Customer Reviews

Hellraiser VI - Hellseeker

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(21)
3 star:		(27)
2 star:		(11)
1 star:		(32)

 

 

the return of kirsty. but not in the way we all expected. while most of the movie is focused on her husband trevor. it starts out with him and her riding in a car going down a road when the car flies of the bridge and crashes into the water. trevor escapes but kirsty is traped in the car. Much like INFERNO, trevor must find the answers to what really happened to kirsty as her body is not found and what is really happening to him. Once again Pinhead and crew have a small role and in the end we all learn the twisted truth about kirsty and her relationship to trevor as reality is turned upsidedown and nothing is as it seems. Trevor must face his past that he has "forgoten" as kirsty has her revenge for all the heck shes been though. The truth about how kirsty has been changed since HELLRAISER:HELLBOUND is shown and her true relationship to Pinhead and crew is brought to the forefront. How you view kirsty will be changed after seeing this movie as all the pain shes been through finnaly takes its toll on her. great movie and a truly great surprise ending!!!

The Hellraiser franchise holds a special place in my heart. I will never forget the first time I saw the opening chapter in the series of films inspired by Clive Barker's nightmarish visions. Watching the original "Hellraiser" now is a mixed bag-some of those special effects look a bit hokey, but others still come across as chillingly effective. Who can forget the glistening visage of Uncle Frank? The lascivious Julia? Or the first appearance of the ominous and verbose Pinhead? The second installment improved on the first, as the film whisked the viewer away to the abode of Pinhead and the Cenobites. A gruesome, perverse picture, "Hellbound: Hellraiser 2" raised the expectations about future entries to a fever pitch. Up next came "Hellraiser 3," a personal favorite of mine even though legions of fans have subsequently disowned it. The series moved into the latter stages of its life from this point forward, taking bold steps in an attempt to expand far beyond anything that viewers had come to expect. "Hellraiser: Bloodline" moved the action into the future while simultaneously looking at the past in an effort to tell the history of the Lament Configuration, the box that unleashes Pinhead and his infernal minions. Then came "Hellraiser: Inferno," a film that toyed with concepts of memory in a way that is a sort of precursor to "Hellraiser: Hellseeker."

The sixth entry in the indomitable "Hellraiser" franchise employs techniques eerily reminiscent of films like "Irreversible" and "Memento" without showing scenes backwards. Trevor Gooden (Dean Winters) and his main squeeze Kirsty Cotton (Ashley Laurence) aren't getting along that well. They argue incessantly about the things a couple always argues about, but unfortunately they do so while driving a car. When tempers flare Gooden takes his eyes off the road long enough for the car to do a header off a bridge into deep water. The story picks up from this point forward, following Trevor as he recovers from injuries sustained in the accident. Sadly, good old Kirsty didn't make it through the crash, and now Gooden faces questions from the police. The two detectives who question Trevor try and use the old good cop/bad cop routine to extract a confession from the man. Gooden has no idea why the police are voicing suspicions about the accident since he had no reason to try and harm his loved one. The ongoing investigation is a minor inconvenience anyway because Trevor Gooden feels bad physically and emotionally. He suffers from crushing headaches and other ailments as a result of the crash, although the doctors seem to think he shouldn't have any problems.

Then the hallucinations start, frightening visions of gory violence and weird apparitions that leave Gooden feeling confused and alone. His encounter with a cute neighbor in his apartment building leads to a murder he knows nothing about. In come the cops again, asking increasingly ominous questions about what Trevor knows. Everything is turning weird, with time skewing off into past, present, and future directions. Gooden worries he's losing his mind, and he's right. What he should have asked himself was to whom would his mind go. Fans of the "Hellraiser" movies already have a good idea who's going to turn up in the end to claim Trevor Gooden. Yep, it's Pinhead, that urbane, witty denizen of Hell who always finds time to pop up on earth to lecture the mortals on the evils of bad living. It turns out that that accident might not have occurred the way we thought it did, that maybe Trevor isn't the aw shucks sort of guy we thought he was. 'Tis a pity when a good seed goes bad. Or does it? I won't spoil the shock conclusion for you, but "Hellraiser: Hellseeker" holds its cards tightly to its vest. The film is a roller coaster ride that doesn't let the secret out until the final frames.

