Horsehead

This phantasmagorical French horror movie is about a young college student who is dealing with troubling memories of her past by studying Freud and experimenting with "lucid dreaming". When her maternal grandmother dies, she joins her mother in her grandparent's country estate where she uses her lucid dreaming skills to uncover dark family secrets.

This film somewhat reminded me of the Walerian Borowzyk film "La Bete", but without the shocking imagery or nearly as strong of a grasp of Freudian surrealism. The "Horsehead" monster that haunts the dreams of the heroine may be the literal embodiment of a "nightmare" (or "cauchemare" in French), but horses are such magnificent and beautiful animals that it's hard to make them look too frightening or threatening. The weird imagery and occasionally effective atmosphere of this film is somewhat of a throwback to an earlier era, and it is refreshing in an age where "horror" is often synonymous with tons of gory effects, "torture porn", and shot-on-video "found-footage" bullsh*t. But the images, while pretty and colorful, are a little pedestrian and frankly just not all scary.

The movie does get a lot of mileage out of pretty, young French actress Lily-Fleur Pointeaux. I think at least half the audience will be very favorably disposed to scenes where she luxuriates in a bathtub with her magnificent breasts bobbing and glistening (bobbing and glistening. . .). But she also does a decent job carrying the principal weight of this movie, especially considering I've only previously seen her in small supporting roles in films like "Ma Premiere Pas" and "We Need a Vacation".

This film could have used some stronger and perhaps more shocking imagery like "La Bete" or the more recent French/Belgian film "Amer", but it's not an entirely unpleasant way to pass 90 minutes.

While for some the most famous Horsehead will still remain one that can be seen in Godfather, is this movie an "offer you can't refuse" to watch? That depends on your viewing taste obviously. The movie itself has wicked ideas and some crazy story elements to it, that are not something you are used to see in "normal" movies.

It's still not really great, even though the acting is decent enough and there are enough good effects (not really for the squeamish, even if there are more explicit movies out there). There's also nudity involved, though with all craziness going on, I'm not sure that's something to be upset about or looking forward to. Decent effort, that might not make sense to everybody (which I reckon was intended)

An absolute joyride of a movie , with twists in its plot so simple but yet so touching , the psyche , the heart. Its all entangled into this huge Beautiful film that whatever everyone might say ....... its a jewel in brute , anybody can do blood and guts but not anybody cant touch your mind and heart in ways like Horsehead does. I wish to applaud the director of photography. The Scenes are wonderfully done , beautiful not so much dialogue but with such scenes .......... it does not even needs to be an actor talking or such but again such a great cast. It has taints of the great Dario Argento , Some of Kubrick and I totally found some Clive Barker at his Best in here with Hellraiser 1986 ........ for those who love Cinema, Please support this movie and if you are disappointed i clearly wont understand why , and you are missing the whole point of the dedication and passion put into this. ITS ART IN ITS MORE ABSTRACT YET BEAUTIFULLY POINTED OUT AND PURE AND RAW WAY. My favorite thus far.

10/10 And if i could give it a 12 i would.

By certain aspects, "Horsehead" made for me thought of the Dario Argento's Inferno : both movies have in common to be enigmatic, fascinating, of a total pictorial beauty, but also to rather hermetic and difficult to access.

Horsehead risks hardly to embarrass and to divide the spectators. The movie is not indeed an entertainment popcorn and will ask a real effort of attention and especially an emotional participation and a total dumping in its universe.

Horsehead indeed takes the shape of a nightmare in the shape of mysterious puzzle, plunging her heroine into a terrible, dreamlike, fantastical, gory and erotic universe.

Following the example of "Lords of Salem" (Rob Zombie - 2012), Horsehead is for my part one of the most interesting proposals of the fantastic movies seen for a long time.

(sorry for my English...)

This movie is indeed well done! The acting was good, the scenes and locations were perfect! The symbolism. And just the general quality of the movie was outstanding! I just had difficulty knowing what was going on much of the time. Also, there wasn't good flow for me. I had to watch it separate days to finish. Horsehead was a beautiful piece of cinematic art that wasn't that entertaining as a movie.