The British DVD front cover states that this is a Paul Tarantino film - who??? Never heard of him either, but obviously his surname is enough to catch the eye. As for the rear cover it tries to make comparisons with The Shining, The Ring and Stephen King - utter bull****!! Ambitious Ben gets a well paid office job working the graveyard shift thanks to a sexy corporate headhunter. But straight away he is thrown into a nightmare world of supernatural horror. The plot is pretty crazy though easy to follow, the acting is wooden & the special effects look very cheap. I'm not sure if the intention was to make a scary film, which this certainly isn't, or if it was done tongue in cheek. This is a bad, cheesy film, no two ways about it, but I found entertainingly so. NB - there is a short, final post-credits scene for anybody who refrains from hitting the eject button beforehand.
18 Reviews
Where's my head?
wrlang12 August 2006
A campy horror show about an insurance salesman who is befriended by a business man that has a ten year old secret. The businessman sends the insurance man to a headhunter to find a better job and that job entails other work as assigned. The salesman spends the majority of the movie trying to understand why strange things are happening to him and winds up actually fulfilling his job function much to the dismay of the businessman who suffers for a job well done. The camera work and direction was surprisingly good. The dialog was austere and functional with a few giggles. The acting was pretty good. The special effects were in league with the films budget. The movie cover was nicely done and was one of the major reasons I picked up the DVD.
Low budget with poor acting, but hell- it works anyways. Nice sex scene.
dilbertsuperman5 July 2006
Something about the script and the director make up for the wretched generally worthless actors in this movie. I actually liked this film enough to watch it all. Don't get me wrong, there are moments in this movie where the actors are actually pretty decent, followed by a scene where they are just cue-card reading horrible. There's some attention to detail in this movie that just shows a lot of effort and a lot of heart went into this production even if it is obviously low budget. There is actually a plot of sorts which is a big step up for this genre. It's really the lack of special effects budget that kills this film. The sex scene was great but we needed about 3 more really hot ones, especially with his girlfriend.
What results is a watchable low budget horror film- more for a single corporate guy than anyone else since it is office space horror with a corporate backdrop (of sorts).
THE PLOT:
A very hot corporate headhunter gets a guy the job of his dreams but he has to work very strange hours and it seems like his coworkers are not completely from this world. She has the hots for him but she's nothing but trouble it seems- With a huge budget and some more creative plot elements, this could have been a blockbuster, but the small budget keeps it in the watchable yet crippled category and I am sure the plot elements had to be warped down to the low budget.
What results is a watchable low budget horror film- more for a single corporate guy than anyone else since it is office space horror with a corporate backdrop (of sorts).
THE PLOT:
A very hot corporate headhunter gets a guy the job of his dreams but he has to work very strange hours and it seems like his coworkers are not completely from this world. She has the hots for him but she's nothing but trouble it seems- With a huge budget and some more creative plot elements, this could have been a blockbuster, but the small budget keeps it in the watchable yet crippled category and I am sure the plot elements had to be warped down to the low budget.
The term "headhunter" gets thrown around a lot these days...
Navajas8 October 2010
I purchased this movie sight-unseen at a video rental chain that was going out of business, so I can't complain as it probably cost me about a dollar. It is, of course, a very low-budget independent horror film. I've seen a number of movies that fall under this category, so I'm no stranger to incompetence and utter crap when it comes to movies.
First, it should be noted that from a technical perspective, this was a reasonably well done movie. I've seen independent horror flicks where the creators couldn't even figure out how to get the sound and light done right. Even the acting here isn't terrible; the leads do, at very least, seem to have some training in the art.
Okay, so now I've just written two paragraphs that amount to my telling any reader that this movie could be much worse. Make of that what you will.
Doug Bennett (Mark Aiken) is trying to move up in the business world, and finds himself an aggressive agent, Sarah Tierney (Kristi Clainos), to place him into a higher salary. He starts a new job on the graveyard shift and, well, that's where it gets weird. The only people he comes across in the way of coworkers is some guy who just yells and runs at him, then vanishes without a trace. There's also some mysterious voice on the intercom and the agent (actually a headhunter, or so they say) gets naked and seduces him for some reason. Like I said, it does get weird.
Doug later discovers that Sarah is some sort of ghost or other undead beast (complete with a little full-frontal nudity) and she's trying to use this late-night office job as a means of coming back to life, or something like that.
