Headless

IMDb

• In this "lost slasher film from 1978," a masked killer wages an unrelenting spree of murder, cannibalism, and necrophilia. But when his tortured past comes back to haunt him, he plunges to even greater depths of madness and depravity, consuming the lives of a young woman and those she holds dear.
• An intricate look at a slasher from the perspective of the killer. Ever wondered why the killer is the way he is? Headless tells all while simultaneously weaving just enough back story to make you feel sorry for the victims.

HorrorMovies
A few years back I witnessed a little indie film entitled Found, which was directed by Scott Schirmer and written by Todd Rigney. Since witnessing the film I’ve been praising it to the high heavens. It was a beautifully crafted yet eerie and somewhat sadistic film that I instantly fell in love with. It has stayed with me ever since and that proves just how well the team did in creating the film.

But, there was much more to Found, there was a film within the film entitledHeadless, and that got people talking just as much as the feature presentation. It was only a few minutes long but those minutes pulled me in and I was hooked, it was sick and twisted and I wanted more. As it turns out so did many other people as Headless began a Kickstarter campaign and soon thereafter the feature film version of Headless was created and thus the mayhem begins. I thought I knew what to expect upon watching the original short but, man, this one is off the charts, it’s brutal.

Headless is directed by Arthur Cullipher, he did the practical effects on Found, and he has managed to keep the vibe of the original Headless short but totally gave us so much more, it’s a freakin’ bloodbath and Cullipher expands on the Headless character so effortlessly and manages to keep the film so engaging that the run-time just simply flies by. It’s truly a testament to his directorial skills.

If you have seen Found then you know what to expect from Headless, if not, then, man, you’re in for a ride. The film takes place in 1978 and the team have managed to capture that time period so well, even the musical score takes you back to that time and really helps the film, especially during its more brooding moments. Anyway, the film follows a skull-faced killer that is hellbent on causing as much carnage and brutality as humanly possible. The killer hacks and slices his way through a vast array of women and in doing so he receives great pleasure as the victims expense.

Throughout the film we’re introduced to a little boy known as “Skullboy” although he isn’t referred to as such. The boy acts as the killers subconscious and leads him along the way in his frenzied massacre and it really works. The boy adds an essence of creepiness and keeps you fully intrigued throughout and as such we learn more about the killers backstory and how he became the way he is and let’s just say, it’s fucked up. By the time this guy reached his teenage years he had been through hell and back and then some, his journey to where he is today is brutal and as such, it has created him into the monster we see before us.

During his rampage, we lay witness to copious amounts of gore, oh, the gore is insane! It’s done so well considering the micro-budget, it’s brutal, sick, disturbing and downright depraved, and you know what? I absolutely loved every minute of it! From the limb dismemberment to the fountains of blood and, yeah, you need to see this to see what else happens, it’s off the freakin’ hook!

When going into this I so wanted it to be good but I had this nagging feeling that they wouldn’t be able to improve or expand on the previous short, but let me assure you, they have done this one proud, it’s a highly entertaining slasher flick which will leave some of you sick to your stomach and others salivating at the horror that is being depicted upon the screen, it’s a hell of a ride and I highly recommend that you hunt this one down and witness the absolute brutality which plays out.

Being a micro-budget feature you may assume that the acting may not be up “there” but it is, the entire cast do a stellar job throughout and Shane Beasley who plays the masked-face killer absolutely nailed the performance, nailed it. Let me say, that character is one sick fuck, he’s depraved, twisted and out of his mind, if you’re a gore-hound you will have an absolute field-day with this character.

This one has cult statues written all over it. I loved it, what can I say? Does that mean I’m as twisted as the killer or the minds that put this one together? Probably so, and you know what? I’ll be coming back for seconds and thirds. Now, where did I put that corpse?

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