The magical puzzle box was originally the "Lemarchand box" in Clive Barker's The Hellbound Heart, therefore it was only fitting that it was included in the 1987 film version of the novella. The box was renamed the Lament Configuration and has a fabled past and a malevolent purpose in the cinematic version and its several sequels. The world of Leviathan, a hell of twists and turns inhabited by the mysterious Cenobites and the souls of the damned, is one of the dimensions that becomes accessible after the problem is completed.
The set-up has appeared in almost all iterations of the venerable Hellraiser series. But frequently, especially in subsequent sequels, it doesn't seem to have any independent agency. When a character unlocks the box, the Cenobites show up, inflict pain, and the box resets to its initial state. Due to the efforts of the lead character Kirsty Cotton, the configuration's solution can occasionally be reversed in order to expel the Cenobites (Ashley Laurence). However, other from the occasional McGuffin to further the plot, the design itself lacks much personality. No matter what form it takes, the box still functions as a tool. Its genesis is detailed in movies like Hellraiser IV: Bloodline (1996), and the concept of the "Elysium Configuration" is fairly intriguing.
Whatever your opinion of David Bruckner's adaptation of Hellraiser, which was recently made available on Hulu, the puzzle box in this rendition virtually acts as an opponent on its own. The Lament Configuration's various forms each have a function, and it is physically far more complex. The box is said to be able to grant its owner's request in this movie, and each of its forms—Life, Knowledge, Love, Sensation, Resurrection, and, of course, Power—offers something unique. The Lord of the Labyrinth himself will meet with the bearer who selects Power (the box's Leviathan Configuration).
The intricate puzzle box switches hands multiple times throughout this latest Hellraiser adaptation. A brand-new feature of the box allows for the severing of the blade's holding and the ejection of a blade, marking the target and giving the Cenobites permission to pursue and seize it. It is even used as a kind of weapon by antagonists like Roland Voight (Goran Visnjic) to brand the protagonists of the movie so they can be cornered by the supernatural sadomasochists. The box is the main method of identifying targets to have their bodies and souls torn apart as sacrifices are required by the Cenobites and their master.
In Hellraiser 2022, the box occasionally adopts a personality of its own and changes its configurations entirely without the aid of a character. One might even believe that the Lament Configuration has taken on a life of its own given its autonomy and the fact that it selects targets for the Cenobites and Leviathan. Hell and its minions are indeed dangerous, but Leviathan's purpose can't quite be carried out without victims being selected by the configuration.
The Lament Configuration has always signalled the entrance into hell and all the violence and gore that goes along with it, but this version is far more evil. It's a trap, but the most intrepid person will unavoidably fall into it. For individuals who want to explore the depths of experience, the attraction of achieving desires like Pleasure, Love, and Power is simply too tremendous to resist. In the past, the box was frequently sought after due to its allure, which promised nebulous delights without any real knowledge of what followed next. Most people who came across the configuration thought their gift was a one-way ticket to Hell or, for those like Captain Elliot Spencer, the life of a Cenobite (Doug Bradley). The box offers clearer rewards in 2022 that appeal to our most basic desires regardless of how we choose to use them.
The arrangement is still fundamentally a Faustian Bargain, though, and it cannot be undone. Voight hears Pinhead/Hell Priest, played by Jamie Clayton, state toward the end of the movie "Once the threshold has been passed, there is no turning back. Gifts cannot be taken back; only exchanges are possible." There is no turning back once one of the puzzle box's picked, and after accepting one horrible gift from Leviathan and the Cenobites, one may only hope to bargain for another.
In this way, the Lament Configuration of 2022 develops a distinct antagonistic personality. The forces of avarice and depravity are drawn to it by its attraction of wish-granting, which is far more defined than in previous Hellraiser productions. But there is always a cost, which is why when the arrangement is discovered, innocent and unwary blood is shed. Without regard to their intentions, characters like Voight and Riley (Odessa A'zion) are sucked into the cycle of sacrifices marked by the box, giving it a personality all its own and the ability to hold out the prospect of enormous benefits at the expense of blood and the loss of life. The arrangement serves as the centre of Hellraiser 2022's narrative since without it, Leviathan and the Cenobites are held at bay.
The Lament Configuration has always played a significant role in the mythology of both the Hellraiser franchise and Clive Barker's other fictional works. The new structure, however, is a nearly-living thing that, once the first drop of blood has been lost, will always carry out its mission. It continues to be both the entrance to Hell and the key to the story throughout. The box may have disappeared during earlier Hellraiser productions, but it has returned and is now even more lethal for anyone unlucky enough to find it. In a franchise that had frequently disregarded it in its later sequels, it has once again emerged as the main character.