Really, the biggest weakness of this movie is the script. Most of the criticism that I share with many of the other reviewers is that this was not well written. It sort of reminds me of the type of movies that get played at two in the morning on basic cable stations. It's a good movie to make out to, but not as good as Schindler's List.
First, it should be noted that from a technical perspective, this was a reasonably well done movie. I've seen independent horror flicks where the creators couldn't even figure out how to get the sound and light done right. Even the acting here isn't terrible; the leads do, at very least, seem to have some training in the art.
Okay, so now I've just written two paragraphs that amount to my telling any reader that this movie could be much worse. Make of that what you will.
Doug Bennett (Mark Aiken) is trying to move up in the business world, and finds himself an aggressive agent, Sarah Tierney (Kristi Clainos), to place him into a higher salary. He starts a new job on the graveyard shift and, well, that's where it gets weird. The only people he comes across in the way of coworkers is some guy who just yells and runs at him, then vanishes without a trace. There's also some mysterious voice on the intercom and the agent (actually a headhunter, or so they say) gets naked and seduces him for some reason. Like I said, it does get weird.
Doug later discovers that Sarah is some sort of ghost or other undead beast (complete with a little full-frontal nudity) and she's trying to use this late-night office job as a means of coming back to life, or something like that.
Really, the biggest weakness of this movie is the script. Most of the criticism that I share with many of the other reviewers is that this was not well written. It sort of reminds me of the type of movies that get played at two in the morning on basic cable stations. It's a good movie to make out to, but not as good as Schindler's List.
"You Told"
icocleric3 April 2022
This film is not even a B-Movie, and the acting is truly terrible. But if you enjoy really terrible films it has some really amusing and ridiculous scenes that kind of make it entertaining.
There's slow patches too, but the concept was kind of neat. It's not even the best terrible film, but there is fun there.
There's slow patches too, but the concept was kind of neat. It's not even the best terrible film, but there is fun there.
Pretty Boring
gavin69423 October 2013
Ambitious young go-getter Ben Caruso signs on with sexy corporate headhunter Sarah Tierney. Sarah gets Ben a new job with great pay working the graveyard shift. However, Ben soon discovers that Sarah is a witch and his coworkers are the tormented souls of Sarah's previous conquests.
There is not much I really have to say about this one other than it is boring and just not a very great film. I love good horror and I love bad horror, and this is neither -- it is just a half-baked idea in the oven. And strangely, it seems to have a very similar cover to "Tamara", which came out the same year.
The professor who knows the Middle Eastern things was interesting and this could have been developed more. I am not at all clear why they thought a cheap trinket from a gumball machine could pass as an ancient artifact... this needed more thought.
There is not much I really have to say about this one other than it is boring and just not a very great film. I love good horror and I love bad horror, and this is neither -- it is just a half-baked idea in the oven. And strangely, it seems to have a very similar cover to "Tamara", which came out the same year.
The professor who knows the Middle Eastern things was interesting and this could have been developed more. I am not at all clear why they thought a cheap trinket from a gumball machine could pass as an ancient artifact... this needed more thought.
Head Out the Door
artpf5 December 2013
Ambitious young go-getter Ben Caruso signs on with sexy corporate headhunter Sarah Tierney. Who wouldn't? She's hot.
Sarah gets Ben a new job with great pay working the graveyard shift.
However, Ben soon discovers that Sarah is a witch and his coworkers are the tormented souls of Sarah's previous conquests.
If Ben doesn't find a missing head in a few days, he's in danger of losing his own.
Beware of the glowing reviews here from people who have something to do with the film! Don't know why IMDb doesn't monitor better. They should not post reviews until someone has 5 reviews under their belt. That would weed out the fakes more. They also always seem to favor showing the rave reviews even when most reviews are bad. That's not a good representation for the film in question.
Any way, this movie is cheaply made and the acting is mediocre at best. The writing is dumb and the staging is worse. When the hot babe is introduced she's basically wearing a negligee with a jacket over it! Yikes. And she has a PC on her desk that looks like it was made in 1980!
The movie drones on talk talk talk zzzz zzzz zzzzz.
