Head Case (2007) Reviews

• The most disturbing side of human nature...

  tfiennesfan2008-05-07

  Okay, first off, this film is not everybody's cup of tea. But if it is yours, and you can handle the graphic violence and frightening look at the human psyche at its most damaged, then you'll be amazed. It was disturbing as hell. It made me sick to my stomach (and I wasn't going into this blind--I'd been warned it was graphic). These people act so normal about what they're doing and that just threw me. This film has a very unique and little-before-seen take on serial killers and this fresh new approach is what makes it so frighteningly powerful. The lady wants to put pictures up in the basement where they torture people. Wow, she's a regular freak, though, isn't she? Little details like that throughout the film remind the audience that something is so very wrong in these two character's heads. (And actually, I nearly typed 'people' instead of 'characters' because they are way too real. The documentary style gives it that extra-real feel as well.) I was grimacing through the whole thing. The husband and wife bicker, like a real couple. He throws out ideas on how to approach their murders and she's eager to see and learn. Between their murdering sprees they have "loving" moments with their two children. "You need to clean up that mess"... These characters probably seem normal outside the house but they're so subtly "off." They're the type of people who would, if you were to pass them in the grocery store or on the street without knowing who they are, give a gut feeling that says "STAY AWAY--don't know why just STAY AWAY." And the grotesque sound effects and the wife's Christmas present.... You'll need to see it to believe. Normal words fail me here. Now--on to the aesthetic parts of the film (and yes, believe it or not, there ARE some): The lighting and color is gorgeous (is that the right word for a film like this?). The entire film has a desaturated, slightly off-color look which helps bring you into this off-kilter world of the home-video-making serial killer. It's easy on the eyes but it's the only thing that is. The entire movie was shot home-video style, which lends for a slight camera shake throughout. It works well, making everything feel much more real, but also causes the film at times to move a bit slowly. The music in the background at the beginning is reminiscent of...really old cartoons. Like the kind where one of the characters is mischievous by nature. It evokes a really interesting feeling from the get-go, sort of like everything is off-kilter. And it's very subtle. The music never proclaims the characters are doing something dramatic or evil. The actors are phenomenal. They totally made me believe it. And the way the film opens--over black, with narration...it sets the mood for the dark that will follow. In closing, this film felt way too real and that made it very uncomfortable (well...that word's too tame in this case...). But wow. Just wow. Disturbing on a level I can't even contemplate because these characters were just. so. WRONG. And this is an amazingly scary movie, not because of the blood and gore, but because of the way this film captured the darkest and frankly most disgusting parts of humanity. It's sickening because it's real--because there are people like that. Heck, I'm pretty sure I've passed one or two in the supermarket--we probably all have. So, this film is AMAZING in its own right--again, if it's your cup of tea. If not, avoid it like the plague; but if you're ready for a dip into the dark and everything we fear but never talk about, then watch this film. You won't be disappointed.

• First Horror Film by an Evolving Polymath

  jduerr2009-04-08

  In this subtle, yet unsettling compilation of "home movies" created by Wayne & Andrea Montgomery, filmmaker Anthony Spadaccini affirms his instinctive aptitude for creating both a successful cinematic showpiece and an unnerving playground for his actors to perform. The realism that this film contains is both distressing and comical; a compound genre that I feel is rather difficult to accomplish. Through the camera's scope, the viewer does not witness an organized, calculable story, rather an intelligently assembled collage of personal movies filmed by Andrea and Wayne to both document their quite casual domestic family life as well as their gruesome escapades that are performed in secrecy. Wayne Montgomery (Paul McCloskey) portrays the ordinary American Family Man with a quite shocking hobby that he has excelled into an elusive art form that he takes very seriously. To withhold a family infrastructure, fulfill his talent of dismembering bodies, and filming the murders for later satisfaction, Wayne affirms himself to be quite the bachelor of demented serial killers! His accomplice and spouse, Andrea Montgomery (Barbara Lessin) is not any less motivated. (Her character, the candid matriarch, is comparable to a contemporary Lady Macbeth.) At the beginning of the film, Wayne decides to end his long era of reticence. Now that his children are older, he can return to his former hobbies previously restrained by raising his two children. This time, Andrea doesn't want to feel left out, so they form a successful duet, picking up strangers, dismembering their bodies, and cleaning up afterward. However, while this film initially appears to be geared towards horror fans, it has the quite unique and mature characteristics of a dark comedy. As Spadaccini's first horror film, he is proving himself to be quite an evolving polymath of film genres. As the category of serial killer films is not uncommon, I have to point out this film carries a quite deviant approach to realistic story telling. The hand-held filming quality allows for the audience to take the voyeur's point-of-view into a world that appears identically parallel to our own. The loose cinematography is quite remarkable. This is a film that I would suggest for everyone to watch no matter what genre of film you prefer. Also, anyone interested in good film-making, I promise that you will not be let down. This film is remarkable.

• ... beware the neighbors.

