David666
08-31-2002, 10:24 PM
Ok, just got through watching this film. To say the least it was disappointing.
The film, in spite of what you may have heard, does NOT pit Kirstie against the cenobites again. And so any interesting ideas that arose from the plot summeries that are out there are gone. An interesting way to get fans' hopes up, I'll give Diemtnion that. But the film doesn't deliver at all and indeed the finale comes off as tired, overused and simply that wich all direct to video fodder is made. This is the sixth instalment and one shouldn't really expect anything new, but with the falsified summeries and flat-out lies Dimention uses to get people to spend money on their product one can not help but think "boycott" or even "class action law suit."
Indeed Kirstie is back, but in a relatively minor role that is never truely fleshed out. The film is actually about her husband and his attempt to recover from amnesia induced by a car accident. Or so it would immediatly seem.
The opening sequence is quite unoriginal, one is immedialy reminded of Carnival of Souls. With Inferno having been a major disappointment (to say the very least) and clearly the work of someone without an ounce of original thought, I went in to Hellseeker with high hopes. Sadly, they were immedialy bashed in as I realized that this perhaps was going to be yet another sad outting in this failing franchise written by someone (or in this case two someones) who were going to "borrow" heavily from other, better films to weave it loosely into the Hellraiser mythos. As was the case with Inferno, one can not help but instantly recognize the "borrowed" bits. Let's see.... there's a dash of Jacob's Ladder, a smidge of Basic Instinct, a heaping teaspoon of Carnival of Souls and even, as shocking as it may sound, a toss of Body of Evidence. All this whipped with a little Hellraiser just to cash in on the name.
As with Inferno, the bulk of the story seems more like a bad cop or serial killer investigation flick then anything else. What, no court room scene? A considerable amount of time is spent in a police station with the lead characters engaged in some of the most pathetic interrogation dialogue ever written. Not once, but several times is the lead character called down to the station for nothing more then one or two completely irrelavent questions. The rest of the time we are given the same information over and over and over again. Clearly, they needed time filler. As with any of the Dimention direct-to-video sequels nothing really happens until the final act, the rest is pathetic, lackadazical set-up with nary an original thought, idea or even a shred of inspiration.
We are treated to some truely illogical, and badly orchastrated time jumping, a poorly conceived metaphorical bus ride motiff and the typical dark stranger following ever so close but just far back in an attempt at suspense and fear. Sure, Pinhead gets more screen time then in Inferno... but not much more and his dialogue here is the most pathetic of the entire series. This crud makes his mindless mummbles in Inferno seem like first-class A-List material.
The look of hte film is very similar to other Dimention DTV sequels... namely Mimic 2 and Children of the Corn: Revelations. The set is composed of dull greens, bland tans and washed out colors that apparently are supposed to pass for class. Indeed the apartment building looks just like the one used in COTC: Revelations. It's run down haze and narrow color palate are deadening, boring and listless. It's all strickly by the numbers here from the script to the production design. In fact it's even less then that. Sure, it's better then Inferno... but The Howling: New Moon Rising was better then Inferno. Hell, even the daytime soap Passions is better then Inferno.
I am absolutly heartbroken by Inferno and Hellseeker. And the news of further instalments in the series is nothing more then tragic. Whoever made the assinine decision to sell the rights to Hellraiser to Dimention should go down as the worst businessmen in Hollwood right next to the guys who funded Showgirls or Howard the Duck. And Dimention... I for one am no longer going to support your cash cows. You've burned this horror fan too many times!
The film, in spite of what you may have heard, does NOT pit Kirstie against the cenobites again. And so any interesting ideas that arose from the plot summeries that are out there are gone. An interesting way to get fans' hopes up, I'll give Diemtnion that. But the film doesn't deliver at all and indeed the finale comes off as tired, overused and simply that wich all direct to video fodder is made. This is the sixth instalment and one shouldn't really expect anything new, but with the falsified summeries and flat-out lies Dimention uses to get people to spend money on their product one can not help but think "boycott" or even "class action law suit."
Indeed Kirstie is back, but in a relatively minor role that is never truely fleshed out. The film is actually about her husband and his attempt to recover from amnesia induced by a car accident. Or so it would immediatly seem.
The opening sequence is quite unoriginal, one is immedialy reminded of Carnival of Souls. With Inferno having been a major disappointment (to say the very least) and clearly the work of someone without an ounce of original thought, I went in to Hellseeker with high hopes. Sadly, they were immedialy bashed in as I realized that this perhaps was going to be yet another sad outting in this failing franchise written by someone (or in this case two someones) who were going to "borrow" heavily from other, better films to weave it loosely into the Hellraiser mythos. As was the case with Inferno, one can not help but instantly recognize the "borrowed" bits. Let's see.... there's a dash of Jacob's Ladder, a smidge of Basic Instinct, a heaping teaspoon of Carnival of Souls and even, as shocking as it may sound, a toss of Body of Evidence. All this whipped with a little Hellraiser just to cash in on the name.
As with Inferno, the bulk of the story seems more like a bad cop or serial killer investigation flick then anything else. What, no court room scene? A considerable amount of time is spent in a police station with the lead characters engaged in some of the most pathetic interrogation dialogue ever written. Not once, but several times is the lead character called down to the station for nothing more then one or two completely irrelavent questions. The rest of the time we are given the same information over and over and over again. Clearly, they needed time filler. As with any of the Dimention direct-to-video sequels nothing really happens until the final act, the rest is pathetic, lackadazical set-up with nary an original thought, idea or even a shred of inspiration.
We are treated to some truely illogical, and badly orchastrated time jumping, a poorly conceived metaphorical bus ride motiff and the typical dark stranger following ever so close but just far back in an attempt at suspense and fear. Sure, Pinhead gets more screen time then in Inferno... but not much more and his dialogue here is the most pathetic of the entire series. This crud makes his mindless mummbles in Inferno seem like first-class A-List material.
The look of hte film is very similar to other Dimention DTV sequels... namely Mimic 2 and Children of the Corn: Revelations. The set is composed of dull greens, bland tans and washed out colors that apparently are supposed to pass for class. Indeed the apartment building looks just like the one used in COTC: Revelations. It's run down haze and narrow color palate are deadening, boring and listless. It's all strickly by the numbers here from the script to the production design. In fact it's even less then that. Sure, it's better then Inferno... but The Howling: New Moon Rising was better then Inferno. Hell, even the daytime soap Passions is better then Inferno.
I am absolutly heartbroken by Inferno and Hellseeker. And the news of further instalments in the series is nothing more then tragic. Whoever made the assinine decision to sell the rights to Hellraiser to Dimention should go down as the worst businessmen in Hollwood right next to the guys who funded Showgirls or Howard the Duck. And Dimention... I for one am no longer going to support your cash cows. You've burned this horror fan too many times!