None of it is believable. Fast forward to 31 for the sex scene and tell me if you also agree that the witch -- who has tiny breasts -- also has implants. I'm pretty sure. Anyway, the sex is scene is about as boring as the rest of the movie.
There is little in this film to capture your attention. I won't reveal the ending, but OMG! I laffed so hard. It's so cheesy and unintentionally funny.
This movie is not good.
Sarah gets Ben a new job with great pay working the graveyard shift.
However, Ben soon discovers that Sarah is a witch and his coworkers are the tormented souls of Sarah's previous conquests.
If Ben doesn't find a missing head in a few days, he's in danger of losing his own.
Beware of the glowing reviews here from people who have something to do with the film! Don't know why IMDb doesn't monitor better. They should not post reviews until someone has 5 reviews under their belt. That would weed out the fakes more. They also always seem to favor showing the rave reviews even when most reviews are bad. That's not a good representation for the film in question.
Any way, this movie is cheaply made and the acting is mediocre at best. The writing is dumb and the staging is worse. When the hot babe is introduced she's basically wearing a negligee with a jacket over it! Yikes. And she has a PC on her desk that looks like it was made in 1980!
The movie drones on talk talk talk zzzz zzzz zzzzz.
None of it is believable. Fast forward to 31 for the sex scene and tell me if you also agree that the witch -- who has tiny breasts -- also has implants. I'm pretty sure. Anyway, the sex is scene is about as boring as the rest of the movie.
There is little in this film to capture your attention. I won't reveal the ending, but OMG! I laffed so hard. It's so cheesy and unintentionally funny.
This movie is not good.
Good idea, but done bad.
robfather_873 August 2013
Headhunter Movie Review
Synopsis: This movie is a horror/thriller centered around Ben (Benjamin Parrillo) who is not so fond about his work. He gets in contact with Sarah (Kristi Clainos) a headhunter who he starts working for. He gets a job at an office at night, that soon becomes a strange and creepy place. Strange things happens there as he starts to realize that things are not what he expected. He soon finds out this headhunter Sarah is not who Ben thought she was. He now starts to investigate around this Sarah and things starts to come out in light.
Acting: The acting in this movie was very poor actually. Benjamin Parrillo mostly played in episodes of TV shows did not do a very good job in this movie acting wise. Matt Bushell also this typical known for TV shows did not bring any notably good acts here but he was not very much represented in the movie. Kristi Clainos is also mostly known for TV shows but she did the best job in this movie in my opinion. Very beautiful actress that could have made it into bigger movies or at least more movies. She makes a good effort in this movie as the headhunter would love to see more of her. She actually was cast in the last minute as Sarah Tierny in this movie.
Cinematography: The first impression of the movie was very bad for me personally. I love to look at movies not just for the story or acting but I am giving out points for camera handling and camera angles. This movie had nothing to speak of with the camera angles everything was shot pretty much in the same view all through the movie. The sets was OK but the lighting specifically in the darker scenes was bad. Costume/Make-up: The costumes are really OK nothing out of line of this movie and its setting. The make-up is another story. They use very much CGI and as a fan of the 80's horror and slasher movies they could have done a lot better in this one. This is the era of CGI and when you don't have money for it don't ruin the movie with that sort of thing. All the faces from the ghosts and such in this movie is CGI made. Why not just use simple make-up it would look much better. Even a Halloween mask from a store could have saved them from this. And then I would have given it a better score. In a scene where someone loses a hand they even use CGI for that so you can see the bones sticking out of the arm, but the CGI is so bad that it look too silly. In my opinion they should have dropped the CG in this scene and just shown that she had no hand and used the blood. And for that matter the blood looks very good in this movie so they score points for that.
Music/Sound: The music is very bad it does not fit much in with this movie, and the sounds just slipped my mind, and for me the sounds in a horror movie are some of the most important things. I can't even remember the sounds after I watched this.
Summary: My conclusion after this is I am left with a bad movie that have a story and ideas that are very good actually for a horror movie. I would never recommend this to anyone. Maybe if you are a very big horror fan you might like some parts of it. For me I am a very big horror fan but it lacked almost everything a horror movie should have. But as I said before in this review Kristi Clainos did a good job and scores the only points for me in this movie. Paul Tarantino the director of this movie have only made one more movie the same year this one came out. He have some cool ideas but it needs work.
