Hellraiser: Deader 2005 Buena Vista   Buy It Now

You know what I like about the Hellraiser movies?  I'll tell ya.  You will find all sorts of people in this world who don't like horror movies.  You've heard it all before: "I don't like the blood!" or "Those movies freak me out!" or "Why would you want to watch something like that?".  But in nearly every one of these instances, you can get that person to watch just about any horror movie if you work at it hard enough.  You MAY even get them to like a few of them, or at least respect the genre a little more.  Toss in Halloween and they may watch the whole film with their eyes hidden behind their fingers, but at the end they will say something like: "That wasn't so bad!" or "I thought it was going to be so much worse."  But Hellraiser?  No, no friends...

You just aren't going to get one of these 'fraidy cats to sit down and subject themselves to an hour and a half of the horrors that make up a Hellraiser flick!  Now you and I know that these films aren't any worse than any other (well, maybe a little! shhh), but the hype and buildup of the Hellraiser mythos is such that it carries with it a certain credibility for being a torturous drag through a mental field of glass or a generous whipping with a flail of barbed wire on your senses.  Such is the power of Hellraiser, in all of its glory; but this power is dwindling...and dwindling fast...

Each subsequent sequel has sapped a small piece of Hellraiser's influence over the world of horror, with the revolting Hellraiser III: Hell On Earth doing the most damage with its weak plot and saturation of both Pinhead himself and some of the worst Cenobites ever conceived.  So when it was announced that there were to be two Hellraiser sequels released this year in 2005, I became a bit concerned; parts 4 and 5 managed to hold a little ground, but how long can a franchise doomed to straight to video releases survive?  These next films would have to be strong indeed to pull this series out of the abyss and back into the consciousness of horror fans everywhere.

I have not seen the seventh film (Hellraiser: Hellworld) as of yet, but I can most assuredly attest to the sixth of the series.  Hellraiser: Deader may not be the salvation of all things Cenobite, but it is a damn fine horror film that surprised me with its quality and overall ambience.  While the title leaves a little to be desired (not deader as in adjective, deader as in noun), the film itself didn't leave me asking for much more; a surprise considering the relative unknown factor of most of the acting talent, if not to the business, at least to the genre.

There is one genre veteran who shows up here, in the lead role no less; and that is Kari Wuhrer.  You may recall this gorgeous actress from films like Eight Legged Freaks, Anaconda and Malevolent, and the television show Sliders; but I recall rushing home from school to watch her host the late 80s MTV game show, Remote Control.  With catagories like the Wheel Of Torture and How Dumb Can You Be, the show was almost entertaining enough to get me to tear my drooling gaze from the hostess...but not quite.

In Deader, Wuhrer takes on the role of Amy Klein; an investigative reporter who is assigned a bit of research in Eastern Europe.  It seems that there is a group of people who have mastered the power over life and death, although the entry fee to this particular club is a bit steep.  A gun to the head, a knife to the chest or something similar is all it takes to get things started; and after the inductee has offed themselves, Winter, the leader of this bizarre underground cult will do what it is he does and bring them back.  They are called "Deaders", and the description might not be far off from the truth. 

But Amy is not going to discover the truth easily, as Winter is not an easy man to find, and the Deaders are even harder to locate.  Despite many a warning of terrible danger, Amy remains intent on discovering the truth.  But when she does, the questions are just beginning.  How do these people escape death, what is the price they must pay, and who is doing the collecting?  Of course there is also the issue of a small wood and brass box which seems to lie at the heart of the whole mystery, and the very pale man with a prickly complexion who wants it back...

Now if this doesn't sound like the usual Hellraiser fare, it is because it's not.  You see, Deader wasn't ever meant to be a Hellraiser film; it was written as a stand alone feature and later adapted as a continuance to the Hellraiser line.  Splice in a little Pinhead here, mix in a bit of Lament Configuration there, and of course have some chains tear some fool's face off and PRESTO, you've got yourself a veritable Black Pope Of Hell horror show going on where once there was only a tale about escaping death.  Frankly, I'd rather have the Cenobites in any film rather than not!

