Inspecteur Kien: L'horreur sans tête

It's been a long time since I've experienced such an outstanding Vietnamese film. The movie was excellent, resolving all its issues neatly, leaving no unanswered questions by the end. Visually, the film was stunning - the color palette, costumes, and sound design were flawless. Overall, the actors delivered incredible performances, especially the ones portraying the antagonists.

In terms of horror, the film didn't evoke as much fear as Qua Tim Mau (another movie by director Victor Vu). However, I've always felt that there's a very modern message in Victor Vu's horror films: that there are no real ghosts or demons in this world - it's humans who harm each other.

This film was truly excellent and absolutely worth the price of admission.

Starting from bad: the actress Dinh Ngoc Diep who plays the role of the aunt. Her facial expressions and lines that are supposed to be comic gave me the feeling to be badly acted and out of place most of the time. In general the comical moments in the movie do not blend well with overall vibe.

Another big disappointment is the paranormal element: not what I expected after seeing the trailer, and I wish it had been handled differently.

On the positive side it is worth mentioning the Direction. The special effects are quite good and did not left me the feeling of being cheap of anything like that. The Storyline is solid. Some good twists and emotional moments.

In the end, considering this a be a local vietnamese production, I was pleasently surprised by the general quality of it.

I would rate this movie a 7- , much better than the latest Hollywood productions.

A movie whort watching and 2 hours well spent in my opinion.

.

You must watch this movie! It's a MUST!

Out of my expectation, the movie is good in general. Good plot, meaningful story, logical plot-twist, nice cinematography and epic background music. It will show you many natural sceneries in the North of Vietnam, which are truly beautiful and stunning. In my opinion, this one is a true masterpiece of Vietnamese cinematic industry so far.

To be honest, there're a few limitations in the plot and the characters' dialogues, but they are kind of acceptable. The story is still good enough to keep viewers stay focused on the screen.

The main character, Detective Kien, is really impressive and outstanding. His performance won't make you disappointed. The second main character, Miss Moon, is very beautiful in every scene. She can either make you laugh or cry during the journey of finding her missing niece. All of the other actors' acting was generally good. Especially, the chemistry between Detective Kien and Miss Moon is amazing! I found their partnership quite cute and enjoyable.

Finally, this one is definitely one of the movies that you can't miss! It's my favorite Vietnamese movie so far! I heard that the writer and the director are in discussion about making the next part. I'm really looking forward to it!

Great movie with talented actors and actresses. The story was well written keeping the audience guessing on what will happen next. Sound was well played. Scenery was beautiful which appears to be at Ha Long bay. The detective was well played by Quoc Huy. All the supporting people were well played. The story was set in the olden day in northern Vietnam where a number of people was murdered with the head chopped off! Some scary scenes will make the audience entertained. Well worth watching and hope there will be part 2. The story based on a novel. Many people still believe in ghosts in Vietnam. Well done.

Let's be real: with a title like Detective Kien: The Headless Horror, I expected a wild, edge-of-your-seat ride. A gripping whodunnit, drenched in suspense, clever twists, and maybe a touch of eerie gothic flair. Instead, what I got felt more like watching someone assemble IKEA furniture with no manual-there's a vague sense of purpose, but mostly it's just confusing, awkward, and painfully slow.

The film follows Detective Kien, a man who is technically a detective, but operates more like a guy who read Sherlock Holmes once and decided he, too, could squint at things and call it deduction. He's our guide into a mystery surrounding a series of headless murders-cue dramatic music and a lot of close-ups of puzzled faces. The premise had potential: horror + detective noir + Vietnamese flavor? Sign me up! But somewhere along the road, the story took a wrong turn... and just kinda sat there.

From the jump, the pacing is sluggish. Scenes drag on like they're trying to reach a word count. Characters talk in cryptic riddles that seem deep at first-until you realize they're saying absolutely nothing. The dialogue is the cinematic equivalent of filler text in a school presentation: formal, stiff, and completely divorced from how humans actually speak. Every time someone opened their mouth, I braced myself-not for clues, but for boredom.

Detective Kien himself is supposed to be compelling. He's got the trench coat, the thousand-yard stare, and the backstory (a tragic one, of course). But charisma? Energy? Emotional range? Unfortunately, those didn't make the cut. Watching him solve the case is like watching someone try to remember their Netflix password: frustrating and devoid of excitement. He stares, he broods, he walks slowly-and somehow, things just happen around him until the case solves itself.

And don't get me started on the "horror" part. For a movie with "Headless Horror" in the title, it's shockingly devoid of actual scares. There's a few shadowy corridors, some generic violin screeches, and maybe one off-screen scream too many. The tension never builds-it plateaus immediately and stays there, like a heart monitor in a waiting room.

The cinematography, at least, tries its best. There are moments-brief flickers-of atmospheric lighting and eerie settings that hint at what the film could have been. But you can only light a scene so well before the lack of substance starts peeking through like a cheap ghost under a bedsheet.

Plot-wise, the mystery unfolds in a way that's less "mind-blowing twist" and more "wait, that's it?" The big reveal is less of a "gasp" and more of a "huh." The red herrings are painfully obvious, and the clues feel like they were dropped in by someone who's never watched a detective movie, ever.

By the time the credits rolled, I felt more relief than resolution. Not because the story wrapped up in a satisfying way (it didn't), but because it finally-mercifully-ended. Detective Kien: The Headless Horror isn't offensively bad. It's just... aggressively average. The kind of movie that makes you check your phone, then feel guilty, then check it again out of sheer self-preservation.

Final verdict?

This movie isn't headless-it's heartless. All style, no soul. A detective story where the mystery isn't "who did it?" but "why should I care?"