Pretty Good

Good start, but then it gets ruined

A Disappointing Continuation

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Well, I watched the movie all the way through. I did. The cinematography was interesting in places, reminiscent of Dario Argento. Very texture-laden. Cinder-block walls, brick walls, textured stucco, the sets in the Montgomery's house had a scabby, WalMart-esque organized quality in a manner. Pleasing in a way. The problem is what other reviewers saw as "grisly" or "gory" was off-screen butchery. Some of it was on-screen, but both on-screen and off-screen lacked a kinetic quality. Watch "Videodrome" and the video of abattoir had water in it, to give it kinetic quality. There is nothing in the cinematography of "Head Case" to suggest kinetic action. What makes "America's Funniest Home Videos" funny is kinetic action. "Head Case" is fake-umentary that resembles a video of a socially-awkward teenager who stammers a lot. If fake blood that doesn't seem to come from anywhere, just magically appearing is "disturbing" then this movie is disturbing.Somebody once said something to the effect that not showing everything adds to the terror of a movie. Well, this movie has gone too far and shows nothing. Somebody else said in a play, you have to act large, on camera, for a movie you have to be much smaller. I don't know that the director or the actors in this movie ever heard this, especially Barbara Lessin (Andrea Montgomery). The acting is far too large for this movie. Its flat and overdone, simultaneously somehow. The actors may be improvising, but they aren't doing a good job of it. There's lots of stammering, lots of moments where it seems like Paul McCloskey doesn't quite know what to say. If they are serial killers, why are they saying things like "Ew! That's gross!" Um, yeah. I'm improvising too. The dialog is terrible. The background score, by the way, is pointless. Why are we adding background music that leaks out of old elevators to something that's supposed to be a "pieced-together" archive? The music detracts from the movie, doesn't add to it. I see Hershel Gordon Lewis in demented-tones of this movie, I can see similarities to Hannibal Lecter ("I prefer to eat the rude whenever possible"), I see some Hitchcock-ian female figures badgering and harassing Wayne Montgomery in the movie. I see lots of Eli Roth ala "Hostel". I see some David Lynch from some of his lesser known shorts or "Eraserhead". Why does every aspiring film director borrow from David Lynch?? No, stop don't answer that question. The movie is original-ish, but a seemingly endless parade of stammering in a background melange of borrowed pieces from other horror movies. Really, the nods to horror classics isn't too bad. Its not that the movie comes off as derivative, but it comes off as amateurish, poorly done and lacking in polish. If you like movies with definitive endings and hate movies that leave room for a sequel (or insist a sequel exist for the sake of completeness), then this movie will really ruin your day. Some people might see these qualities as pluses and may want to watch the movie. Feel free; I don't recommend this movie in any degree. It isn't as funny or farcical as Herschel Gordon Lewis. It lacks good taste, real gore and the things that separate boring university lectures from entertaining movies. 2/10 (For some of the lighting and the texture of the cinematography)

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.

I have had the great honor to experience many films in my lifetime. To my great fortune, I have lived in large cities that have theatres devoted to independent and small production films. So, to my pleasant surprise, I can across an independent film by a filmmaker in my own hometown. Admittedly, I didn't expect much—small town director, local interest, and a modest, grassroots release. Reading beyond the teaser, one realizes that this is more than a simple local film—this is deeper than one may expect. This film spoke to a teleological focal point that may beyond grasp for so many of us, yet much like an accident on the highway, we can't resist watching."Head Case," by filmmaker Anthony Spadaccini, takes place in Claymont, DE; a quaint hamlet born out of the burgeoning steel industry of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, located just outside the Wilmington metropolitan limits. Situated in this once prosperous, suburban context, the film details the sojourn of Wayne and Andrea Montgomery from a couple in a stagnant, archetypal marriage to a malevolent duet feeding their rapacious thirst for unsuspecting victims. Wayne, the more experienced of the pair, imposed upon himself a hiatus from his vicious activities during the birth and childhood of the couple's two children. Now as their progeny reaches adolescence, Wayne and Andrea team up to recommence Wayne's interest. Taking a more scientific approach to homicide, these serial executioners test methods, techniques, poisons concentrations, and demographics all the while documenting their episodes on film—the source for this filmmaker's canvas. However, this is more than just a gruesome documentary on the countless murders of the Montgomery's victims; it is a glimpse inside the darkness within all of humanity.Guided by the filmmaker's careful hand, the observer is immersed in the intoxicating vantage point of a voyeur during these crimes. Indeed, the enthralled film audience moves with the gritty, oft times jittery camera movement, shifting their bodies so as to coax the camera to move in closer, get a better look, experience the milieu of another's fleeting life. Returning to the aforementioned vehicular accident scene, we slow down and move about in any way possible, in the hope to see more that what is being made visible for our consumption. In ways beyond my naïve understanding, the filmmaker invites his audience to slow down and look deeper—he wants us to feel more than simple voyeurs, we are commissioners along with Wayne and Andrea.I encourage you to investigate beyond my feeble review and experience this movie for yourself. What are your reactions to each murder? How do you react to the heightened paranoia on the part of Wayne and Andrea? How do you think the story will really end? Check out Anthony Spadaccini's, "Head Case."

I have been following Anthony Spadaccini's work over the past few years and watched him grow as both a filmmaker and a storyteller. His previous work has covered such hard topics like hate crimes, depression, suicide, guilt, etc. I've also seen some of his funnier stuff like his two silent films and it's clear that this is a filmmaker who likes to work in many different genres and be one of a kind. So when I read on his Myspace page that he was making a horror film, I couldn't wait to go see it. I had an opportunity on Sat night at the Newark FF world premiere to check out his newest film Headcase. It's very different from his other movies. It is a collection of home videos shot by a married couple who have two kids, but also like to kill people on the side and film their crimes. I've never seen a horror movie quite like this before. It's longer than the typical one, it moves slower than your average one, but in this case that's a very good thing. It allows us the viewers to learn about who these people are and connect with them, which is really pretty sick considering how truly sick they are. There are many surprising plot twists, including a really disgusting and stunning one about midway through the movie that changes everything for the characters. I thought the acting was very very good (Paul Mccloskey and Barbra Lessin were very very realistic), the movie has plenty of blood and gore, lots of disturbing moments, and a surprising ending that is also atypical of a horror movie. I also liked how not everything was explained, it allowed us the viewers to draw our own conclusions (like whether or not the son Todd knew about what his parents were doing and what happened to him after the conclusion of the film, or what the meaning of the scene at the abandoned house really meant). I highly recommend Headcase to anyone who is tired of the horror genre and looking for something unique and different and really really disturbing.