Director Rick Bota did a good job crafting yet another entertaining "Hellraiser" sequel. He imbues his film with a stark, washed out atmosphere that more than adequately expresses the bleakness Trevor Gooden feels after the accident. Bota also knows that a movie wishing to attach itself to the Pinhead canon must have a vicious bite in terms of gory violence. A whole host of sharp objects express themselves in various ways in the film, much to the delight of gorehounds looking for yet another movie to tease the palate. Even the acting is better than you would expect for a low budget straight to video horror flick. Ashley Laurence, returning to the role that made her semi-famous in the horror world, does a better job acting the seminal part of Kirsty Cotton than she did in the first two films. She might be a bit older, but she's still easy on the eyes. The only downfall to Laurence's appearance is that she doesn't have more than a few scenes. Pity. The director should have made greater use of this actress. Moreover, Doug Bradley as Pinhead once again appears only briefly, a big disappointment to fans of the man with the face of a million nightmares.

The DVD edition is quite good for a straight to video movie. You get a commentary from Rick Bota, a special effects featurette, alternate scenes that give Ashley Laurence greater screen time, and a bunch of trailers for films like "Imposter," "Backflash," and "Hellraiser: Inferno." This sixth installment is the last of the "Hellraiser" films that have been released; two more are slated for release within the next year and a half. I hope they give us more Pinhead and more over the top gore. I think I will go back and start watching the series from the start again. You should, too.

Hellraiser VI - Hellseeker~ Dean Winters is a really well made sequell in the hellraiser series. Ashley Laurence is back for the first time since hellbound. The special effects are quite well made and the script is great being that the movie has a 3 million dollar budget. The music is great for the movie and sets the mood perfectly even to well sometimes. The entire videoe camera scene is so frightening and the psychological drama is totally creepy. It is kind of ironic that he goes to a chiropractor considering that pinhead has pins all over his head. The dialogue is not as poorly written as most horror sequells and is quite good. Pinhead only plays a small part and can almost be seen as doing a small cameo. I highly recommend this movie to all hellraiser fans and fans of great movies.

HELLRAISER: HELLSEEKER, the sixth installment in the Hellraiser series, is a fine, taut chiller, handled masterfully by first-time director Rick Bota (cinematographer on DEMON KNIGHT, HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL and VALENTINE and director of the upcoming Hellraiser sequels DEADER and HELLWORLD). This is a nail-biter, especially for newcomers to the series, who will no doubt love this 90-minute amalgam of murder mystery and nightmarish gore pic. Hellraiser faithfuls, however, may be a bit off-put by the similarities to its predecessor, HELLRAISER: INFERNO (still the finest sequel the series has seen).

INFERNO aside, there's still plenty for the horror film buff to love in HELLSEEKER. Bota provides incredibly claustrophic framing throughout, so the viewer can never quite see over protagonist Dean Winters' shoulder. Additionally, the film is very well-lit with hospital neon greens and police station blues adding intensity to the dizzying nightmare. Bota's cinematography experience serves him well and what HELLSEEKER lacks in originality is more than made up for in pure atmosphere.

And then there's the return of Kirsty. Series followers were no doubt hoping for a Kirsty/Pinhead showdown, but that's nowhere to be found in HELLSEEKER. Doug Bradley's Pinhead keeps scarce (a la INFERNO) as does Kirsty, both simply popping in and out when twists and/or exposition are called for. While this does come as a sort of letdown, it ultimately provides an interesting direction for Kirsty as a new antihero and leaves the series wide open for the future sequels. Still, it was nice to see the series reconnected to its origins. This reviewer was pleased to hear a few references to Uncle Frank throughout the film (and was that a quick cameo by Kirsty's flayed father in the basement of the police station?!?)

All in all, HELLSEEKER is an admirable - and extremely enjoyable - entry into the Hellraiser series. While the hardcore fan can tell early on that this is INFERNO redux, that's still not necessarily a bad thing. For those of us still reeling from BLOODLINE and HELL ON EARTH, it's downright welcome.

The HELLSEEKER DVD looks great and sounds OK. The 5.1 Surround is underused (especially for a fright flick) and poorly utilized when it does come into play. Bota's commentary is again a welcome addition for fans of the series as recent DVDs have been bare bones affairs. Several alternate scenes are also provided. Highly recommended for fans of the series and B-flicks alike.

This is an excellent film which takes things in a different direction than some of the other sequels but has a great plot and cast. Some fans wont like the direction this one takes the series in. I thought it was clever and I like the changing nature of the series. This is superb entertainment if you can accept it on it's own terms.

With each review I read, it seems that every Hellraiser fan hates Hellseeker. Well, I'm a big fan of the Hellraiser series and this is my third favorite (behind Parts 1 and 2 of course). The main reason why I believe this gets so much negative criticism is because the storyline is almost exactly like the previous Hellraiser movie, Inferno (Pinhead is barely in either movie as well). The first time I watched Hellseeker, I knew exactly what was going to happen after only 5 minutes in. Basically, if you've never seen either movie and have to decide which one to get, it comes down to this: Which actors do you like better? Craig Sheffer and Nicholas Turturro (Inferno) or Dean Winters and Ashley Laurence. Personally, I choose the latter.

