Flashback Review: Hellraiser Deader
The Movie:
After viewing a mysterious videotape showcasing a shocking act of death and resurrection, undercover reporter Amy Klein (Kari Wuhrer) soon learns of an underground group who possesses the power to restore life to the dead. Soon deeply entangled in the group’s malevolent experiments with the afterlife, Amy finds herself caught in a life-or-death struggle that threatens to tear her soul apart.
Hellraiser: Deader is the third direct to video film of the franchise. Having watched this again for the first time since 2005, I had completely forgotten that these films had kind of gotten steered in a different direction. Deader (and the other direct to video films) played out as more of a psychological/mind trip horror film rather than the usual Hellraiser films that we are used to. The concept of the movie was interesting and the way it played out wasn’t half bad. What was bad was the acting. It was either being over-acted or under-acted with no sensible middle point. It did however deliver in the weird department and I thought the whole concept of Amy not knowing what exactly was real made for some great, creepy moments. The biggest disappointment was the lack of Pinhead and his Cenobite (I like to call them Cinnabons..lol) minions. To me they MAKE the franchise. Especially Pinhead! The moments that Pinhead does appear definitely are some of the best, I just wish there was more interaction between them and the characters. Pretty much if they didn’t show up then this could’ve EASILY been called something else other than Hellraiser. It’s not the best in the series but if you’re a fan of the films then it wouldn’t hurt to pick this up, especially with the affordable price tag.
Special Features:
Behind The Visual Effects – A brief look into some of the CG work of the film
Deleted/Extended Scenes – A few decent scenes but nothing too important that I would feel like needed to be in the film.
Gag Reel – A pretty funny reel. It’s hilarious to see Pinhead cracking up or flub a line.
Location Scouting – A feature that looks at some of the nice and unique locations in Eastern Europe
Making of Hellraiser: Deader – This “Making Of” feature was actually quite good. It has a running time of about 17 minutes but goes in depth quite a bit on the filming process.
Practical Effects with Gary Tunnicliffe – I’m a big fan of practical effects because they just look more realistic than CG at times so this was a nice treat to see that this film still used those types of effects.
Storyboard Comparisons – Compares the storyboards along side the actual running scenes in the film.
Hellraiser: Deader is available NOW from Echo Bridge Entertainment