  AhavatHaEmet2009-04-22

  With a few exceptions, most horror films are scary but there's a certain unreality to them. You watch them and jump when you're meant to jump and you scream when you're meant to scream, but at the same time you're thinking that this could never happen to you. Head Case is different. The way it's filmed as to be edited from home movies certainly helps to make it seem realistic, but even more so it's the way the characters act and interact. So many of the exchanges between the husband and wife are just so ... ordinary. Their bickering tends to be rather boring, something you've heard a thousand times from listening to your dull neighbors. At times I began to tune them out. However, when they're planning or carrying out their horrific murders, they're just as casual about it! The way they can nonchalantly describe to each other the way a woman is chewing up ground glass or how it's so difficult to saw through a spine, as though they're doing nothing more than talking about the weather, is what makes this film so absolutely chilling. This film being so realistic, it has to be one of the most horrifying I have ever seen. I will never again accept a car ride or a glass of ginger ale.

• A trip down psychotic lane, aka "my parents are weird"

  Madmandave2008-12-17

  So here we are watching home movies? No. No one makes movies like these. But here they are...and...its tough to turn away, isn't it? Thats the key behind 2007's Head Case from Anthony Spadaccini and team. And i say team because his use of ad-libbed dialog is phenomenal in this story of two mad parents bent on setting the record for homicides in the family tub. What ramps the creepiness up to 10 is their behaviour; neither over the top or demented, or mad-man speech is present. Its the very subtle interest and action these two psychos keep wrapped under their suburban-home cover. Their more interested in bickering over how to slice a stomach akin to a typical married couple deciding on where to order out for dinner. Another great use of the "home movie" type of filming, Anthony has shown that this is very familiar and comfortable territory, and eagerly exploits the cast and their pleasure at living out these characters.

• A Touch of Twisted Class

  act_of_bob2008-08-23

  Head Case is a dark and chilling film, but if you solely take it in the context of a gratuitous horror film, then you are clearly going to overlook the main impetus Spadaccini is striving for. Although the acts of murder and vile mutilation are a major and indeed gruesome part of the plot, there is a more wholesome and intriguing aspect to the film which often neutralises its more shocking elements. The discourse between Wayne and Andrea is perhaps the strongest element of Head Case, and as much as it can be witty and incisive it can equally be cold and chilling. There are some wonderfully humorous exchanges between husband and wife and initially infers Andrea holds equal footing with her husband. But the more we observe their day-to-day activities we soon realise Andrea is nothing more than an interested spectator, and without the camera we could imagine her to be nothing more than a disinterested housewife. Spadaccini does capture this emotional dichotomy of the couple beautifully, such as when Wayne and Andrea are having a minor domestic argument in the bedroom, and Wayne considers the only way to soothe his wife's rising anger is to take her on a drive to find another hapless victim that will sooth his own. But when deconstructing their behaviour it seems fairly obvious this is not a gruesome tale of two serial killers, but a tragic tale of a married couple seeking to invigorate their sterile marriage. Both characters display an overt sense of emotional detachment that comes forcefully through when dealing with their victims. While Wayne dissects one such victim and discovers her to be pregnant, Andrea cannot find any maternal sympathy other than briefly pass the camera over the bloody carcass of the foetus. Ironically, this is the brutal turning point of the film when Monica enters the room to make the horrific discovery, and Wayne enacts punishment in the only way he knows best. From this moment it is clear who holds the real power in the relationship, because despite Andrea's pathetic pleas of "That's enough," Wayne can only see one way of preventing his dark secret from seeping out. I am sure Spadaccini will take criticism for this shocking moment, but does enforce who is in real control of the film, regardless of the critical character of Andrea: "Look at the mess you've made!" But these dichotomies often keep you interested in the film, much as the dichotomy of Crime & Punishment keeps you interested in the motivation of Raskalnikov, and whether he will seek redemption and salvation in a greater good. But if marriage and family have not saved Wayne, then it is doubtful his moments of familial good will outweigh his greater moments of sadistic evil. For a man who can lovingly take his son on a driving lesson but sadistically ignore the crying pleas of a soon-to-be butchered mother forcefully realises how far beyond redemption Wayne has gone, and the spiral of madness he is influential for leaves little possibility of a reconciliation by the close of the film. Indeed, when Wayne seeks to initiate Andrea into his sadistic world we know there is no hope for this couple, and the sooner this nightmare is destroyed the better it will be for all concerned. Naturally, Spadaccini has the last word on this matter. For an independent film Spadaccini has worked hard with many genres and movie styles; considering the constraints he must have been working under. He has done very well to provide a unique experience for the discerning horror fan, and I can appreciate why this film will not be to everyone's taste. But based on the characterisation, the humour and the plot, I do think Head Case has the capacity to become a cult favourite for many others. Following on with other comments, we are seeing here the development of a very talented writer and director, who seems to be able to inject something fresh and compelling into a very tired and overdone genre.