This brings me to my next point, the acting. Many people hated Winter's performance and thought he was a terrible actor. While I'll admit that his acting wasn't the best in this film, he is an amazing actor. He did a great job on the show "Oz" and was the best actor in the film "Snipes". Also of note is the fact that Ashley Laurence (from the first three films) is back in the role of Kirsty Cotton. She looks absolutely stunning now and did well in her role.

If you don't over-analyze it, Hellseeker is just an entertaining film. There wasn't very much gore like the previous movies, but it's understandable due to the low budget and they did a good job with what they had. The DVD is nice too. It isn't loaded with special features or anything, but the menus look good, it has commentary with the director, and alternate/deleted scenes (also with optional commentary by the director). There's one deleted scene in particular that most fans of the old movies will like (It's one where Kirsty and Pinhead are alone, discussing the Cotton family). Overall, if you're looking for a nice psychological thriller that provides an original spin on the franchise, Hellseeker is well worth your time.

I really thought this movie was going to be beyond redemption. I only rented it because I've seen everything in the tiny video store I frequent.

I was surprised that I liked it! No, It was no where near the first ones, not even close, but it wasn't horrible.

I liked the way Kristy was no longer little miss innocent, and if she'd gone through all this in real life it's highly doubtful she would still be snow white anyway. I also liked the way the main character's story was told through hallucinations and dream like sequences. I especially liked the way things were neatly wrapped up at the end. I especially liked the female coroner's part.

The visuals were very attractive and the story was good if a little predictable.

The bottom line is that this film was enjoyable. It was not great art or story telling, but if you run out of great movies a good one is better than nothing at all.

Will the real pinhead please stand up? This series is starting to lose me abit. Just who is the real pinhead anyway? Is he the monstrous entity we saw in 1-4 or the preacher man we get in inferno and this film? Personally, i liked the old pinhead better.
Like inferno, hellseeker sees fit to give pinhead 5 minutes of screen time so he can pontificate to some morally bankrupt shmoe. And there are the cenobites. Ceno-whats? You mean those guys pinhead drags around that you might miss if you close your eyes for a second. oh, i digress.
The plot is decent enough but again, a little more of the hellraiser mythology in there would have been nice.
Kirsty (1,2, briefly in 3) is in the car with her husband and it goes over a cliff. The husband awakens and his wife is missing. Is she dead? On the bottom of the lake perhaps? Did she just want to get a way from it all or is she hding somewhere? And hey, why are all these women all over our confused hero? And why are they dying? The best friend..acting a little stange..whats up with that? And the cops...those darn cops. whoa! Thats my skull your cutting off there doctor!
This is one bizarre film and for that it gets 3 stars. Its one of those movies that could have been really, really good. Instead its average.

Hellraiser:Hellseeker wasn't bad. I was happy to see the return of Kirsty Cotton (Ashly Laurence). I loved the bits with Kirsty and how actor Dean Winters doesn't remember everything that happened to him and Kirsty after there car crash. The scenes that Pinhead does appear in,especially the scene when Dough Bradley sells Dean Winters the puzzle box, in the style of the original Hellraiser, which I appreciated. And I especially liked the ending, which I won't reveal.

The problems I have with the recent ones like parts 4 and 5 is that part 4 I really think is a piece of garbage. Part 5 was no more than what I've read in magazines- a murder mystery with Hellraiser slapped into it to try and make it a Hellraiser film, which I strongly feel that they failed at.

And I'm sick of the current one's making the main character have illusions of seeing Cenobites or people being killed by them.I think if they stop doing that crap than series or another film could be a lot better. I like nothing more than to be more truthful like Hellraiser and Hellbound. Hell I think Hell on Earth is 100% better than parts 4 and 5, sure all the films have there faults and little things that we hate and love too.

But I do think Hellseeker is a breath of fresh with what Rick Bota did with this one than the last two, and like I said there are scenes that I'm not crazy about, but at least it's a start.

You may hate this movie. Mainly because Kirsty is only in the beginning, end and in parts throughout the movie. This is based on her husband, Trevor who lost his memory from a crash he and Kirsty had. When their car fell off a bridge. He thinks she's dead, but a detective says otherwise.
It's mainly about how the Pinhead torments Trevor into remembering what happened before the crash. He thinks that all was heaven with Kirsty, until associates and woman remind him of his adtulterous and kiniving past.
It's beautiful in a psychological way, where Trevor gets flashes and wonders about his encounters with others. There is only one erotic scene, and it is far too FUNNY, to be thought of as sexual. If that's what you are into then, you'll love this movie.