Reviewed by Chris Wright, MoreHorror.com
Directed By: Rick Bota
Written By: Neal Marshall Stevens & Tim Day
Starring: Kari Wuhrer (Amy Klein), Paul Rhys (Winter LeMarchand), Doug Bradley (Pinhead), Simon Kunz (Charles), Marc Warren (Joey), Georgina Rylance (Marla), Ionut Chermenski (Group Leader), Hugh Jorgin (Arrogant Reporter), Linda Marlowe (Betty), Mandalina Constantin (Anna), Ioana Abur (Katia), Constantin Barbulescu (The Landlord), Daniel Chirea (Amy’s Father), Maria Pintea (Young Amy), Mircea Constantinescu (Subway Cop)
We’re up to sequel number seven now and I got very nervous when I read that this one and the next movie were practically done at the same time. Watching this movie, I wish they had kept the formula they used for “Inferno” and “Deader” as this one left me thinking this was a missed opportunity. I read the script for this movie was originally “Deader” but Dimension kept it and added the Hellraiser formula in to it to keep the rights to the franchise.
The plot is that journalist Amy Klein (Kari Wuhrer) investigates a story of a group of people known as “Deaders” lead by Winter (Paul Rhys) who can seemingly bring people back to life and she finds herself quickly in their world. This is a much different Hellraiser and breaks the mold entirely in the ongoing Hellraiser franchise. I thought the plot itself kept my attention mostly because I was not bored at all during the movie. The plot itself was more fixated on the Deader group with Pinhead being angry that the group was messing with his realm of life and death. The Deaders are about pleasure with death instead of pain. One major plot problem is this simple fact: is “deaders” even a word and why did the writers pick a non grammatical term as a group?
Kari Wuhrer does a commendable job as Amy in this flick. She seemed genuinely disturbed at what was going on and sold each scene well. If it wasn’t for her strong character, this movie would have fallen flat entirely because a lot of the other supporting cast were either average or just wooden to me. Doug Bradley as Pinhead was great as usual. I never have any complaints about his portrayal because he can do this with his eyes closed. We only see two other cenobites in this and they are meaningless as they do nothing.
My favorite scene is clearly when Amy Klein awakens from her sleep and she notices she is stabbed with a knife through her back coming out her chest. It is a graphic scene that for the money they were given it looks realistic! It is especially cringe worthy with her in pain trying to get the knife out. That scene along with the sequences onside the train was quite atmospheric. The special effects and atmosphere and pace are the high points of this movie.
My least favorite aspects were the fact that Amy Klein’s backstory was not woven in to this story well at all. It was almost as if the editors of the film didn’t know what to do with it and just edited it in random locations and it didn’t fit the narrative of the film in the least. It was trying to have some resemblance to “Inferno” and Hellseeker” and it wasn’t working as this film is nothing like those two! Paul Rhys as Winter was uninspiring as a link to the toymaker who built the infamous box to begin with. That aspect could have been left out as well.
This certainly isn’t the best Hellraiser of the series but it isn’t the worst. It is on the lower end though. It had a lot of potential and could have been better if it had been more thought out. I give it 3.5 out of 5 stars. A very watchable film none the less. It has a 4.5 out of 10 on IMDB.