Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Hellraiser VII: Deader



This re-release is in fullscreen, 1.33:1 & devoid of extras...
...but the bargain price was right up my alley to see these later Hellraiser films for the 1st time. I only owned the 1st 3 on DVD and saw Hellraiser IV: Bloodline back in the 90's, a title I was initially disappointed with back then but have more appreciation for now despite being not as good as the classic earlier films.

The fullscreen presentation right off the bat cuts off the beginning credits as all the names of the stars & crew get cut off at the sides, such as star of the film "Kari Wu"! She's not even Asian. The sound quality is a bit lacking also as some dialogue is hard to understand versus the music, and there are NO subtitles or closed captioning. No anything on the menu screen except "Play" and "Scene selection".

The previous release of Deader on DVD according to Amazon's page is 1.85:1 widescreen, but I don't own that disc but those out there may want that version if bothered by the boxiness of this newer disc.

not your normal hook and chain
We've all gotten use to the cult classic masterpiece that we know as Hellraiser. Our beloved Pinhead, the beautiful and mysterious puzzle box that gets the ball rolling, and Kirstie Cotton's character going head to head with one of our favorite movie monsters. This story takes a slightly different angle, as does "Inferno" and "Hellseeker" even though one of our favorite heroins reprises her role from the first two films in "Hellseeker". It does get confusing at times but if you pay attention and stick with it, its worth it. The story takes on the journey of others who have the misfortune of crossing paths with the beautiful and mysterious puzzle box that unleashes utter chaos on those who are stupid enough to open it cause it's pretty. The story was interesting and well played and the actors were very good. It pleases me to say how much I enjoyed this movie. It's not our traditional Hellraiser tale but it kinda puts Pinhead's role more in perspective and reveals a little more to...

Hellraiser: Deader
I think if Hollywood were to take anything away from the Hellraiser franchise it would be this: quit being such cheap bstrds out to save a little cash and spring for an original friggin' script! HELLRAISER 7, aka HELLRAISER: Deader (2005) is just yet another in a long line (the third so far) of Hellraiser movies that began life as entirely separate entities. Neither HELLRAISER: Inferno, HELLRAISER: Hellseeker nor HELLRAISER: Deader were written as Hellraiser movies, but Dimension films decided they wanted to make more Hellraiser movies and, to not have to pay for a new, original script, they took some old unproduced scripts off the shelf, did some re-writes to include the Lament Configuration and the Cenobites, and they made their movie. And with each one, they just drive the franchise further and further into the ground. Gone is the once-great mythology, gone is the feeling of menace the Cenobites once inspired, and definitely gone is any of the heart Clive Barker put into his...

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