Starring: Doug Bradley, Kari Wuhrer, Simon Kunz, Mike J. Regan, Paul Rhys,
Georgina Rylance, Marc Warren.
Directed by: Rick Bota
Story: A journalist uncovers an underground group who can bring back the
dead and slowly becomes drawn into their world.
Review:
This film was one of the long awaited new Hellraiser sequels that collected dust
while being kept unreleased more than a year thanks to people over at
Dimension. The original script for this film was done by Neal Marshall Stevens.
The original story had nothing to do with the Hellraiser mythology, but then
Dimension decided that this should be a new Hellraiser sequel. So what they did
was throw in familiar characters and made one of the characters a descendant
of another previous character from the other films. I really don't want to stress
how long I've waited for them to release this movie along with Hellworld (which
were both filmed back to back). Today both films are now available on DVD and
that was when I decided to check them out and still to this day I'm unsure as
to if it was worth the long wait.
Hellraiser Deader is about a journalist named Amy who goes undercover to
investigate a group called the Deaders. A small club of people who follow their
leader Winter, a man who bring back the dead. As Amy goes deeper in her
search she is led to an apartment where she finds some papers and a
mysterious puzzle box. Unaware of the box or what it contains she opens it up
and finds herself in a hellistic situation where she has to make a choice. The
first thing that I wanted to point out was that they could have easily made this
film into something different. It know for a fact that this wasn't originally meant
to be a new Hellraiser sequel but what I really didn't like was the fact that you
can easily tell. It really felt like they took an original story and threw in familiar
characters that we seem to love and can't get enough of.
To me everything just seemed added in at the last minute and I had a hard
time believing that this was a new Hellraiser entry. I guess it's because I'm very
familiar with the franchise and I've fallowed the story line. With Deader you get
a different plot mixed with nightmarish scenes much like the previous entries
Inferno and Hellseeker. Each new Hellraiser film is a mystery which blend in with
graphic horror and a head scratching turn of events. This film is very different
from the previous installments and I was glad that it didn't have the same twist
or outcome as the last two films. This movie is more about a female journalist
who is in the middle this battle between these two cult like groups. I thought
that part of the plot was very interesting and the small bit in the ending was
pretty impressive despite its poor CGI quality.
I had no problem with the films music or acting. I also did like seeing Kari
Wuhrer in a starring role. Most of her work now is either direct to video or
television releases but I thought she did a great job with her role in this film.
Much like the other films Doug Bradley steals the show once again, coming back
to play the role of our beloved horror movie monster Pinhead. Along with the
character Pinhead we are also treated to a revival of another old and familiar
Cenobite which just made the film a little bit better for me being a fan of the
series and all. Speaking of which if you do happen to be a fan and follower of
these movies then I'm sure most of you will be disappointed with some of the
Hellraiser gimmick and tricks that we've seen many times in the past. That
pretty much matches what I said earlier about finding it hard to believe that this
was a new "Hellraiser" entry. Everything just isn't the same but I can't complain
about it.
Overall I thought Deader was a decent film. It's different from all the other
movies but it just falls short with the intensity and low budget feel of the
picture. It was nice to see some old faces again but it's nowhere near as
magical or breathtaking as the older films. I did enjoy the acting, music and it's
nightmarish feel. But for me it's the films plot, editing and all of the gimmick
crashes that prevents me from giving this a higher rating. It had a lot of
potential but for me it just doesn't work. If you're a fan of the series then you
might deem this a worthy entry, but if you follow with the story of the series
carefully then you just might find yourself bored or unimpressed in the end.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Overall: 5/10
Georgina Rylance, Marc Warren.
Directed by: Rick Bota
Story: A journalist uncovers an underground group who can bring back the
dead and slowly becomes drawn into their world.
Review:
This film was one of the long awaited new Hellraiser sequels that collected dust
while being kept unreleased more than a year thanks to people over at
Dimension. The original script for this film was done by Neal Marshall Stevens.
The original story had nothing to do with the Hellraiser mythology, but then
Dimension decided that this should be a new Hellraiser sequel. So what they did
was throw in familiar characters and made one of the characters a descendant
of another previous character from the other films. I really don't want to stress
how long I've waited for them to release this movie along with Hellworld (which
were both filmed back to back). Today both films are now available on DVD and
that was when I decided to check them out and still to this day I'm unsure as
to if it was worth the long wait.
Hellraiser Deader is about a journalist named Amy who goes undercover to
investigate a group called the Deaders. A small club of people who follow their
leader Winter, a man who bring back the dead. As Amy goes deeper in her
search she is led to an apartment where she finds some papers and a
mysterious puzzle box. Unaware of the box or what it contains she opens it up
and finds herself in a hellistic situation where she has to make a choice. The
first thing that I wanted to point out was that they could have easily made this
film into something different. It know for a fact that this wasn't originally meant
to be a new Hellraiser sequel but what I really didn't like was the fact that you
can easily tell. It really felt like they took an original story and threw in familiar
characters that we seem to love and can't get enough of.
To me everything just seemed added in at the last minute and I had a hard
time believing that this was a new Hellraiser entry. I guess it's because I'm very
familiar with the franchise and I've fallowed the story line. With Deader you get
a different plot mixed with nightmarish scenes much like the previous entries
Inferno and Hellseeker. Each new Hellraiser film is a mystery which blend in with
graphic horror and a head scratching turn of events. This film is very different
from the previous installments and I was glad that it didn't have the same twist
or outcome as the last two films. This movie is more about a female journalist
who is in the middle this battle between these two cult like groups. I thought
that part of the plot was very interesting and the small bit in the ending was
pretty impressive despite its poor CGI quality.
I had no problem with the films music or acting. I also did like seeing Kari
Wuhrer in a starring role. Most of her work now is either direct to video or
television releases but I thought she did a great job with her role in this film.
Much like the other films Doug Bradley steals the show once again, coming back
to play the role of our beloved horror movie monster Pinhead. Along with the
character Pinhead we are also treated to a revival of another old and familiar
Cenobite which just made the film a little bit better for me being a fan of the
series and all. Speaking of which if you do happen to be a fan and follower of
these movies then I'm sure most of you will be disappointed with some of the
Hellraiser gimmick and tricks that we've seen many times in the past. That
pretty much matches what I said earlier about finding it hard to believe that this
was a new "Hellraiser" entry. Everything just isn't the same but I can't complain
about it.
Overall I thought Deader was a decent film. It's different from all the other
movies but it just falls short with the intensity and low budget feel of the
picture. It was nice to see some old faces again but it's nowhere near as
magical or breathtaking as the older films. I did enjoy the acting, music and it's
nightmarish feel. But for me it's the films plot, editing and all of the gimmick
crashes that prevents me from giving this a higher rating. It had a lot of
potential but for me it just doesn't work. If you're a fan of the series then you
might deem this a worthy entry, but if you follow with the story of the series
carefully then you just might find yourself bored or unimpressed in the end.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Overall: 5/10
Genre: Horror, Mystery,
Thriller
Rated: R
Country: USA
Year: 2005
Runtime: 88 minutes
Studio: Dimension
IMDB Page
Amazon Page
Thriller
Rated: R
Country: USA
Year: 2005
Runtime: 88 minutes
Studio: Dimension
IMDB Page
Amazon Page
Online since: February 20th, 2006
Review done by: Nightmare Child
