Hellraiser: Hellseeker

"Hellraiser: Hellseeker" is a Mystery - Horror movie and the seventh sequel of the "Hellraiser" franchise, in which we watch a businessman trying to remember and figure out what happened after a car crash that killed his wife. The only thing he has is a box that he does not know its purpose yet.

I did not like this sequel because I believe that it was not worthy of the name "Hellraiser". Except some minor clues, some objects like the puzzle box and some of the main characters of the franchise, "Hellraiser: Hellseeker" did not reach the potential of Hellraiser's name. I do not recommend anyone to watch this movie especially those who have already watched the previous "Hellraiser" movies.

A husband (Dean Winters) tries to piece together what happened to his wife after a car accident. His wife? Why it is none other than Kirsty (Ashley Lawrence) from the first two Hellraiser films. This is the sixth entry and it appears to want to right the ship after the fifth entry had like two minutes of Pinhead (Doug Bradley) shoved into it. Unfortunately, I already saw this film when it was called Jacob's Ladder (1990). Yes, if you can't figure out the plot where a guy keeps hallucinating and jumping back-and-forth between realities, you might need to turn in your horror fan card. It is also really hard to take serious nowadays with Winters in the lead due to his "Mr. Mayhem" ads for Allstate insurance. To the film's credit, it does return to themes prevalent in the first film like marriage infidelity and striking a deal with the devil. There is also more time devoted to Pinhead and it is a handsomely mounted production that shot in Canada. Director Rick Bota made his feature debut here after being a cinematographer and second unit director. He became the defacto helmsman on these for a bit as he handles the next two entries as well. I hear the sailing gets really rough with the next entry.

This entry in the ongoing "Hellraiser" franchise brings back protagonist Kirsty Cotton (Ashley Laurence) from the first three films. Here she's married to a man named Trevor (Dean Winters, "John Wick"), and as the film opens, they have a car accident after which he loses his memory, and she disappears. Unreality begins to invade his life regularly, with no relief from the horrific images. Gradually, the truth begins to emerge, with Trevor realizing that he was NOT a prince of a guy before the accident.

For a while, this all feels rather familiar and predictable, and is not helped by Winters' bland performance in the lead. But Laurence still has appeal, and some of the supporting actors are good. There is some effective doom & gloom atmosphere, some okay gore (but also some ropey CGI), and decent attempts at surrealism. Use of the renowned Pinhead (Doug Bradley) character is somewhat limited, although you appreciate his presence every time he shows up. His booming voice still issues grave pronunciations on the nature of the situation.

It isn't until near the end, however, as the mystery is revealed, that this does become at least reasonably interesting, and *we* realize that we were being taken on a ride where things weren't as they seemed.

The film is not laden with style, but it's adequately directed by Rick Bota (in his feature debut), whose background was in camera operation and cinematography. At the very least, the sexy supporting actresses (Sarah-Jane Redmond, Jody Thompson, Kaaren de Zilva) are fun to watch.

Filmed in the Vancouver area.

Six out of 10.

Hellraiser: Hellseeker is definitely a sequel deserving the title Hellraiser. It stands alone as a good picture and you could even watch it without having seen the other Hellraiser movies. It's probably what Clive Barker intended to be a sequel to his masterpiece. It tells a story that could have come out of his Books of Blood, with characters invented in The Hellbound Heart, the novel which was Filmed as the original Hellraiser. There is always room for Pinhead, the pope of hell in those kind of movies, and I hope that this great effort will be continued in the following two Hellraiser sequels. I would also appreciate to see his short stories from the Books of Blood filmed, because I think some of them would make great horror movies. A must see for horror fans who have enough of teenie slashers and for anyone else who likes a good suspense thriller before going to bed.

This movie, like Hellraiser 5, feels like it wasn't originally written as a Hellraiser movie. I can imagine the following "How about this. You rewrite this script to add in Pinhead, and we'll call it Hellraiser 6.

Those Hellraiser fans will eat up anything".

This movie would be fine as a "Soul Survivors" type movie. But when it's a Hellraiser movie, you expect a lot more.

I say if they're not going to make real Hellraiser movies, don't bother.