Synopsis: This movie is a horror/thriller centered around Ben (Benjamin Parrillo) who is not so fond about his work. He gets in contact with Sarah (Kristi Clainos) a headhunter who he starts working for. He gets a job at an office at night, that soon becomes a strange and creepy place. Strange things happens there as he starts to realize that things are not what he expected. He soon finds out this headhunter Sarah is not who Ben thought she was. He now starts to investigate around this Sarah and things starts to come out in light.
Acting: The acting in this movie was very poor actually. Benjamin Parrillo mostly played in episodes of TV shows did not do a very good job in this movie acting wise. Matt Bushell also this typical known for TV shows did not bring any notably good acts here but he was not very much represented in the movie. Kristi Clainos is also mostly known for TV shows but she did the best job in this movie in my opinion. Very beautiful actress that could have made it into bigger movies or at least more movies. She makes a good effort in this movie as the headhunter would love to see more of her. She actually was cast in the last minute as Sarah Tierny in this movie.
Cinematography: The first impression of the movie was very bad for me personally. I love to look at movies not just for the story or acting but I am giving out points for camera handling and camera angles. This movie had nothing to speak of with the camera angles everything was shot pretty much in the same view all through the movie. The sets was OK but the lighting specifically in the darker scenes was bad. Costume/Make-up: The costumes are really OK nothing out of line of this movie and its setting. The make-up is another story. They use very much CGI and as a fan of the 80's horror and slasher movies they could have done a lot better in this one. This is the era of CGI and when you don't have money for it don't ruin the movie with that sort of thing. All the faces from the ghosts and such in this movie is CGI made. Why not just use simple make-up it would look much better. Even a Halloween mask from a store could have saved them from this. And then I would have given it a better score. In a scene where someone loses a hand they even use CGI for that so you can see the bones sticking out of the arm, but the CGI is so bad that it look too silly. In my opinion they should have dropped the CG in this scene and just shown that she had no hand and used the blood. And for that matter the blood looks very good in this movie so they score points for that.
Music/Sound: The music is very bad it does not fit much in with this movie, and the sounds just slipped my mind, and for me the sounds in a horror movie are some of the most important things. I can't even remember the sounds after I watched this.
Summary: My conclusion after this is I am left with a bad movie that have a story and ideas that are very good actually for a horror movie. I would never recommend this to anyone. Maybe if you are a very big horror fan you might like some parts of it. For me I am a very big horror fan but it lacked almost everything a horror movie should have. But as I said before in this review Kristi Clainos did a good job and scores the only points for me in this movie. Paul Tarantino the director of this movie have only made one more movie the same year this one came out. He have some cool ideas but it needs work.
Inexcusable, nuff said.
CarlB196119 November 2011
Warning: Spoilers
This movie is so offensively bad I actually take it as a personal affront...and believe me, I've seen plenty of terrible horror movies.
The acting is soap-opera-level - at BEST - and it is painfully apparent that none of these people have had much (if any) experience performing before a camera before and probably not much since.
None of the characters are likable and the lead male is not sympathetic at all (he cheats on his wife in the first half-hour without any apparent remorse and after she is killed by the titular Headhunter he shows no grief AT ALL).
Nothing that happens in the story makes any sense and none of the characters behave in anywhere near what could be considered a logical manner.
The writing is inane.
The special effects are laughable.
The cemetery at the climax looks about as "realistic" as the one featured in Plan 9 From Outer Space.
The only positive thing I can say about the whole production (and the reason I'm giving it a vote of 2 out of 10 instead of just 1) is that it's pretty professionally lit and filmed - THAT'S IT.
Director Paul Tarantino (no; no relation to THAT Tarantino) should go back to film school, and if that doesn't work out, he should go apply at Pizza Hut.
P.S., it should be obvious to anyone who has actually SEEN this waste of time that the people who posted good comments on the IMDb review section are either affiliated with the flick or are friends of the director. Nice try, guys.
The acting is soap-opera-level - at BEST - and it is painfully apparent that none of these people have had much (if any) experience performing before a camera before and probably not much since.
None of the characters are likable and the lead male is not sympathetic at all (he cheats on his wife in the first half-hour without any apparent remorse and after she is killed by the titular Headhunter he shows no grief AT ALL).
Nothing that happens in the story makes any sense and none of the characters behave in anywhere near what could be considered a logical manner.
