Head Case

Wayne Montgomery (A nicely underplayed and not bad performance from Paul McCloskey) is a suburbanite, in insurance and married to his domineering older wife Andrea. (Barbara Lessin) They have two kids, Todd (Bruce De Santis) and Monica (Emily Spiegel).

Wayne however, sometimes gets stressed with life. Some of us listen to Bach, drink a beer or smoke a joint to unwind, when life gets on top of us. Wayne on the other hand likes to kill people. He's also an avid fan of home movies and recording in general, and is more than happy to document his acts for posterity. Andrea has no problem with this and in fact helps him dispose of the evidence, all the while hen pecking him. And it's all captured on camera...

Head Case, despite its rather lurid title, is actually a not bad fly-on-the-wall look at murderous psychopathy as a way of life.

Wayne and Andrea bicker regularly in a banal, ordinary manner, and chit chat when they're not disposing of their victims, and the whole thing comes across as intentionally boring, yet absorbing at the same time.

In terms of content, it's pretty restrained, probably due to budgetary constraints, and owing more to the likes of Shane Ryan's Amateur Porn Star Killer series than to Fred Vogel's August Underground films. (although it's shot better) However in tone, although purposely banal, it's extremely mean spirited in parts, with director Anthony Spadaccini getting under your skin with some wince-inducing concepts, and disturbing sound effects, even if it isn't full on in-yer-face grue.

Overall, I rather liked it and it held my attention for its entirety. Worth checking out for horror fans, but gore hounds will feel shortchanged. 6/10, but a not bad film and worth a watch.

So here we are watching home movies? No. No one makes movies like these. But here they are...and...its tough to turn away, isn't it? Thats the key behind 2007's Head Case from Anthony Spadaccini and team. And i say team because his use of ad-libbed dialog is phenomenal in this story of two mad parents bent on setting the record for homicides in the family tub. What ramps the creepiness up to 10 is their behaviour; neither over the top or demented, or mad-man speech is present. Its the very subtle interest and action these two psychos keep wrapped under their suburban-home cover. Their more interested in bickering over how to slice a stomach akin to a typical married couple deciding on where to order out for dinner. Another great use of the "home movie" type of filming, Anthony has shown that this is very familiar and comfortable territory, and eagerly exploits the cast and their pleasure at living out these characters.

Movies like this are a rare find. Truly mesmerizing to watch and insanely haunting. "Captivated" doesn't even begin to describe what I felt throughout the entire film. The performances of every actor were dead on. I asked myself more than once through the first sitting, "wait, this is fiction, right?" Something that almost no movie ever makes me question. Wayne Montgomery is one of the most disturbing characters I've ever seen. It all just seems so real. That's what sold it for me. Nothing seemed pretend. This hit me on a gut level because it felt like this could really happen. You don't know who you're living next door to. The thought of living in the same universe as Wayne makes me want to crawl out of my skin. This takes found-footage horror to the next level. Head Case drowns the audience in Wayne's unsettling depravity and breaks the tension with dark humor and sarcasm. Part ultimate cult horror film, part black comedy. Quite an achievement and, in my book, a must-see.

Attempting to live a quiet life together, a pair of serial killers decide to document themselves and their everyday lives while trying to hide their crimes from everyone as well as their children, but as time goes on it soon grows to increasingly more difficult proportions trying to ensure their lives together.

For the most part, this was quite an impressive serial killer effort. One of its better aspects is the outright chilling mundane-ness associated with their action that should be heinous and brutal yet comes off another ordinary day. Initially shown to be bickering in a friendly manner over who gets to hold the camera while videotaping themselves killing a victim, this is then almost immediately followed up with their spirited discussions on the decorations of the murder-room in their house and all the decorations and accouterments that need to be there comes off with quite a disturbing air realizing the conversations are about the space in which they're going to murder their victims. That carries over into the matter-of-fact kills that they partake in. from the opening scene of them dunking a victim under running water to suffocating under a pillow, being drugged and carved into pieces while the victims' unconscious and can't feel anything. These are done with a mostly calm, calculated manner that denotes more of a business-as-usual approach that doesn't spark any kind of emotional outburst from them about anything, yet there's nothing much on display here. Later on, when they're out hunting for victims whether they're successful or not keeps that dark and disturbing air to it with their focus on keeping the grisly features off-screen and only getting an idea through the sounds and glimpses we get about everything. These are what make this a fun time over its negative aspects. Overall, there isn't much wrong here but it does have some slight, nagging flaws. The fact that it's so home-made and down-to-Earth can make this one feel like a total drag and become quite dull. The very nature of this one tending to be very much of their own-filmed scenes can make this come across so flatly and underwhelming that it's boring. The lack of blood and gore in the kills could be a slight disappointment in the sense that it keeps cutting away without showing anything resulting in some rather unremarkable deaths. As well, the finale is quite underwhelming with a low-key and generally just a downer, ending without much resolution or impact as it seems to be as if they ran out of money with what happens. These few factors are what draw this down the most.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence and Graphic Language.

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.