Hellraiser: Deader starts in London where Amy Klein (Kari Wuhrer) works as an investigative reporter for the London Underground (a newspaper not the subway transport system!), her boss Charles (Simon Kunz) show's her a videotape he received in the post. It appears to show a cult known as 'Deaders' watching on as a young girl named Marla (Georgina Rylance) kills herself & then miraculously return to life shortly after. Intrigued Amy thinks she can turn it into a story, the only clue is a return address somewhere in Bucharest in Romania on the envelope it arrived in. In no time at all Amy is out there doing what she does best & investigating, an investigation which she uncovers great evil...
This American Romanian co-production was directed by Rick Bota & for the record Hellraiser: Deader is the seventh film in the Hellraiser franchise which you might like to know since they stopped actually numbering them in the titles after part three. Personally the original Hellraiser (1987) & it's gore drenched sequel Hellbound: Hellraiser II (1988) are two of my favourite horror films & I just think they are class & as each rubbish straight-to-video/DVD sequel goes by with each one being even worse than the last watching them can get quite depressing. The script by Neal Marshall Stevens & Tim Day apparently had nothing to do with the Hellraiser franchise at first but the studio decided to add Pinhead & the Lamont Chinese puzzle box to rape a bit more money from a once great horror series. Firstly Hellraiser: Deader doesn't really fell like a Hellraiser film, it focuses on Amy the reporter investigating the Deader cult in Romania & following the blatantly obvious clues (a return address on the envelope, colour coded keys & locks just so she can't mix them up) while the Hellraiser connections are tenuous to say the least as Pinhead & another couple of Cenobites make a cameo appearance at the end. The story is weak, how did Winter know Amy was 'the one'? Why send the tape to her editor? Surely it would have made more sense to send it directly to her? What if he had put another reporter on the case? Or even just decided to call the police? Then there's the narrative which is awful, about a third of the way in the film becomes obsessed with flashbacks, dreams, hallucinations, sudden shifts in locations & character's which ended up making me feel like I didn't know what was meant to be real or not. It's also hard to figure out when a flashback, dream or hallucination begins &/or ends so I never really felt I knew what was happening. I mean what was with the mysterious guy who jumped in front of the train? There's a also a severe lack of blood or gore which doesn't help.
Director Bota is responsible for the last three Hellraiser sequels, Hellraiser: Hellseeker (2002), this & Hellraiser: Hellworld (2005) which was shot back-to-back with Hellraiser: Deader. It's competent but there's not much style here, it's really not much to look at & all the symbolism, imagination & visual richness of the first two Hellraiser films seems a million years ago. The gore is also disappointingly tame, there's some blood splatter, a few knife wounds, a few severed limbs & a hooking scene at the end which is a direct rip-off of Frank Cotten's death from the original. It's not scary, there's no tension or atmosphere, Pinhead is barely in it & the plot is a mess & instead of being mysterious & intriguing it's just plain frustrating & confusing.
Amazingly this apparently had a budget of about $4,000,000 & I have to say that I am not entirely sure where all the money went. The special effects are low key, the locations are bland & there are no big name stars or action set-pieces in it. Filmed in Bucharest in Romania as a lot of films seem to be these days. The acting isn't anything to write home about, in fact the acting is totally forgettable.
Hellraiser: Deader is yet another terrible Hellraiser sequel that merely uses the Hellraiser name to sell a few more copies, not worth bothering with even if your a fan of the series. This was a sequel to Hellraiser, Hellbound: Hellraiser II, Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth (1992), Hellraiser: Bloodline (1996), Hellraiser: Inferno (2000), Hellraiser: Hellseeker & was itself followed by Hellraiser: Hellworld & you would have to really love the franchise to stick it out through all eight films.
This American Romanian co-production was directed by Rick Bota & for the record Hellraiser: Deader is the seventh film in the Hellraiser franchise which you might like to know since they stopped actually numbering them in the titles after part three. Personally the original Hellraiser (1987) & it's gore drenched sequel Hellbound: Hellraiser II (1988) are two of my favourite horror films & I just think they are class & as each rubbish straight-to-video/DVD sequel goes by with each one being even worse than the last watching them can get quite depressing. The script by Neal Marshall Stevens & Tim Day apparently had nothing to do with the Hellraiser franchise at first but the studio decided to add Pinhead & the Lamont Chinese puzzle box to rape a bit more money from a once great horror series. Firstly Hellraiser: Deader doesn't really fell like a Hellraiser film, it focuses on Amy the reporter investigating the Deader cult in Romania & following the blatantly obvious clues (a return address on the envelope, colour coded keys & locks just so she can't mix them up) while the Hellraiser connections are tenuous to say the least as Pinhead & another couple of Cenobites make a cameo appearance at the end. The story is weak, how did Winter know Amy was 'the one'? Why send the tape to her editor? Surely it would have made more sense to send it directly to her? What if he had put another reporter on the case? Or even just decided to call the police? Then there's the narrative which is awful, about a third of the way in the film becomes obsessed with flashbacks, dreams, hallucinations, sudden shifts in locations & character's which ended up making me feel like I didn't know what was meant to be real or not. It's also hard to figure out when a flashback, dream or hallucination begins &/or ends so I never really felt I knew what was happening. I mean what was with the mysterious guy who jumped in front of the train? There's a also a severe lack of blood or gore which doesn't help.
Director Bota is responsible for the last three Hellraiser sequels, Hellraiser: Hellseeker (2002), this & Hellraiser: Hellworld (2005) which was shot back-to-back with Hellraiser: Deader. It's competent but there's not much style here, it's really not much to look at & all the symbolism, imagination & visual richness of the first two Hellraiser films seems a million years ago. The gore is also disappointingly tame, there's some blood splatter, a few knife wounds, a few severed limbs & a hooking scene at the end which is a direct rip-off of Frank Cotten's death from the original. It's not scary, there's no tension or atmosphere, Pinhead is barely in it & the plot is a mess & instead of being mysterious & intriguing it's just plain frustrating & confusing.
Amazingly this apparently had a budget of about $4,000,000 & I have to say that I am not entirely sure where all the money went. The special effects are low key, the locations are bland & there are no big name stars or action set-pieces in it. Filmed in Bucharest in Romania as a lot of films seem to be these days. The acting isn't anything to write home about, in fact the acting is totally forgettable.
Hellraiser: Deader is yet another terrible Hellraiser sequel that merely uses the Hellraiser name to sell a few more copies, not worth bothering with even if your a fan of the series. This was a sequel to Hellraiser, Hellbound: Hellraiser II, Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth (1992), Hellraiser: Bloodline (1996), Hellraiser: Inferno (2000), Hellraiser: Hellseeker & was itself followed by Hellraiser: Hellworld & you would have to really love the franchise to stick it out through all eight films.