The writing is inane.
The special effects are laughable.
The cemetery at the climax looks about as "realistic" as the one featured in Plan 9 From Outer Space.
The only positive thing I can say about the whole production (and the reason I'm giving it a vote of 2 out of 10 instead of just 1) is that it's pretty professionally lit and filmed - THAT'S IT.
Director Paul Tarantino (no; no relation to THAT Tarantino) should go back to film school, and if that doesn't work out, he should go apply at Pizza Hut.
P.S., it should be obvious to anyone who has actually SEEN this waste of time that the people who posted good comments on the IMDb review section are either affiliated with the flick or are friends of the director. Nice try, guys.
Head hunting
kosmasp5 March 2023
No pun intended - no really! It is quite literally - even if you are going for a person ... I reckon you are huning for his or her head. You want what is inside it - well you know what I mean by that. The movie itself is quite decent. You can tell it doesn't have the biggest budget - still for the money it probably had, it works well.
I assume the location was given for free or was a bit of a lucky situation. Maybe they were able to use it after hours. The story is quite ... well easy to spot and I would assume that most will know where the movie is heading ... sorry for another pun. Next time I'll give you a ... heads up ... or not I reckon! Anyway, kidding aside, this is a low budget thriller ... make of it what you will ... just don't blame it for any shortcomings you should have been able to expect ... and story weaknesses that have to be there ... well it is what it is.
I assume the location was given for free or was a bit of a lucky situation. Maybe they were able to use it after hours. The story is quite ... well easy to spot and I would assume that most will know where the movie is heading ... sorry for another pun. Next time I'll give you a ... heads up ... or not I reckon! Anyway, kidding aside, this is a low budget thriller ... make of it what you will ... just don't blame it for any shortcomings you should have been able to expect ... and story weaknesses that have to be there ... well it is what it is.
Ash from "Evil Dead" + "Office Space" = Headhunter!
LAIndieFilmGroup7 May 2005
Caught this film at a packed midnight screening last night. What a surprise! Solid acting in all, with a stand-out performance delivered by Benjamin Parrillo... playing Ben Caruso, the film's lead, a character who does so many wrong things, yet you laughingly cheer for him to somehow make it through... thus reminding me of the Ash character from Evil Dead but instead of the woods, Ben finds himself having to survive his ordeal on the graveyard shift at his new office job... While the humor isn't quite as over-the-top as Evil Dead, it still had me laughing out loud (along with the rest of the audience) quite a bit.
The gore FX are fun, with a cross between physical and CGI working quite well. There are definitely some gory spots that will have the fan's of blood & guts movies cheering.
The sound in Headhunter was especially good, with what seemed to be deep layers of sound fx. Normally indie films are far too simplistic, not layered like typical Hollywood films... But this film took it's sound serious, from cool creature voices to eerie sound fx, it delivered.
Between Parrillo's performance and Paul Tarantino's directing, Headhunter delivers the goods.
The gore FX are fun, with a cross between physical and CGI working quite well. There are definitely some gory spots that will have the fan's of blood & guts movies cheering.
The sound in Headhunter was especially good, with what seemed to be deep layers of sound fx. Normally indie films are far too simplistic, not layered like typical Hollywood films... But this film took it's sound serious, from cool creature voices to eerie sound fx, it delivered.
Between Parrillo's performance and Paul Tarantino's directing, Headhunter delivers the goods.
Are our schools still open and teaching young people?
innocuous30 January 2008
Warning: Spoilers
First, let me say that I've found films from Xenon Pictures to be consistently "a little bit better" than many other film labels. They just seem to get more for the limited budgets and the films tend to have more personality. "Headhunter" (not to be confused with "Head Hunter" or "Head-Hunter") continues this tradition. The acting and special effects are much better than most of the other B-movie junk out there.
Second, I found that this move improved quite a bit in the second act, after moping through a very slow start. Don't be put off by the first 20 minutes, which are pretty mediocre.
