Hellraiser VI: Hellseeker  (2002) from Johnny Web (Uncle Scoopy; Greg Wroblewski)

Spoilers:

Those wacky Trilobite dudes are back again with more hell-spawned mischief. These guys are like the trailer trash of hell. They're the Beverly Hellbillies. Ol' Pinhead is now getting to be about the size and age of Marlon Brando, and his pin mask is sagging considerably. He just can't keep it up any more.

By the way, the guys and gals from hell are really called Cenobites, and that is not a neologism. It's a real English word. There are two types of monks. The ones who live alone in seclusion are called anchorites. The ones who live in a cloistered order among their fellow devotees are called cenobites. So I guess we're supposed to assume these dour demons form some kind of hellish priesthood or something.

NUDITY REPORT
There is quite a bit of underwear action and sex play, but the only real nudity comes from a woman spied briefly in a window across an alley.

I thought the first Hellraiser was one of the scariest films I had ever seen, and the Stalactites were really scary as half-imagined creatures, briefly glimpsed, barely understood. Unfortunately, the characters lose most of their impact when they become familiar, and they have become sort of "campy" in the sequels. You aren't that scared of 'em once you see 'em eating their Count Chocula and cuddling their hellish critters down at Satan's cement pond.

Tell you the truth, this is actually not such a bad movie, provided you understand that it really has nothing to do with those silly Zenophobes. It is a straightforward horror/mystery script, perhaps intended as a stand-alone movie or perhaps written as a an episode of The Outer Limits having nothing to do with the Hellraiser characters, those fun-lovin' Cenotaphs. It plays out very much like Jacob's Ladder or Soul Survivors or Angel Heart, somewhere in the same realm of mystery/horror where the inexplicable and confusingly surreal action has a (somewhat obvious) surprise explanation. My guess is that someone picked up an existing script and adapted it for the Hellraiser series post facto, by adding some brief appearances by the zany Gigabytes, and by picking up a character developed in the first two films in the series.

DVD info from Amazon.

  • widescreen anamorphic 1.85:1.

  • three alternate versions of scenes

  • full-length director's commentary

Some plusses:

  • Rumor has it that Clive Barker (the original author of Hellraiser) was fairly pleased with this film. 
  • The DVD is surprisingly impressive for a non-theatrical release. There is a full-length commentary, some additional footage, and a very well mastered widescreen transfer.
  • The acting is solid.

The Critics Vote

  • filmcritic.com 2/5

 

The People Vote ...

IMDb guideline: 7.5 usually indicates a level of excellence, about like three and a half stars from the critics. 6.0 usually indicates lukewarm watchability, about like two and a half stars from the critics. The fives are generally not worthwhile unless they are really your kind of material, about like two stars from the critics. Films under five are generally awful even if you like that kind of film, equivalent to about one and a half stars from the critics or less, depending on just how far below five the rating is.

My own guideline: A means the movie is so good it will appeal to you even if you hate the genre. B means the movie is not good enough to win you over if you hate the genre, but is good enough to do so if you have an open mind about this type of film. C means it will only appeal to genre addicts, and has no crossover appeal. D means you'll hate it even if you like the genre. E means that you'll hate it even if you love the genre. F means that the film is not only unappealing across-the-board, but technically inept as well.

Based on this description, call it a C as a horror/mystery. Pretty good low-rent version of Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge. As a Hellraiser film, probably a D, since those Catamites don't really have much to do with the film, and Pinhead is getting kind of overweight and long in the needle.

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