Review: Headless 2015

I must begin by saying I don’t recommend anyone watch this film…that being said, I actually did enjoy it…well, overall. There IS plenty to love in this movie, however, in order to appreciate what’s great about “Headless”, one must be subjected to such abjectly appalling, vile and shocking scenes showcasing things I don’t even want to specify… If you’ve read a previous review of mine for a movie entitled “found.”, “Headless” is actually a full-length version of a film of which we are shown small clips, in “found.”. In fact, in “found.”, the movie ‘Headless’ is very influential for one of the main characters. So, the full-length feature, “Headless”, is perfectly filmed as if it were made in the 70s, there are no modern special effects and half the acting is “terrible”…but in a way that could actually have been intentional, because technically ‘Headless’ is a movie found within a different movie, so it’s sort of like it’s “double-dipped” or… extra “cheesy”…
“Headless” begins with an awesome little fake commercial for a non-existent horror film about a werewolf who gets his girlfriend pregnant. Once the film begins it wastes no time, our main character is an unnamed man, in the credits he is just known as “the killer”, and he spends his days stalking young women, then brutally torturing them before ultimately decapitating them… and the shock-factor is only just getting started. “Headless” essentially contains three separate, but related stories, we have “the killer” and his seemingly endless spree of atrocious and violent, psycho-sexual murders, but, he also has a heartrending backstory, filled with such abject emotional abuse that we can actually somewhat “understand” how he turned out the way that he did… “the killer” is also ‘accompanied’ by a small boy with a skull for a head, that only he is able to see. It’s reasonable to figure that this represents his childhood self (in fact, “skull boy” is played by the same boy who plays “the killer” in flashbacks). We are shown this backstory intermittently throughout the movie, through his memories, fantasies and dreams. Then there’s also a side-story about a struggling waitress at a roller-disco with a lazy, stoner boyfriend in a failing band and she eventually becomes a target for “the killer”.
It’s not easy to see the good in this movie, most people wouldn’t be able to get past the appallingly gratuitous level of utterly revolting subject matter… nevertheless, there are amazing details in this movie, even homages to old horror films… I think there’s also something to be said for how bold this film is, it pushes so many boundaries and it just keeps right on pushing right until the end. I can admire that. “Headless” knows what it is, it isn’t for everyone, and it’s far from trying to be.