Hellraiser: Hellseeker (2002)

SPOLERS AHEAD!

“Hellreasier: Hellseeker” is easily my third favorite of the series. It’s dark and mysterious and feels like the film that “Hellraiser: Inferno” wanted to be. Just like Detective Thorne, Trevor is piecing together memories that he lost after suffering amnesia caused by a terrific car accident in which his wife Kirsty died in. Yes, it’s the same Kirsty from the first two films! Through most of the movie Trevor is seen as a likable guy who is trying to mourn his missing wife, but as he goes about his daily routine, various women in his life try to seduce him such as his boss and neighbor. The police detectives working on his case keep hounding him for answers and his best friend wants answers to his own questions. It’s only when Trevor begins watching an old home movie (he loves recording “moments”) that we see him giving Kirsty the Lament Configuration for their fifth anniversary.  

As the movie slowly untangles the mess that is Trevor’s mind, we learn that he is dead and he is being forced to relive these memories as part of his suffering before going to Hell. It turns out that Trevor was having multiple affairs and that Kirsty was the sole heir to her father’s and Uncle Frank’s massive fortune (money that was never mentioned before…), and that he and his best friend from work decided to kill Kirsty and split the money. But Trevor decided to give her the Lament Configuration instead and forced her to open it (but telling her in a very stern way while holding the camcorder). Kirsty meets Pinhead and offers him a deal; in return for sparing her soul and finally leaving her alone, she will bring Pinhead five souls. He agrees and she kills three of Trevor’s mistresses and his work friend. The fifth and final soul is Trevor whom she shoots in the head while they are driving, causing them to crash into the river just liked the opened showed. She managed to frame Trevor for the murders and tells the police that he just shot himself while he was driving. They believe her and hand her the Lament Configuration. They ask her what it is and she tells them that it was a anniversary gift, so they give it back to her and she walks away, free.

It's important to note that "Hellseeker", "Deader", and "Hellworld" were all directed by horror cinematographer Rick Bota. It feels like the stories and his style were possibly influenced by the "Hellraiser" comics of the 1990's, short stories that have different takes on what the "Hellraiser" world means to them.

Favorite moment – I love it when Pinhead makes his first appearance, stepping through a chart of a human with needles hanging in an acupuncture studio. The music and visuals are perfect, and sense Trevor is already dead, there is no need to explain why Pinhead suddenly appears with the Box.