qmtv
OK, in the past couple of weeks I've watched all Hellraiser movies from 1 to 8. Here's my evaluation. First I watched #3, this is a joke of a film, 3 stars at best. #4, another joke, 3 stars. #5 is unrelated to Hellraiser, but was a decent movie on its own, but overlong, 4 stars. #6 also unrelated to Hellraiser, and pure garbage, 1 star. #8, similar to #3, and again a joke.I then rewatched #1. I've seen this movie years ago. Watching it now, I see this is the best story, best acted, best fx. But it's not a perfect movie. Some acting and fx were garbage. 7 stars.Then I watched #2. I've seen this movie more than any other in the series, and I had thought it was the best, but it's not. It has more visuals, but the story is inferior to the first. The older I get, the more stories I want, and the visuals are not as important. There is some decent acting here, but most of the acting is garbage. And the dialogue is pure crap. It's worth checking out for the visuals. 7 stars, maybe 6. This is mostly for nostalgia. As a stand alone film, it may be only 5 stars.I then watched this movie. #7. After watching in order, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 1, and 2, #7 is probably the best sequel. But like #5 it is unrelated to Hellraiser, and because of some dumb decisions by the filmmakers I can only give it 5 stars.This is similar to #5 Inferno (decent) and #6 Hellseaker (garbage) in that it is a psychological horror but it has more and not as many boring sequences. The main actress Kari Wuhrer is also much better lead than the other actors in those movies. Paul Rhys as Winter was bland and his character needed more. Simon Kunz as Kari's boss was decent but boring. His scenes should have been cut. Pinhead was good, but not enough scenes or dialogue. Georgina Rylance was good as the dead girl hanged girl in the bathroom was great, but they should have cut her other scenes. All the other actors, cops, landlord, whatever, were all filler, all these scenes should have been cut.Excellent cinematography. Decent music, but not great. They should have used the similar themes from the first two movies.Some notable scenes in this movie are the dead hanging girl, great stuff. And the knife in the back in the bathroom, it went on a bit too long, but good work here. The scene where Kari opens the box, after watching a videotape where Georgina Rylance says "don't open the box", hooks and chains come out of the box and hook her head, and Pinhead shows up. This was great.The main problem with this movie is extended boring nonsense scenes. It also opens with a decent scene of a drug den, but not enough to make a bang. After watching a lot of films, I notice that if you want to make some impact in a film, start with something exciting, not a woman waking up in a drug den. That's interesting, but boring. Take a look at the first Hellraiser, that opens with Frank buying the box, then getting hooked. And so are we, what the hell is going on! Take a look at James Bond, they open with some wild things going on. Take a look at the original Star Trek, something is going on, there's a problem, now we need to solve it. In this film we get Kari waking up, then going to her boss's office to view a take of a cult. We'll maybe they should have opened with the video tape scene. I don't know, I'm not making the film. I'm just watching. Or, better they have Pinhead torturing some fool. Something.Another problem I found is even though Kari Wuhrer did a fine job, she's in 90% of the scenes. If they had more Pinhead, or Winter's backstory it would give some dynamics, some breathing room. If we only see Kari throughout the dynamics are lost.This film like #5 Inferno is in serious need of re-editing and losing about 15 to 20 minutes from its running time. As an unrelated Hellraiser movie the rating is a C, or 5 stars. If it cut the running time it could have been a decent B movie, B rating, 7 stars. If it added a decent opening, more torture and Pinhead horror, and a greater ending, it had enough filmmaking talent to maybe movie it up to B+, 8 stars.
vengeance20
Wasn't expecting this to be great & quite frankly was right as it wasn't. Saw it 3 years ago & didn't like it, though for all those years after watching the Hellraiser films once again, I feel no different from this 7th sequel which just like it's cover & name "Deader" sounds as if they've ran out of ideas for the Hellraiser Franchise!The film is about Deaders & this reporter, or journalist goes in search from the greatest story cliché & uncovers a far bigger mystery than she could've ever imagined. She then comes across the Puzzle Box & foolishly like the others, opens it & unleashes hell, this time around the Deaders become the victims as with herself!The film felt very flat & boring. There wasn't much going on a lot of the time & being honest, felt very dry & gloomy (not in a good way). I also felt it was trying too hard in places & didn't really have anything iconic about it. It was bloody, give them their due, but the film felt flat & didn't really have anything redeeming about it! Even the first 2 films were better than this & that's saying something else.The actress Kari Wuhrer, playing this reporter/journalist was pretty hot & sexy but that is probably 1 out of the few redeeming things about this dull film I can think is good! It feels much like an anti climax of the previous 2 (Inferno & Hellseeker).Overall, weakest installment out of the 9 films. 4.0/10
tomgillespie2002
Like Hellseeker (2002) before it, Deader, the seventh entry into Clive Barker's Hellraiser franchise, takes an unrelated spec script and shoe-horns in a couple of fleeting appearances from Doug Bradley's Pinhead to try and justify its inclusion of 'Hellraiser' in the title. Say what you will about the first two sequels (I thought they were pretty bad), but they at least felt like they were set in the same universe as the wonderfully disturbing 1987 original. Returning director Rick Bota delivers yet another straight-to-video, poorly- acted stinker that looks as if it was directed by a group of goth kids making their first student film.This time, the plot revolves around investigative reporter Amy Klein (Kari Wuhrer), a feisty and dedicated type who always goes the extra mile to get to the heart of the stories she covers. We first meet her writing a story in a dingy crack house before she is shipped off to Budapest (where production is cheap) to investigate a mysterious group named the 'Deaders'. Based on footage recorded on a VHS tape, the Deaders are led by Winter (Paul Rhys), a man with the ability to bring people back to life. Her sleuthing leads to a corpse holding the Lament Configuration, which when opened unleashes Pinhead. The Cenobite warns Amy that Winter is operating outside of his control, and that he is a descendant of the toymaker who created the puzzle box. Is it all a dream, or are there supernatural forces at work?As to whether what you are watching is in fact a dream or not won't be a question you'll linger on for long. Like Dean Winters' character in Hellseeker, Amy ends many scenes by suddenly jerking out of a nightmare. It's a cheap, tiresome tactic which quickly removes any tension the film may have had otherwise. The idea of seeking the ultimate pleasure and, of course, the dangers that come with it, is a key theme running throughout the series, but this is all but gone in favour of a lightweight tale of an emo cult playing with resurrection. There's also a startling lack of gore. Regardless of how bad the preceding sequels are, you could always rely on a gruesome scene or two to keep you awake, so Deader's main issue is that it's a complete bore. Frighteningly, this is one of two Hellraiser films released in 2005.
