Cast: Kari Wuhrer, Paul Rhys, Simon Kunz and Doug Bradley
Director: Rick Bota
Studio Synopsis: The dreaded Pinhead (Doug Bradley) leads an army of the dead who come back to life with a bloodthirsty vengeance. An undercover reporter (Kari Wuhrer) becomes entangled with a deadly underground group responsible for malevolent resurrections of the dead, and any moment could be her last.
DVD Rating: R
DVD Running Time: 88 minutes
DVD Extras: Deleted and extended scenes with optional director commentary; The Making of Deader behind-the-scenes featurette; feature audio commentaries with director Rick Bota, make-up effects creator Gary J. Tunnicliffe and actor Doug Bradley; Behind the Visual FX of Hellraiser: Deader; Storyboard-to-Film Comparisons; Location Scouting; Practical Effects Featurette with Gary J. Tunnicliffe; Behind-the-scenes Photogallery; and a Hellraiser: Deader gag reel.
Official Web site: http://video.movies.go.com/thrillertheater/
hellraiser/index.html
Trailer: http://video.movies.go.com/thrillertheater/hellraiser/
index.html

The Verdict: Deader fittingly sums up the status of the Hellraiser franchise with each new sequel. With Clive Barker no longer creatively involved in the series, each new direct-to-DVD Pinhead sequel feels less connected to the Hellraiser mythology than the last. And if Deader unfolds like a Hellraiser entry in name only, with Pinhead’s fleeting appearances shoehorned into the bloody proceedings, it is. Director Rick Bota reveals during one of his two feature commentaries—one with Pinhead himself, Doug Bradley, the other with make-up effects maestro Gary J. Tunnicliffe—that Deader began life as an original script. When Dimension couldn’t work out what to do with Neal Marshall Steven’s script, Hellraiser: Hellseeker writer Tim Day transformed Deader into the series’ seventh and least satisfying exercise in terror. So what could have been a creepy tale about a journalist (Kari Wurher) hot on the trail of a cult leader—who has the power to raise the dead—is a forgettable and shameless attempt to extend Barker’s franchise beyond its (un)natural lifespan. Unfortunately, the sinister Cenobite hardly makes his presence known until Deader’s obligatory chain-rattling climax. Even Bradley admits during his commentary that he “doesn’t really earn his coin at all” as the series’ main attraction, instead heaping much praise on his leading lady, Wurher. Unfortunately, as hard as she tries, the ex-MTV VJ doesn’t possess the emotional gravitas that’s required to solve the puzzle of Pinhead’s Lament Configuration box. Instead of being intrigued by Wurher’s at-any-cost pursuit of truth, we’re counting down the minutes until her next face to face with Pinhead. Perhaps to overcompensate for this virtually Pinhead-free Hellraiser, Deader boasts a wealth of fascinating making-of extras that will satiate your bloodlust. And the 20-plus minutes of deleted and extended scenes feature much more of Pinhead that Deader does. So unless you’re a diehard Pinheader, skip Deader and go straight to the scenes that ended up on the cutting room floor.
—Robert Sims