Die Stunde des Headhunter

My review was written in February 1990 after watching the movie on Academy video cassette.

"Head Hunter" is a less than engrossing horror film set in Miami that was filmed in South Africa in 1988.

Kay Lenz and Wayne Crawford are Miami cops stuck with the case of gory murders breaking out in the city's Nigerian community (if such a subculture actually exists there). Victims have their heads cut off, and our sterling heroes trace this to an ancient voodoo-style ritual. Predictable climax has the heroes' friends possessed by a demon.

Poor shot matching fails to meld convincingly the Miami locale with the African-lensed principal photography. Worse yet, this is a screen portrayal of Miami with no Latin Americans in sight.

Adding to the insult of pic's premise is the set of bored walk-throughs by the cast, plus unconvincing makeup effects for the demon's final reel appearance.

"Headhunter" is a low-budget horror movie shot in Cape Town but set in Miami. It's a little flick with a good and intriguing premise but a sloppy script. Director Francis Schaeffer counterbalances that by trying to make the movie as stylish as possible. You can definitely see the influence movies such as "The Evil Dead" had on this one. The cinematography in general is pretty good, provided you're watching the movie on Blu-Ray (the disc is out-of-print and I had to retrieve it on eBay myself about 10 years ago). Despite the director and the camera team using every trick in the book, the very low-budget prevents the movie from having a great-looking monster and decent gore: had they spent a bit more on the FX and fixed the script, it could've become a cult classic. I personally still love it as an obscure flick from the video rental days.

Could have been a cult classic. Everyone and anyone who gravitates to these type of movies knows what they are getting, gore and lots of it. Sadly, there was not enough. The "action scenes" are choppy and, having seen worse movies, done poorly. This is just a majority of the scenes, however. There are some scenes done very very well. If the action scenes were as up front and to the point as the final scene, or the dream sequence, the movie would just make more sense. Period.

I happened upon this movie in a goodwill store and i am, although a little disappointed with the gore, glad that i bought it (probably being the only one in the world with a copy on VHS...hehe). The scenes that are done well, almost bring it to cult status. Overall, i would advise to see it because of a little bit of b-movie humor and some b-movie horror. Hopefully there is a remake, one that will heed this advice and become a cult classic!

The constant bad swipes this low-rent South American horror film receives might be justified, but I didn't think it was entirely terrible. Mostly wooden, and more often vapid you could say, with the occult idea being push aside for lame (and oddly placed) soapy domestic quibbles of the two police detectives (likeably played by Wayne Crawford and Kay Lenz) who are chasing a killer that unusually decapitates its victims, and might be something supernatural of African origins. Cool! No not cool. This offbeat angle is left high and dry, and just frustrates with its sloppy pace and bland script. Quite a drag! Well up until the frenetic climax. Having the two leads being fully developed is fine, but still it leaves us with too many questions about our ugly looking demon. The underwritten premise is randomly disjointed and terribly unclear and inconsistent in its motives. Never does it become much fun, as its light on suspense, action and gratuitous splatter. Nor does it have any sort of camp value. It needed to go out on a limb to achieve excitement, because it sadly underplays itself and goes about things seriously. The convincing location choices however, seemed to invoke an effective atmospheric tenor, and Hans Kuhle's free-flowing camera-work is well done. Julian Laxton's howling music score has a thumping, menacing tone that won't let up. The rubber demon looks tacky and bulky, but decent for such a budget. Watchable fluff, but not one to lose your head over.

Plots revolves around an evil voodoo spirit terrorizing a neighborhood in Miami which is mostly populated by Nigerian refugees, chopping off and stealing their heads. Police detectives Crawford and Lenz are given the unenviable task of investigating the murders, and soon find out for themselves that they are in WAY over their own heads.

Sometimes creepy, sometimes boring, but its sense of humor perks things up throughout and helps hold your interest. Unfortunately when you do finally get to see the killer is a big let down, and it most resembles what you'd expect a living-dead pro-wrestler with a machete to look like, except made out of foam-rubber. Crawford and Lenz do an excellent job in their roles and help hold things together despite this films serious weaknesses, with Crawford delivering some pretty good one-liners.

5 out of 10, not for everyone but a passable time killer.