A Ghoul Versus Hellraiser: Deader

Previously on Hellraiser: Hellseeker...

I don't want to talk about it. I don't even want to be reminded that movie EXISTED.

Romania has slowly become one of THE go to places in Hollywood to make a movie. Thanks to the insanely low costs of shooting there, combined with its varied landscapes and endless pool of citizens that'll work for peanuts, it's the new Canada. While it had yielded some B-level 1990's fare such as Dark Angel: The Ascent (a personal favourite of mine), Highlander: Endgame, and a couple of the Trancers movies, it wasn't until 2003's Civil War era blockbuster Cold Mountain was filmed entirely there did the floodgates open and filmmakers began trampling over each other to shoot there.

Primarily horror films were made there thanks to its oppressive looking architecture leftover from its Communist days that really lends itself to the genre, but it's also produced comedies like Van Wilder 2 and Rian Johnson's The Brothers Bloom. Action blockbusters? It has those too, giving us Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance and the third Expendables movie. In 2005, two movies near and dear to my heart (well, near at least) were filmed there back to back in the form of the Prophecy: Uprising and the Prophecy: Forsaken.

Both of these starred Kari Wuhrer, who was already a veteran of the Romanian film scene thanks to today's film, Hellraiser: Deader, which she filmed right on the heels of the Prophecy films. And just like those films, two Hellraiser movies were filmed back to back but Wuhrer only took part in the first one. I guess even she has her standards, because TWO Hellraiser straight-to-video films is too much to ask from anyone.

A Ghoul Versus The Prophecy: Forsaken

"Let's put the Prophecy franchise to bed with the fifth and final review in my retrospective!"

Previously on A Ghoul Versus The Prophecy: The Uprising...

Geez, who the hell knows? ANOTHER prophecy has been made that God will write ANOTHER chapter of Revelations in a book called the Lexicon that will give whoever holds it the advantage in... I guess the Second War of Angels?

Belial, one of Satan's ex-cronies, is after the Lexicon so he can create a new Hell... which will make him more powerful than everyone else. Yeah, I don't know. The more I think about it the less sense it makes.  But like always, Satan saves the day and entrusts the Lexicon to Kari Wuhrer, who continues the franchise's proud tradition of featuring heroes of RAPIDLY declining quality. Oh, and she's also barely helped through her journey by the ghost of the angel Simon from the first movie. Ghost of an angel... I think that might be the dumbest idea in the supernatural genre.

Get for the EPIC CONCLUSION of the Prophecy saga with A Ghoul Versus The Prophecy: Forsaken! Also, why did they quit numbering these damn things?

A Ghoul Versus The Prophecy: Uprising

“O Lord, why can't this movie have subtitles?”

Previously on The Prophecy 3: The Ascent...

Twenty some years have passed since the last movie, Danyael Jr. now grown up and making his way as a street preacher preaching about God no longer caring about mankind. His world view is based off a traumatic childhood where once again the rebel angels tried to kill him, but ended up killing his mother instead.  The former Archangel Gabriel, still a human, has been secretly guarding Danyael his entire life. Gabriel has repented his evil ways and now loves humanity, living life to its fullest. Zophael, who has replaced Gabriel as the leader of the angels, has come to Earth with a plan to revive the Angel of Genocide Pyriel, who will kill all life on Earth and replace God... somehow.

Zophael wants to kill Danyael before he can stop Pyriel, but this all goes awry and Danyael does in fact kill the angel, despite being one of the least convincing heroes in film history. God rewards Gabriel for his changed ways by making him an angel again, and Gabriel exits the franchise in a burst of white doves.

The co-writer of the previous film, Joel Soisson, stepped up to the plate to make this one in his directorial debut.  This means we have someone on board who at least knows the material, and hopefully can bridge things into a worthy sequel.  So where do they go from here? Well, the Second War of the Angels still seems unresolved so I'm thinking that's where we'll start. Get ready for a fresh start on the franchise with A Ghoul Versus The Prophecy: Uprising.