Movie Review - Hellraiser: Hellseeker

Hellraiser:  Hellseeker

2002

The Cast

  

After watching the dreadful Hellraiser - Inferno I was hoping this would be better... after all, it does have the return of Kirsty Cotton... but it's not.

Trevor Gooden (Winters) wakes up in a hospital after a car accident in which his wife Kirsty (Laurence) drowns.  Suffering headaches and realistic nightmares he also begins to notice that his life is a little less ordinary than it should be.  Some things in his life have changed... and they keep changing on a daily basis... things are wrong... something is out there... something is getting closer...

This, like Inferno, had possibilities, however, due to the direction of the story and the film we get another Thriller with Cenobites.  Note I didn't say starring.  Once again the Cenobites take a back seat to the thriller.  

There are two positives this film has over Inferno.  One is that the story is less jarring and slightly better constructed... slightly...  But it still has the same effect of harming the film and the performances the actors and actresses give.  The second is that the director, Bota, instils a trickle of unease throughout the movie.  It's just a shame that it doesn't quite make it to fear.

The two major flaws that irked me the most were both to do with Kirsty.  I just cannot imagine that she'd marry anybody like Trevor, not when you consider her past... and considering her past would she, once again, open the box and treat the Cenobites so antagonistically(?)  This just isn't in her character... but hey, when should a story be shaped by a character, especially when a twist and reveal depends on it(?)

Again, this film could have been better had more attention been paid to the characters and structure and with a few more Cenobites added into the mix.

To be honest, this isn't as bad as Inferno, in fact, it's worth a watch.  However, it's not a Hellraiser film and because of that, I would recommend you watch the original movies.  They are so much better than this... in every Hellraising way.

I give this a Dream Induced Nightmarish Reality a 4.5 out of 10. 

The Trailer