Hellraiser: Hellseeker

Plot synopsis:
Kirsty Cotton and her husband, Trevor Gooden, are driving in a car, joking and laughing. Trevor states they are going to work out an issue and she agrees. They kiss, Trevor taking his attention away from the road long enough to nearly hit another car. Instead of a head on collusion, their car crashes over the edge of a bridge into the river. Trevor manages to get his seat-belt off, swimming up for air, and screaming for help. He realizes immediately that Kirsty is not with him. He swims back down to the car to find both the doors shut and Kirsty still stuck in the car, having been unable to release her seat-belt. He is helpless, trying and failing to get her out of the car, leaving him to witness her drowning.Trevor wakes up in the hospital, suffering from headaches and amnesia. Kirsty is said to be missing, and her door in the car was open despite the fact that Trevor claimed it was locked. Trevor has nightmares about a surgeon performing painful surgery on him. He watches a tape and sees that he gave the Lament Configuration to Kirsty as an anniversary present.Trevor is in love with his boss, Gwen. But at one point, he has a nightmare where a camera that is recording the room shows (though this is not happening in the room) two Cenobites killing Gwen. Trevor is also in love with two other women named Tawny and Sage, and he has a nightmare where he finds Tawny lying dead in a chair. Pinhead appears and gives him a note saying "All your problems are solved", and the body is gone when next he enters, before he wakes up. When next he sees Tawny, she doesn't remember being with him at all, and is with another man.Trevor soon realizes that Dr. Allison, whom he is talking to, is really a hallucination, when the janitor doesn't see her.It soon becomes apparent that Trevor was not a good man, and was conspiring with his friend Bret to kill Kirsty for her inheritance of Larry and Frank's money. Gwen is said to be dead, and Trevor is suspected for the murders. Only Detective Lange believes he is innocent. Later, Trevor has a nightmare about Bret getting angry at him because their plan was to kill Kirsty and make it look like a suicide, but instead he drove the car into the river to drown her. Bret shoots himself before Trevor wakes up. Later, he has another nightmare about Sage trying to kill him, and when awake he finds her dead, stabbed in the head.Detective Lange enters the room and tells Trevor that it is not his lucky day, because a body was found in the river and Lange takes him to the morgue to see, in the process revealing that he and Detective Givens are the same person, created by Pinhead. Trevor enters the morgue and sees a dead body with a sheet over it. He is about to remove the sheet when Pinhead traps him with hooked chains and shows what really happened. When Trevor made Kirsty solve the Lament Configuration so Pinhead would kill her, finding Trevor bland compared to one who escaped him before, Kirsty offered him five souls in exchange for her own. She killed Gwen, Tawny, Sage, and Bret all by shooting them in the head, and Pinhead took their souls. Pinhead says that only four would not satisfy the deal, and reveals that in the car Kirsty shot Trevor in the head, which was what caused him to crash, and Kirsty was the one who survived. Trevor removes the sheet and finds his own body lying there, and realizes he was the fifth soul, and was in hell the entire time.Back in the real world, after the car crash, Kirsty says Trevor shot himself, and he is believed to have killed the others when the bullets will be matched to the gun. Everyone from Trevor's hell exists in reality, including Allison and Lange, and the surgeon from his nightmares is really a coroner. While discussing the accident and the murders, supposedly done by Trever, Detective Lange pulls out a baggie stating that they found it in the car. Inside it is the Lament Configuration. Detective Lange asks her what it is and she tells him that is was an anniversary gift from Trevor. He says he was going to put it in evidence, but since it was an important and sentimental gift, he will give it to her instead.Kirsty hesitates to take the Lament Configuration, clearly showing how much she does not want it. When Det. Lange looks at her strangely she realizes that if she doesn't take it, it will look suspicious. In the end, Kirsty turns and walks away from the scene, gripping the Lament Configuration tightly.

Tags: good versus evil, murder

Review:
What I'm trying to say here is that my expectations were low.Although _Hellseeker_ isn't as good as _Hellbound_, it's very satisfying because it's the first sequel since that has actually catered to fans of the original two films.
In his commentary, director Rick Bota says that Kirsty and the other elements from the previous films have been minimized so as not to alienate people not in the Hellraiser fan base.
Characters in Hellseeker behave in ways that telegraph to the audience that some kind of twist is in the offing, and while it is a good twist, it is just an example of the fact that up to a point, hell works best when it is subtle.Doug Bradley is back for the sixth time as everyone's favourite nail-headed character.
