Headless (2015)

Headless (2015)
directed by:  Arthur Cullipher
starring:  Shane Beasley, Kelsie Carlise, Ellie Church, Kaden Miller, Haley Madison, Dave Parker, Brian Williams, Jennifer Lee, Emily Solt McGee, Nathan Erdel, Matt Keeley, Ben Monticue
format:  Limited Edition NTSC:  Region 1:  Personal Collection

(out of 5)

 

     Wow.  Headless got a lot of hype in the indie world.  An after effect of the film Found by Scott Schirmer.  I received a triple signed copy of the uncut limited edition 682 out of a 1000 and it took me a long time to watch it.  I think subconsciously I was waiting for the hype to die down sometimes hype can ruin a movie even when I don't want it to.  In the end I really wanted to see it also based on the fact my friend Dave Parker has a decent part in this movie. 
    

 

The Movie:  Gritty and seventiesish like almost no other movie I've seen.  I was very impressed with this.  It wasn't perfect as no movie shot nowadays can be but it truly gave a retro feel.  Unlike even Rob Zombie's Devil's Rejects and films like that who try so hard to have this look about them.  Headless was very gory something else I loved about this movie.  I don't HAVE to have gore but in a film about a serial killer of sorts it's kind of a must.  I read on Facebook that the entire crew or most of them went to a drive-in to see their movie up on the big screen.  I envy everyone of them.  Wow to be a fly on the wall or I guess on the car window.

    
The Acting:  Well as I stated my buddy Dave Parker was in this playing a major but minor part as the boyfriend to one of the victims.  Mr. Parker showed his range a tad bit in this one and I for one was very impressed.  Shane Beasley as the Skullface Killer was perhaps the most impressive of all.  There is definitely a look you must have to play this kind of role.  This was the main reason when I heard Elijah Wood was in the remake of Maniac I was a tad concerned...then he nailed it.  I think Shane definitely nailed this movie to the wall being empty, lost, and psychotic.  Ellie Church and Brian Williams were both a lot of fun to watch.  Especially being that their characters had a certain connection in the film their screen chemistry was perfect.

The Shots:  Loved the look of this film as a whole like I said it's one of the few "retro" style movies I have seen to really nail this whole thing camera wise.   The lighting, the kill shots all done very well giving the film a nice gritty atmosphere which I totally dug.

The Gore/FX:  Yeah the fx in this film were very real and very cool.  The heads, if there's one thing I can't stand is a stupid looking severed head in a movie.  But not is the case here the heads were real enough and dead looking enough.  Cgi or at least most that I've seen never gets this right mostly because the face just never looks dead.  Loads of gore in this one.  Gorehounds will love it.  This one does.  Lots and lots of the red stuff.

The Script:  Great story.  A boy is raised like an animal by his abusive mother and sister.   But the boy soon escapes becomes a man and the skullface killer is born.  Haunted by flashbacks and a little boy with a skullface our killer goes from victim to victim removing their heads and eating their eyes.  Then it seems our killer has more purpose than we realize.  Great ending.  The dialogue was 100% believable and never boring.  Really just loved the shit out of this movie.