Hellraiser: Deader (2005)

A journalist uncovers an underground group who can bring back the dead and slowly becomes drawn into their world. Hellraiser: Deader is a straight to dvd sequel and it shows trust me. The acting was pretty bad, the cinematography was very awful and the entire set of characters were pretty much there in order to take their money or die that's it. This movies offer nothing new or fun to the Series they keep doing the same thing again and again without any actual meaning and it makes things worse and worse with each installment. (0/10)

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.

At this point, its either hit or miss for fans of the "Hellraiser" films as the series has become a popular franchise of dark, Gothic horror or a convoluted, predictable exploitation of the bizarre. This seventh chapter seems to return to the tense and unsettling atmosphere that made the first couple films so successful.Stan Winston productions together with Director, Rick Bota (who's responsible for HBO's "Tales From The Crypt" including the full-length feature "Demon Knight") takes the helm this time and steers this ship into dark terrain, setting it apart from the last couple of movies in the series.Sexy, self-destructive journalist/photographer Amy Klein's (played by Kari Wuhrer) investigations of drug addiction and abuse lead her to an underground cult referred to as "Deaders" that kills its members and resurrects them from a secret power inhabited by leader called Winter. Of course, Amy stumbles upon opening the dreaded puzzle box, which triggers bizarre hallucinations as she eventually disintegrates into involuntarily becoming a recruit of Winter's cult. This contains all of the ingredients for a solid mystery/thriller as well as Clive Barker's imaginative imagery. Its on-location filming in Romania contributes to its underground look and feel, and Wuhrer's character generates sympathy as she struggles with her own demons and Winter's twisting of nightmares and reality. The climax is unforgettable as Amy must redeem herself and deliver Winters to Pinhead (perfectly played by Doug Bradley) for his role in defeating death. Some of the action seems confused at times, but its made up for by solid performances and a satisfying finale involving Winter's lineage and Klein's salvation. Unfortunately, This is followed by the inferior "Hellraiser: Hellworld".

Journalist Amy Klein (Kari Wuhrer) likes to live life on the edge, taking assignments that offer her danger and excitement; when she is given the opportunity to track down a bizarre cult in Romania, who are allegedly able to bring the dead back to life, she happily hops on the first plane from London to Bucharest (where, as it so happens, horror films can also be made on the cheap).Not long after her arrival, Amy tracks down the apartment of Marla (Georgina Rylance), one of the cult's members, where she finds the girl's dead body clutching a strange puzzle box. A video tape made by Marla warns Amy not to open the box, but the intrepid reporter doesn't listen and winds up having to face her demons (both metaphorically and literally)...Directed by Rick Bota, who also made Hellseeker (the previous film in the franchise), Deader is, for the most part, a confusing load of twaddle largely thanks to a script that was never originally intended to be part of the Hellraiser franchise, but which was adapted to accommodate the Lament Configuration, Pinhead and his Cenobite pals.To his credit, Bota does what he can with the resultant mess, actually managing to deliver a couple of surprisingly well-staged scenes—Amy trying to reach past Marla's corpse to get to a package, and Amy waking to discover that she has a knife buried in her back—but despite these memorable moments, some reasonable gore and a smattering of gratuitous nudity (including brief toplessness from Wuhrer), the film as a whole still continues the gradual downward slide for the series.4.5 out of 10, rounded up to 5 for IMDb.