I would NOT have been able to keep my cool with this guy though, who was hugely overacting and throwing harsh accusations which were not necessarily unfounded but definitely a little too confident and, if accusations can be this, a little too accusatory.The best thing about this installment in the Hellraiser series is that it works on a psychological level with the main character.
There are a lot of horror series' that are well past their time to pass away, but as long as they keep putting this much thought and creativity into the Hellraiser films, I say there is infinite opportunity for sequels..
Hellseeker moves away from being another low budget, direct-to-video Hellraiser installment and instead provides an original spin on a dying franchise.This sequel doesn't need cheap gore effects to create a good Horror atmosphere, it also shows Pinhead doesn't need to physically harm his victims to make them suffer, at least not straight away ;) this makes Pinhead a more calculated character, watching him toy with his victims emotions!highly recommended!.
What I saw was certainly an effort at originality, and yes, it was better than some of the other sequels to the franchise, but that said it was still a below par screenplay, borrowing heavily from other, cleverer, more original films.Ironically Hellraiser:Hellseeker shares some of the same flawed plot concepts as the movie it borrows most heavily from: Jacob's Ladder.
Where Mickey Rourke excels as the confused protagonist in Angel Heart, Dean Winters sleep-walks his way through the role in Hellseeker, and where DeNiro gets all the best lines, poor Pinhead gets some of the most forgettable I've ever heard him utter.Granted, compared with the other Hellraiser sequels (all bar Hell on Earth, which I have to say I enjoyed more than I or II) this tries something different, and maybe with a better lead role there'd be something there worthy of a couple more stars.
It takes an original plot for the Hellraiser series, having Pinhead and friends off screen whilst building up a good suspenful atmosphere which keeps you guessing till the very end!
A lot of fans may complain its not a Hellraiser film with the lack of screen time Pinhead makes, but would you rather the Hellraiser sequels be "original and enjoyable whilst still keeping the serious creepiness" or just "crap rip-offs packed with gore, bad acting and no plot!"  I know which I prefer ...
In directing Hellseeker, the sixth film in the series, Rick Bota returns to Barker's original for inspiration; something that is evident throughout this surreal and brilliantly twisted piece.Much has been made about Ashley Lawrence's return as Kirsty Cotton and some may be disappointed in the small amount of screen time she actually has; however by the films end you can fully appreciate her importance and the final twist should rectify any misgivings you may have had.As with the first two and Inferno this is a movie about ideas and not gore or monsters.
Rick Bota's "Hellraiser:Hellseeker" is a straight-to-video horror film that offers plenty of morbid atmosphere.Kirsty Cotton(Ashely Laurence)is married to Trevor(Dean Winters).This guy knows very little about Kirsty's past.He also sees really strange things and is slowly losing contact with reality."Hellraiser:Hellseeker" is easily among the best three "Hellraiser" films.It's surpassed only by the first two films.Unfortunately there is only a little bit of gore,so splatter freaks will be disappointed.In many ways "Hellraiser:Hellseeker" has a similar look and feel to "Hellraiser:Inferno",in which we find ourselves watching a stark reality that is very much our own.Of course there is also the matter of Pinhead,the Cenobites and the famous puzzle box.However they only make a token appearance toward the movie's end.Still this film is quite good,so if you're a fan of "Hellraiser" movies give it a look.8 out of 10..
I'm a GIANT fan of the original story by Clive Barker and I think the first two Hellraisers were the greatest horror films ever to be produced.
The story of Hellseeker has got nothing to do anymore with the original characters Clive Barker created and they might as well could have given this movie a completely new surrounding.
This sequel in the Hellraiser series is clearly a very good horror movie.
As Pinhead says at the end, `Welcome to the worst nightmare of all- reality.' If you think I'm pretentious for speaking of directing a horror movie as an art film, go rent 1 & 2 (the unrated version) to see why so many fell in love with the series before it turned into a Cheap Horror Franchise, and why we keep hoping that another movie like them could be made.
Let's face it, sequels seem better with more familiar faces; "Halloween" and Jamie Lee Curtis being prime examples (although I thought 'H20' and 'Resurrection' weren't very good, she definitely brought them up a few levels).This franchise is so strange, it keeps continuity: the building in part 3 returns in part 4; part 4 occurs way in the future, making all other sequels after it flashbacks, but the series never screws the viewer over by trying to pretend the events of the previous films never happened (take that "Halloween", "Friday the 13th", and "A Nightmare on Elm Street"!).
Kirsty ties this movie together so nicely because she brings the past back to the present, and we feel for her because we know her already.Acting-wise, I think this is the best of the series, followed by the first two.