Finally, please bear with me as I get on my soap box to ask, "Do any young screenwriters finish school?" Or, rather, "Do they pass English class?" Here's a film which undoubtedly consumed many months of the production crew's lives and took I-don't-know-how-long to write. There were dozens, if not hundreds, of crew members on the set. In spite of all this, nobody thought to point out that you spell it "cemetery," NOT "cemetary." I don't know about you, but it sort of takes the starch out of a scary scene when the protagonist drives up to a huge engraved sign that says, "XXXXX Cemetery". Also, somebody needs to let the prop people know that the possessive form of "it" is not "it's," so the fake newspaper articles look at least a tad more realistic. I'm not even going to start on the difference between "there," "their" and "they're"....
Yeah, I'm being a Grinch, but you'd think that someone somewhere would pick up a dictionary or use a spell checker.
Overall, much better than most of the horror dreck that's being served up direct-to-video.
As a final stinger, I've just noticed that the IMDb spell checker doesn't note that "cemetery" may be a misspelling. It is. Hmmm...let me try it without the quotes: cemetery. No...the IMDb spell checker needs to go back to school, too.
Second, I found that this move improved quite a bit in the second act, after moping through a very slow start. Don't be put off by the first 20 minutes, which are pretty mediocre.
Finally, please bear with me as I get on my soap box to ask, "Do any young screenwriters finish school?" Or, rather, "Do they pass English class?" Here's a film which undoubtedly consumed many months of the production crew's lives and took I-don't-know-how-long to write. There were dozens, if not hundreds, of crew members on the set. In spite of all this, nobody thought to point out that you spell it "cemetery," NOT "cemetary." I don't know about you, but it sort of takes the starch out of a scary scene when the protagonist drives up to a huge engraved sign that says, "XXXXX Cemetery". Also, somebody needs to let the prop people know that the possessive form of "it" is not "it's," so the fake newspaper articles look at least a tad more realistic. I'm not even going to start on the difference between "there," "their" and "they're"....
Yeah, I'm being a Grinch, but you'd think that someone somewhere would pick up a dictionary or use a spell checker.
Overall, much better than most of the horror dreck that's being served up direct-to-video.
As a final stinger, I've just noticed that the IMDb spell checker doesn't note that "cemetery" may be a misspelling. It is. Hmmm...let me try it without the quotes: cemetery. No...the IMDb spell checker needs to go back to school, too.
Festival Fun with Horror Done Right
Wldkarrde812 May 2005
Warning: Spoilers
I caught HEADHUNTER as a part of a local film festival called Danceswithfilms here in Santa Monica, California. The festival prides itself on showcasing films with no stars, and no known director. With any luck all involved in this project will never again be welcomed back to the festival, as the talent on display here is of the "up and coming" variety - destine for success of the name making kind.
The story is unique and compelling, focusing on Ben Caruso, a man in search of a better job. He hooks up with a corporate headhunter and soon finds himself in a top notch horror yarn that also deals out a fair amount of sly laughs. The direction has wisps of Kubrick mixed in with Raimi...which bodes well for this film's director (Paul Tarantino). With all of Hollywood remaking Japanese horror - this home grown effort seems like an ideal candidate for an upgrading to a larger budget, and a wider release.
A stand out moment is where an unsuspecting character has a run in with a garbage disposal gone mad. Though, my favorite was the last few seconds of the film where one of the characters is confronted with that nagging question: "Where is my head?" There were a few moments where things dragged a bit more than I'd like, and where the projects lower budget poked through an otherwise highly professional appearance, but those moments were few and far between. Acting was superb, especially Ben Parrillo who carries the film with ease. Scott Bushell, who plays Ben's friend in the film, is a stand out - bringing a palooka like character to life. British actor Mark Aiken is a star under Hollywood's collective nose. If he's not scooped up for larger studio roles there is just something wrong - casting directors take note.
Judging from the DVD assortment at my local rental house (Did anyone really like CABIN FEVER? And GHOSTWATCHER left me looking for a refund!), this effort deserves to leap successfully from festival circuit to rental and cable. Keep an eye out.
The story is unique and compelling, focusing on Ben Caruso, a man in search of a better job. He hooks up with a corporate headhunter and soon finds himself in a top notch horror yarn that also deals out a fair amount of sly laughs. The direction has wisps of Kubrick mixed in with Raimi...which bodes well for this film's director (Paul Tarantino). With all of Hollywood remaking Japanese horror - this home grown effort seems like an ideal candidate for an upgrading to a larger budget, and a wider release.
