Headspace

Before I even properly read what exactly the story of "Headspace" was about, I already knew damn sure that I wanted to see it, simply because it assembles one of the most impressive B-movie casts of the last 15 years! Even though they all just appear in supportive roles, "Headspace" managed to snare legendary names such as Olivia Hussy (who still looks yummy even though well passed 50, I may add…), Udo Kier, Dee Wallace-Stone, Mark Margolis, Sean Young and William Atherton! With names like that, who needs extra motivations to buy a ticket? Now that I've seen the movie during a festival screening, I regretfully can't claim that it's a genuine masterpiece but nonetheless it's a truly creative and intelligent production that definitely has more trumps than just an attractive cast. Young director Andrew Van den Houten dedicated an equal amount of energy to telling a good story AND supplying the film with exhilarating gore! We're introduced to Alex Borden, a confused young man who carries some severe childhood traumas around with him. Every morning when he wakes up, Alex discovers that his intellect and storage capacity has remarkably increased but; even though this sounds fantastic, he begins to suffer from terrible headaches and nightmarish visions about demons. When people in his surrounding start to get brutally slaughtered, Alex (righteously?) fears that he might be the murderer without fully realizing it. The ideas and sub plots of "Headspace" are so many-sided that the film might have worked even better as a mini-series! Now some of the potentially very interesting story lines (like Alex' family background or the dubious intentions of his doctors) look slightly underdeveloped even though I'm sure they were initially meant to get processed more carefully. But hey, I'm really not complaining since this probably resulted in more action and gore! "Headspace" contains some very effective shock-moments and graphic make up effects that will surely appeal to all horror fans! The set pieces and locations are convincing, with a very nice portrayal of typical New York City suburbs and street life. The camera-work and choreography is terrific, at times even downright artistic, and the screenplay even manages to be educational! How many horror movies can honestly say that teach you interesting facts about the game of chess? Recommended!

Headspace isn't a completely successful film, but if there was an award for 'most ambitious screenplay', this flick would certainly win it. Andrew van den Houten's debut feature demands respect from the audience for its charming originality, and for the way that it manages to pull many different story elements together. The film is definitely hard to categorise, and works from a psychological base, which is backed up nicely by some good old fashioned scenes of gore. I'm guessing the director was hampered by budget or pressures from elsewhere, as several elements of the film don't feel properly fleshed out, and given how much thought has gone into the film; I find it hard to believe that the writers would just neglect some areas. The film focuses on Alex Borden; a young man who meets a chess player one day and suddenly finds his intellect expanding. This, however, leads to nightmares, and Alex soon finds his world crumbling around him when past traumas meet with real threats from 'demons', which Alex has began to see; and which are killing off people he knows.

The great thing about watching this film is that it's never clear where it's going, and director Andrew van den Houten does a good job of building up the mystery without ever giving too much away at once. I'm deliberately focusing more on the good elements of this film simply because the majority of horror movies coming out recently are tired and derivative, so it's nice to see one that tries its best to do something original. I guess the main negative element of the film is that, while the story plays out well, there's no real resolution to the film, and while messages such as 'ignorance is bliss' stand out from the story, no actual messages are played with much. The director has assembled a strong cast of lesser known stars, which help to provide the film with a lot of cult value. Unknown actor Christopher Denham does well in the lead role, and he's backed up by such cult stars of the past as Sean Young, Olivia Hussey, William Atherton, Dee Wallace and, best of all, Udo Kier; who lights up the screen with a cameo performance mid-way through. Overall, Headspace might not be completely successful; but it's a great attempt, and I'll be keeping my eye on what van den Houten's does next.

Where do I start...??? Very simply: Decent concept that could have been very intriguing EXCELLENT beginning to set the pace of the film I really like chess, so I thought that would be a neat added element to the film... GEEEEEEEEZ...

TOTALLY disintegrates into an EXTREMELY poorly written, directed, and acted film. PERIOD.

Very sad too; I REALLY, REALLY wish I had read more of the comments and especially the message board MUCH more carefully. Usually I do, but I musta REALLY screwed up on this one : ) I can excuse a film completely for being aimless and even pointless, ***IF*** it at least has style, mood, and is done with SOME bloody competence. It is SO dang funny how some of these film makers snag a bunch of these 'B' actors whom we'd immediately recognize and then they have a combined screen time of about 8 minutes. When will I learn... I felt sorry for Sean Young; she had all of, what..., 3 minutes. Sad...

Anyway, by the end, if you have ANY vestige of intelligence left (which is bloody unlikely) this is one of those cases where you will TRULY be sitting there stunned wondering what the HELL you just did with the last 90 minutes or so...

I'm serious here. Believe me on this one...

I'm not normally hateful or unforgiving when it comes to film and Especially the 'Horror' genre, honestly. But this one fails on almost EVERY level.

HEADSPACE is about Alex (Christopher Denham), a young man who has somehow opened a gateway to an alternate dimension causing it to bleed into this reality. Unfortunately, some murderous demons have also crossed over in the process. Either that, or Alex is losing his mind.

This movie has a heavy, grim atmosphere of gloom throughout, including Alex's childhood, where he and his brother witness their mother (Sean Young) mentally disintegrate.

This is an exceptionally bleak horror film.

Co-stars Dee Wallace, Olivia Hussey, Larry Fessenden, and William Atherton. Also watch for Pollyanna McIntosh in her debut role...

When it comes to grading this movie, there are stark contrasts because it has some very strong points as well as weak ones. As far as overall story and originality is concerned, this could be one of the better horror movies to come out in the past decade. The problem for me was that this movie has some of the weakest dialog I've seen in a film. Conversations between characters is very unnatural and at times you feel as if the actors may have skipped over a few lines. The part in the movie when the Russian psychiatrist explains to Alex what he is and what is happening to him is the only exception to this. I wouldn't say that this ruins the movie seeing as how the story is so intriguing, but having such a strong concept coupled with weak dialog would make this movie average at best.

If you haven't seen it, it's definitely worth checking out, just don't expect anything profound coming from the mouths of the actors.