Yes, most movies nowadays don't have much of an original plot, but I think the real problem is that too many people expected a completely different movie than they got.In the very first Hellraiser movie, Pinhead and the other Cenobites only appear in 3 scenes TOTAL!
The complaint "not enough Pinhead" is the exact same complaint movie execs at Miramax had of the legendary (unreleased) version of Bloodline, causing the original director to quit a great movie and have someone else sloppily film a lot more Pinhead scenes and throw it all together.The This movie was FAR better than Inferno, which reduces Pinhead to basically a mafia boss (Pinhead would NEVER refer to himself as "The Engineer" because as any true Hellraiser fan knows, they are two completely different entities within Hell).
While lacking perhaps in the imagination of the original two, the story at least holds up better than Bloodline, so I would have to say that it is about par with that movie, as it has its faults also.Excellent acting by Dean Winters throughout the movie, even though I had figured out a majority of the mystery revolving around Trevor's amnesia I was actually surprised by the twist at the end.
The soundtrack was a little uninspired (as are most these days) and there was a few corny bits within the movie, particularly the "good cop, bad cop" routines with the detectives investigating Trevor's past.Watch Hellraiser and Hellbound again to get back into the mood of the original concept, and never, NEVER forget:  Hell is NOT about who you'll meet or by what means you get there, it is forever ONLY about "the sweet suffering!".
This is like watching pinhead meets Jacbo's ladder,sublime,butterfly effect.The same old scene again,leaving us puzzle to the very end.Good old pinhead show up to help the poor soul to solve the mystery of his illusion nightmare..Jacbo's ladder is best for that.But on the other hand,i was please to say,it's better than the last 4 Hellraisers.This one have a good story of guessing how or why he being played by pinhead.If you like Jacbo's ladder,sublime.butterfly effect type movies with a touch of pinhead,then this puzzle solving no gore blood flick will do the work for your mind on a good Saturday night rundown.But you figure it out after the accident if he still alive or dead..see Jacbo's ladder instead.
Like all the other horror movie "monsters" emerging from the late70s and 80s, I think Pinhead and the Hellraiser franchise has hadits day.
There is always room for Pinhead, the pope of hell in those kind of movies, and I hope that this great effort will be continued in the following two Hellraiser sequels.
Like the previous film, Hellraiser: Inferno (2000), Hellseeker feels like a stand-alone script with Barker's world of sadomasochism shoehorned in so that Dimension Films can retain the rights to a series that can be clumsily and cheaply churned out, and can be almost guaranteed to at least make its money back.One of the few things worthy of note in Hellseeker is the return of Ashley Laurence as Kirsty Cotton, who went A.W.O.L. after the third entry, Hell on Earth (1992).
If you love Hellraiser, and pinhead, and Kirsty and people torn apart by chains, while having a coherent plot, watch the first 2 movies.
Pinhead is also cooler than in inferno and he is not a judge anymore.Perfect,great movie.It has also a terrific ending.The acting was also better than in ifnerno but one problem:were are the cenobites???They come quit less in the story and when they come they look horrible!!Also another negative point is the dreams:there are so many dreams and flashbacks!But for the rest it is a good movie.
I haven't had a chance to see the fifth movie, ("Inferno") yet, but it looks as if director Rick Bota decided that the series had gotten stale and winded by "Bloodlines", and decided that the smaller budget he undoubtedly had for this DTV movie would work better with a more intimate, creepy film.
Things start off badly, with an auto accident that results in the seeming death of Winter's wife (Ashley Laurence, returning as "Kirsty" from the first two films), and go downhill from there, as reality itself becomes more and more tenuous and increasingly disturbing visions, hallucinations and flash-backs reveal more and more about his true history and eventual fate.
And it must be mentioned that the sound design is extremely effective here, right down to little things like the menacing death metal/techno music playing on the boom box in the first bus scene (maybe Skinny Puppy or Type O Negative??).As I said, the Cenobites don't get a lot of screen time in "Hellseeker".
With each successive episode, we see Pinhead evolve from the dark pope of "the further regions of experience," to some kind of cackling, one-liner spouting "satan" figure whom we are supposed to revile, when it seems as though Barker wanted us to almost sympathize with him instead(eg:  the last 15 mins of Hellbound).While the third and fourth installments are more subtle in their leanings toward the Christian idea of hell (note the prominent use of fire throughout the third and the constant argument against "men of reason" in the fourth), Inferno & Hellseeker are nothing more than outright attempts by some frustrated & confused Christians to preach to the film-viewing public and fill the pews.Think about it:  You have Pinhead, a character who demonstrated in the first two films that he didn't give a damn if you were black or white, good or evil, tall or short, fat or thin:  you opened the box, you were going to get what they offered.
