Will Pinhead be in Dead By Daylight?

Out of all of the classic horror movie franchises, I’ve made a conscious effort to stay away from Hellraiser, as I am super not into body horror stuff. That said, I also play plenty of Dead By Daylight, and, well, meathooks. My own discomforts aside, I can’t deny that Pinhead, the signature antagonist of Hellraiser, would make an excellent addition to Dead By Daylight’s roster, with both an iconic appearance and a potentially massive kit. So, will Pinhead be in Dead By Daylight?

Last week, Behaviour Interactive released a brief teaser trailer on the official Dead By Daylight YouTube channel for the next major update to the game, Chapter 21. The trailer is only about 16 seconds long, showing a brief shot of an old-timey television playing a VHS tape, with a rather conspicuous time of “19:87” in the top-right corner. At the very end of the clip, if you look closely, you can see what appears to be a red flower before the TV feed cuts out. On its own, this is meaningless, but if you’re a crafty horror film aficionado, you’ve already seen the signs of Pinhead.

Will Pinhead be in Dead By Daylight?

There are several factors here that indicate a reference to the original Hellraiser. First and most obviously is that “19:87” timestamp. The original Hellraiser came out in 1987, so that’s a pretty clear call-out. The second factor is that red flower. In Hellraiser, there’s a scene where an old TV, similar in make to the one in the teaser, plays a looping shot of a bright red flower blooming, intercut with static. As references go, it’s certainly a walk-out, but the similarities are undeniable. 

There’s also the fact that there’s currently a Hellraiser reboot film in production, headed by director David Bruckner. While it’s not known precisely when this movie will be out, it’d be an excellent cross-promotional opportunity to have Pinhead show up in Dead By Daylight.

For the time being, we won’t know for sure until Behaviour Releases more info on Chapter 21.