is the death of her brother Matt as part of the Cenobites lust for pain, pleasure and general sacrifice.

By Hellraiser's closing moments, Riley has played a part in helping the Cenobites fill their required sacrifices, and thus she is offered a gift by these sinister sorts. That gift? Why, it's for Matt to be resurrected.

Despite the obvious emotional pull that's there to bring her brother back to life, Riley ultimately decides against doing so. While she now has to deal with the grief and loss of her sibling, this character is one who is wise enough to realise that accepting a gift from the Cenobites will eventually come back to bite her on the backside down the line.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.