Head Case

Headcase has one of the most interesting plots I've ever heard of or seen in my life. The filmography was amazing and extremely effective in what the film was trying to accomplish.

If you aren't fond of blood and gore, this movie might not be for you, but if you are a fan of the horror and gore movies, this one is certainly one to see. You never know what is going to happen next and Spadaccini keeps you guessing.

Altogether I very much enjoyed this film and I would recommend this movie to anyone who loves a good horror story or appreciates great filmography.

I have had the great honor to experience many films in my lifetime. To my great fortune, I have lived in large cities that have theatres devoted to independent and small production films. So, to my pleasant surprise, I can across an independent film by a filmmaker in my own hometown. Admittedly, I didn't expect much—small town director, local interest, and a modest, grassroots release. Reading beyond the teaser, one realizes that this is more than a simple local film—this is deeper than one may expect. This film spoke to a teleological focal point that may beyond grasp for so many of us, yet much like an accident on the highway, we can't resist watching.

"Head Case," by filmmaker Anthony Spadaccini, takes place in Claymont, DE; a quaint hamlet born out of the burgeoning steel industry of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, located just outside the Wilmington metropolitan limits. Situated in this once prosperous, suburban context, the film details the sojourn of Wayne and Andrea Montgomery from a couple in a stagnant, archetypal marriage to a malevolent duet feeding their rapacious thirst for unsuspecting victims. Wayne, the more experienced of the pair, imposed upon himself a hiatus from his vicious activities during the birth and childhood of the couple's two children. Now as their progeny reaches adolescence, Wayne and Andrea team up to recommence Wayne's interest. Taking a more scientific approach to homicide, these serial executioners test methods, techniques, poisons concentrations, and demographics all the while documenting their episodes on film—the source for this filmmaker's canvas. However, this is more than just a gruesome documentary on the countless murders of the Montgomery's victims; it is a glimpse inside the darkness within all of humanity.

Guided by the filmmaker's careful hand, the observer is immersed in the intoxicating vantage point of a voyeur during these crimes. Indeed, the enthralled film audience moves with the gritty, oft times jittery camera movement, shifting their bodies so as to coax the camera to move in closer, get a better look, experience the milieu of another's fleeting life. Returning to the aforementioned vehicular accident scene, we slow down and move about in any way possible, in the hope to see more that what is being made visible for our consumption. In ways beyond my naïve understanding, the filmmaker invites his audience to slow down and look deeper—he wants us to feel more than simple voyeurs, we are commissioners along with Wayne and Andrea.

I encourage you to investigate beyond my feeble review and experience this movie for yourself. What are your reactions to each murder? How do you react to the heightened paranoia on the part of Wayne and Andrea? How do you think the story will really end? Check out Anthony Spadaccini's, "Head Case."

A very dark and twisted sense of humor runs through the entire film. The urge to laugh often replaced with laughter. Reminiscent of the Raimi classic "EVIL DEAD", and like that film we are seeing the beginnings of a great filmmaker. Such a combination is a very hard thing to get done on film. One example of such irony would be when the lead characters argue over whose turn it is to clean up a bloody mess. macabre, disturbing and compelling all words used by others to describe this work. We travel though the ordinary a most unusual elements of the lives of the Montgomery's. I will never see a cheese grater the same again. This film was one of the selections at the Newark Film Festival.

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.

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.