Hellraiser - Deader

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

Dead On Its Feet, 2008-11-27
Benjamin Carr wrote this, the seventh film in the Hellraiser series. It's unlikely that you've heard of any of the other thirty titles he has under his belt as a writer (except maybe for Thirteen Ghosts). Most of his movies have names like The Killer Eye, or Hideous!, or Murdercycle (which is available on this website for $1.61). I kinda wished I known that before going into HELLRAISER - DEADER. Not that I'm digging Benjamin Carr. I certainly haven't written 31 movies, but even he must admit, when he whips out a script entitled Zarkorr! The Invader, he's not really in it for the prestige or the artistic challenge. Good for him for making a living out of it. Bad for you, if you watch this film. br / br /The plot is nothing we haven't already seen in at least two of the HELLRAISER films and a handful of the more commercial projects to hit the big screens in the last five years. The story concerns Amy Klein, a fiesty young reporter who will go to any lengths to get the story. She must be something of a big deal because she's unaccountably arrogant. This is saying a lot, considering how many other arrogant characters have been strewn about the plot. (In fact, if you can last up to twenty seconds into the final credits, the eighth character listed is called The Arrogant Reporter, and they aren't referring to Amy Klein). br / br /Amy's boss, Charles Richmond, endures her with the same snarky respect that you can find in any other boss with a brilliant but reckless charge: M from Bond, Lois Lane's boss (all I can remember is they called him Chief), and whoever happens to be Will Smith's supervisor in three out of four Will Smith movies. You growl, you make snide comments, and then you let your star employee do his/her thing. In an intro gorged with exposition, Charles reveals that this time around he has a special assignment for Amy. It comes in the form of a video tape. br / br /The tape is from a girl who is documenting a group of people known as Deaders, nihilistic ne'er-do-wells led by a man called Winter. "Fear is the place we go to learn," Winter says to a young redhead, in one of the movie's few good lines. (Carr must've known it was good; it is repeated several times.) In the video, the redhead repeats phrases like "I'm not real," and "Nothing's real," before finally killing herself. Then, somehow, Winters brings her back to life. Sounds like front page material. br / br /You know, the funny thing? This homemade video that had been sent specifically to Amy Klein, it's meant to look gritty and real, but the production values on it are at least as good as the larger movie within which it is shown. It's like a little mini-Hellraiser film. "Look here! It's a Cliff's Notes form of the plot you're about to watch." br / br /No. I didn't give the movie away. I hate it when people do that. Suffice it to say that the movie gives itself away, especially after Amy discovers Pinhead's box and -- in a classic move -- does exactly what she's been warned not to do. During her investigation, Amy runs into some kind of kingpin named Joey. Whatever Joey is, he for some reason has commandeered and lives in the last car of a subway train. When Amy visits him, it is a surreal scene of ambiguously disturbing acts of varying degrees of nudity. It's so off-the-wall and well-spaced that it comes across like a museum of depravity, another cheesy room in your neighbor's haunted house. Joey helps Amy because she's "got that [ahem] self-destructive thing going on." Another good line (and in keeping with the Hellraiser spirit). So good that it is repeated several more times. br / br /But parroting a theme doesn't make it real. And if the movie's other good line -- that we learn through fear -- is real, then this movie has two strikes against it, because it is neither scary nor smart. It is actually very much like the video tape that gets Amy involved in this quest to begin with. Both of them pack a bit of a punch in places, both of them are a little too slick to take seriously, and both of them are confusing and unsatisfying. What are their differences? br / br /One of them is about 86 minutes longer. br /

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

really not a bad movie, 2008-10-27
I personal always felt direct to dvd movies were all crapy. Well folks it true, but on this film and other hellraiser hellworld. These were good movies and even wroth full price. I enjoy them, but also felt the remake of halloween suck. So keep that in mind folks and have lovely day.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

Not So Hot, 2008-05-11
This seventh entry in the Hellraiser series is, as expected, a rather shabby piece of film. It feels disjointed and contrived...possibly related to rumors I've heard of patchwork scripting. It's slow, badly written, and boring overall, with a painfully low-budget feel to it. It definitely doesn't bring anything new to the game. Avoid it, save yourself some time!

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

As good as modern horror gets..., 2007-11-12
This was the seventh film of the "Hellraiser" series, and as such didn't attract much attention outside of the fan base. And apparently much of the base didn't like "Deader" anyway, leading to little serious critical appraisal. As a "Hellraiser" movie this is certainly even more experimental than the prior two were, and in my opinion, "Deader" is unquestionably the finest film of the series. Director Rick Bota, a talented cinematographer as well, invests a great deal of atmosphere into a creepy narrative involving an obsessive reporter, a cult of seemingly dead people, and of course the Lament box and Pinhead. What is all ready a great story is made much more impressive by the striking images that Bota and his crew sprinkle throughout, as well as some very committed performances. "Deader" is so much better than most other horror movies on so many different levels that it's very originality and tone can't be readily grasped by it's target audience. The viewers who would more likely find much to love about this film, the art-house types, will never see "Deader" because of horror's general reputation as well as, well, isn't this a "Hellraiser" sequel, after all? A death knell right there. br /But to those who don't like this work as it features too little of Pinhead - watch "Deader" just as a movie first. The "Hellraiser" mythology works it's way in seamlessly, but it takes a little while to get there. Patience is more than rewarded. br /As a "Hellraiser", maybe "Deader" is too cerebral, too subtle and too eccentric. But these very qualities make "Deader" a classic suspense-horror film on it's own, and I imagine the movie's standing will grow as time passes.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

One of the best in the Hellraiser series., 2007-09-25
I thought this movie was awesome for a straight to DVD movie. Deader is somewhat low budget but is filmed in europe, so it looks much more authentic and a bit gothic. Also this movie has somewhat of an artsy David Lynch vibe to it, and I really appreciated that. br / br /The script is very good and engaging. The acting is mostly good. The plot is very interesting. The blood, special effects, and gore scenes are mostly excellent. br / br /This movie is about a journalist who investigates into a group called the deaders, run by an ancestor of the box maker, who made an appearance in the 4th Hellraiser movie. As you watch the movie you will find out how pinhead and the cenobites are related to the deaders. br / br /There is actually a bit of full frontal nudity and sexual scenes in this movie. So it is not for young teens. br / br /Is this movie better than Hellworld? Yes! It is much better. In fact this ranks as almost as good as the first two hellraisers. br / br /Very much suggested! br /