Deader does a terrific job of fitting the pre-established mold and expectations of the House That Clive Barker Built.  Whether on the pages of The Hellbound Heart or on the celluloid of the Hellraiser films, it is all about atmosphere, atmosphere, atmosphere!  And this is one thing that Deader serves up in heaping portions.  From underground labyrinths to seedy subway trains there is a sense of darkness and bleak tragedy permeating the entire running time.  The whole film seems to have been lit with indoor fluorescent lighting (and in fact, all of the subway scenes were!), and you will spend the entire time trying to see just a little bit more than what you are allowed to.

The story is suitably odd and while the shoehorn tactics of sliding Pinhead into the action aren't perfect, the two halves come together in a pleasing whole.  Wuhrer does a fine job and proves that she has picked up a thing or two in this whole acting gig somewhere over the years, which may be why we are seeing her in so many genre pieces right now.  She stars in another Buena Vista release this month, The Prophecy: Uprising; and in fact, these two films might as well run the same credits.  Wuhrer, Doug Bradley (Pinhead) and actress Georgina Rylance all appear together in both films...which are both being released by the same studio, with the same producer, the same visual effects team and, of course, the same casting agent (who apparently needs to branch out a little!).  And here I thought the days of studio films were past!

This is a horror movie after all and the gore is pretty good!  In fact, there are more than a few scenes which should have the gorehounds laughing and pointing like we enjoy doing so much.  In fact, I was in heaven during a particularly enjoyable scene which had us follow a victim from the point a knife penetrates her back (sticking out the front!), her stumble into the bathroom and the subsequent slip and slide routine as she tries for several minutes to pull the knife out of her back...using a creative method to get a hold of the handle which she can't reach with her hands.  Of course all the while there is a healthy amount of blood dripping and drenching the whole room until what we are seeing is a simply marvelous middle finger to those poor jerks who have to watch these films and assign the ridiculous MPAA ratings.

Gloom, doom and a bloody room...yup, it sounds a whole lot like a Hellraiser film to me, and I am sure that you will see it this way as well.  Quite frankly, I like the way these new films each have their own personality and act as chapters in a never-ending story, more than I was pleased to see the way the Cenobites were becoming the new Freddy Kruegers of horror cinema.  Not every fan sees it my way I am sure, with many winding up disappointed that Pinhead doesn't have the lion's share of screen time.  To these fans I say don't worry...there is plenty of religious blasphemy and blank stares pouring out of the guy to keep you happy.

As if you still needed any reason to check this one out, there is a tremendous selection of extras on this disc.  Everything from location scouting to gag reels to a making of featurette fill out the collector value.  Multiple looks into the effects, both practical and computer aided, are as informative as they are entertaining, and give the nerdish horror geeks amongst us something to analyze.  Commentaries and deleted scenes give us those behind the scenes peeks that we are always salivating for.  And speaking of salivating, there is one other reason to pick this one up!  Kari Wuhrer is way hotter than Ashley Laurence!  (Sorry Ashley!  You're still the number one Hellraiser girl!)

-aaron-

 

Directed by: Rick Bota   Written By: Neal Marshall Stevens   Based On The Writings/Characters Of: Clive Barker   Cast: Doug Bradley Kari Wuhrer Paul Rhys Georgina Rylance Marc Warren

DVD Features: Widescreen Presentation 1.85:1 Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound French & Spanish Subtitles Deleted & Extended Scenes W/Optional Commentary Gag Reel Making Of Featurette Behind The Visual Effects Featurette Practical Effects With Gary Tunnicliffe Storyboard-To-Film Comparisons Location Scouting Photo Gallery Two Feature Commentaries     All Photos: © Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Inc. All rights reserved.