You have a sadistic "demon" who at first takes great pleasure in ripping apart those who want to endeavor into the "further regions" of experience who is suddenly an expert on morality, and is endowed with the means to punish "evildoers."  Hellseeker & Inferno are some of the preachiest films I've seen in years.My only hope is that if the Hellraiser film series continues to grow,  it will somehow harken back to its roots without becoming a remake,  present something new in and of itself, and steer clear of what everyone expects "hell" to be..
I've been a big fan of the first 3 movies in the Hellraiser (Hell on Earth being my all time favorite) series for almost a decade now, and I must admit, I enjoyed this one.
Hellseeker sees the return of Ashley Laurence to the series in the role of Kirsty, and the good news is that she still has the charming good looks that made her role in the first two films so good.
While Pinhead's greater presence in this one than in the last is a welcome change, the Hellraiser movies were never originally about him or the Cenobites, even though they seemed to have evolved in that direction, which, with proper directing and writing, could have been a good thing.Where to start?
It was with 'Inferno' where the franchise went down south in quality, although that was not a terrible film and the best of the sequels post-'Bloodline'.Although the later sequels were worse, 'Hellraiser: Hellseeker' just didn't work for me and it felt pointless at the end of the day.
Even better is Doug Bradley who is as frightening as ever, despite having far too little to do, it is not hard to see why Pinhead is an iconic character in horror.Despite a twist that renders the rest of the film pointless, the last 15 minutes are the best part with there being urgency and an unsettling vibe.
Instead feeling like a dull, bland and paper thin psychological/mystery/horror, playing as basically in the first half a series of unimaginative and long-winded hallucinations and dream sequences, with Pinhead and the Cenobites thrown in with little to do and not much relevance to what has come before their appearances, pretty much as an afterthought.
I was really confused, as the movie kept on going, I just kept on getting more and more confused..I did not understand what the hell was going for most of the movie, I just found the whole movie to be very bizarre.I did not find that boring, there were some dull parts that drag on bit but that really, found this sequel well worth watching.I Clad that Kirsty returned in this movie to have a connections to the early movies in the seriesI really liked the the ending, it really took me by surprised as did not seeing coming at all,Over I thought it was very decent sequel but it did not have many bloody moment in this at all, i thought it even less gory then one before, which had very little gory in it.I give this 5 out of 10.
Hellraiser: Hellseeker (2002)** (out of 4) Sixth installment in the series has Trevor (Dean Winters) and his wife Kristy Cotton (Ashley Laurence) driving in the car when they run off the road and into a river.
I really don't mind the HELLRAISER title being used to sell a film that pretty much has nothing to do with the series or the original characters but sadly the story they give us here just isn't strong enough to carry it through to the end.
HELLRAISER: HELLSEEKER isn't nearly as effective as the previous film but it's still better than the third and fourth parts whatever that's worth..
Memory flashback stories demand great actors and stories and that is not the case here.There is TOO little time involving CENOBITES in Both movies!They also fail to build on H1 which they could have done when they have Ashley back in the film.
reminds me of old times (but in the deleted scenes on the DVD there is more to the scene that connected this film to the others in the series) and a strange ending that I liked (and shows a different side of Kirsty's character).
I won't give out anything of the storyline because it is somewhat complex, and you almost need to watch it more than once to intake the maximum effect.If you are only looking to rent Hellseeker i highly recommend finding it on DVD first, there are some alternate/deleted scenes that are great, especially for Hellraiser fans.The ending to this film leaves open a door for another sequel, and i think if it is made with a well-written script and also well-filmed it would be a welcome addition to the saga.In short...if you've never seen a Hellraiser film before this one you may be confused a little, but i think you'd still enjoy it.
"Hellraiser: Hellseeker" (the sixth film in the horror series) is a marginal improvement over the last few sequels, but I still found it incredibly lacking.
Not really something that first the character, since Pinhead is of course a character that is not supposed to age at all.The movie got directed by Rick Bota, the same person who also directed the other two later sequels in the Hellraiser series.
However, it's not a Hellraiser film and because of that, I would recommend you watch the original movies.
Before that you have, just like Inferno (2000), a rather strong story but it's so low on pinhead and there are almost no cenobites that I can't say that is a good Hellraiser flick.
This movie is not like the original films, and this may be a turn-off to fans of the series.
Ashley Lawrence, Kirsty herself, gave the same level of performance to this installment as she had to the original Hellraiser...which I think is good, but that's in the eye of the beholder.I liked the ending a lot.