The Head Hunter

In THE HEAD HUNTER, the protagonist, a hulking solitary warrior scarred by the loss of his daughter goes monster-hunting whenever called upon by a nearby castle, bringing back the heads of his kills and pinning them against a trophy wall. One day, the monster that killed his daughter comes back.

At heart, the movie tells a simple story, but the atmosphere created by the production design is just so outstanding that one cannot be helped but be drawn in. Considering that this entire film was shot for about 30,000 dollars, it is incredible how much quality was put into the visuals. The movie looks better than some which cost literally hundreds of times as much.

Alas, the lack of a budget did show itself indirectly. The movie skips most of the fight scenes, showing us merely the aftermath, except for the final fight between the two old enemies, but even neat camera tricks cannot cover up the shortfall created by the lack of a budget.

If there had been enough money to stage a couple exciting fight scenes, and also a visual depiction of the backstory leading up to the daughter's death, this could have been propelled to the top of the fantasy genre. I think for fans of medieval fantasy this film is still a must-see.

For others, there is a feast for the eyes, made possible by meticuluous attention to detail and brought to the fore by large stretches without any dialogue at all. The story structure gives the ending, in which ironically the final shot is nearly identical to the opening shot, unexpected emotional heft.

I would normally give this 6/10, but it is so close to being a good film, and I can still hardly believe the shoestring budget it was made on, that I still give it the rating of a good movie.

The amazing beauty of The Head Hunter is the minimalist storytelling that creates a high impact effect with virtually no extraneous dialogue or superfluous characters. The Father and his role are clearly defined as a singular, over-riding purpose; yet the Land and the Time in which he lives in is kept vague, building the larger-than-life mythology of the film. This story reminds me of the first, simple stories I read in grade school (Beowolf, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow) that set my imagination on fire and created a lifelong yearning for reading.

That being said, the action fans, gore aficionados, and special effects/CGI devotees are going to be disappointed. This is a low budget film, and from the outset, it's evident the producers were more focused on the quality of the storytelling than shiny bells and whistles. If you watch the film with this managed expectation, you are going to be more apt to enjoy it. After all, at one hour eleven minutes, it's a tale that moves along nicely.

This film is far better than its current IMDB rating.

For the budget this film is insane... great locations, cinematography and costume design. It's very atmospheric and at times reminded me of The Revenant, you get a real sense of the cold, harsh, isolated existence this character faces.

Like others have said its no action packed blockbuster. They clearly didn't have budget to rock out a big monster battle with CGI effects, so rather than ruin the film with a low budget attempt they made smart choices and spent the money wisely.

Nothing about this film felt low budget, the character design is amazing I would buy a hot toy figure of this dude tomorrow seriously!!

"The Head Hunter" is compelling with its technicalities; an impressive Atmospheric brilliance that surely grabs your attention with every passing frame. But the same cannot be said for other aspects.

It's one of those rare occasions when a Movie impresses on the technicalities part but disappoints on the rest. Having seen many indie films before; I generally look forward to these atmosphere centric projects. That's why I decided to give it a go.

Well I'm not disappointed on the vibe front! Set in the medieval age; its unsettling imagery, claustrophobic yet beautiful scenic shots did give pleasure to my eyes. Impressive sound design does help setting up the an overall dark tonality! With its eerie, haunting treatment of the sound score does put up a lot of emphasis on the same.

Can't talk much about the performances as there is literally two person in the movie and the rest are non human beings! The main lead 'Christopher Rygh' does a commendable job portraying as a Monster Hunter. But the written material on him is as low as it could get! Lack of character study does take its toll as the film slowly progresses towards it end.

I simply couldn't establish any sort of empathy for him. Same goes for the monsters! I can't feel this guys' angst even when he's ripping their heads apart. That signifies how less of an attention has been gone into writing those characters and the storyline here. The plot raises more questions than answers! That's probably the sole reason for its downfall.

Still as an Indie movie admirer, I adore what they have done in their own set boundaries. With a little more backing up from the producers, this could have been something else.

What seems like a simple and straightforward revenge story turns into a surprising and uncanny tale of life and death, amidst an eerie atmosphere.

Christopher Rygh's performance is astonishing. Even though the dialogue throughout the movie is scarce, he manages to convey all sorts of emotions through his acting, and turns this "one-character-film" into an amazing journey.

In this movie, what can't be seen is often as important as what is shown on the screen. So keep your ears peeled and let yourself be drifted by the carefully designed sound and the superb music score. Allow yourself to let your imagination flow freely and you won't regret it.

Last, but by no means least, the cinematography in this movie is simply beautiful, especially when it comes to lighting and camera shots. A note also to the fantastic decor and costumes, where no detail is too small to be dismissed.

This movie may have been made with a modest budget and a small crew, but that doesn't mean its quality isn't top-notch.

I watched The Head Hunter in this year's edition of Fantasporto - International Film Festival, and I loved it so much that on the last day of the festival, when the awarded movies were being shown again, I actually went in for a second screening (I don't do that often).

I strongly recommend it! (Rating: 9/10)