A stand out moment is where an unsuspecting character has a run in with a garbage disposal gone mad. Though, my favorite was the last few seconds of the film where one of the characters is confronted with that nagging question: "Where is my head?" There were a few moments where things dragged a bit more than I'd like, and where the projects lower budget poked through an otherwise highly professional appearance, but those moments were few and far between. Acting was superb, especially Ben Parrillo who carries the film with ease. Scott Bushell, who plays Ben's friend in the film, is a stand out - bringing a palooka like character to life. British actor Mark Aiken is a star under Hollywood's collective nose. If he's not scooped up for larger studio roles there is just something wrong - casting directors take note.
Judging from the DVD assortment at my local rental house (Did anyone really like CABIN FEVER? And GHOSTWATCHER left me looking for a refund!), this effort deserves to leap successfully from festival circuit to rental and cable. Keep an eye out.
Much more than I expected
bpvenice25 October 2005
The horror genre is such a guilty pleasure that actually went to a midnight screening of Headhunter at the Dances With Films Film Festival.
I rolled my eyes when the ticket price was ten bucks and saw that the crowd of film-goers seemed largely populated by friends of the production, at least it seemed to be. I mean there were at least a couple hundred people there. At Midnight. So I'm thinking red flag central. I sat in back anticipating an early exit. But what I experienced far exceeded my low expectations.
This wasn't some Michael Bay produced remake glossed up for wide release and big numbers on the opening weekend. Headhunter is an independent horror movie that doesn't benefit from limitless funds and mega stars trying to cash in on the re-surging popularity of this classic genre. Headhunter relied soley on being well written, directed, acted, and edited.
This is not The Exorcist, or The Ring, but it is a smart little film that hits all the beats, all the suspense and all the essential twists and turns well. The make up was great. The effects were great. I mean yeah, it's obvious they had limited funds but it's also obvious that Paul Tarantino is a skilled filmmaker who knows how to make a good film without Stan Winston's genius propping him up.
My hat is off to Tarantino and his cast. Oh yeah, another big reason why I loved Headhunter was because it's pretty damn campy too. It never takes itself too seriously yet stays true to its purpose, Horror. That, to me, is what is so special about this film. Headhunter's a good bet. Rent it.
I rolled my eyes when the ticket price was ten bucks and saw that the crowd of film-goers seemed largely populated by friends of the production, at least it seemed to be. I mean there were at least a couple hundred people there. At Midnight. So I'm thinking red flag central. I sat in back anticipating an early exit. But what I experienced far exceeded my low expectations.
This wasn't some Michael Bay produced remake glossed up for wide release and big numbers on the opening weekend. Headhunter is an independent horror movie that doesn't benefit from limitless funds and mega stars trying to cash in on the re-surging popularity of this classic genre. Headhunter relied soley on being well written, directed, acted, and edited.
This is not The Exorcist, or The Ring, but it is a smart little film that hits all the beats, all the suspense and all the essential twists and turns well. The make up was great. The effects were great. I mean yeah, it's obvious they had limited funds but it's also obvious that Paul Tarantino is a skilled filmmaker who knows how to make a good film without Stan Winston's genius propping him up.
My hat is off to Tarantino and his cast. Oh yeah, another big reason why I loved Headhunter was because it's pretty damn campy too. It never takes itself too seriously yet stays true to its purpose, Horror. That, to me, is what is so special about this film. Headhunter's a good bet. Rent it.
Suspenseful, scary...decent story, interesting characters.
jsentinel14 August 2006
This movie obviously didn't have the big budget of The Ring," "Saw," "Hostel," "Pulse," etc., but I would rate it about the same for substance and style.
I got caught up in the story (never dragged...never boring), and was caught off guard a few times by intermittent shock and gore.
Fairly realistic storyline, with believable characters...pretty good acting. Overall, the film manages to stay semi-serious and fairly dramatic, yet doesn't get melodramatic and ridiculous with supernatural flair and cinematic effects.
Horror fans should give it a chance.
Worth a rental!
I got caught up in the story (never dragged...never boring), and was caught off guard a few times by intermittent shock and gore.
Fairly realistic storyline, with believable characters...pretty good acting. Overall, the film manages to stay semi-serious and fairly dramatic, yet doesn't get melodramatic and ridiculous with supernatural flair and cinematic effects.
Horror fans should give it a chance.
Worth a rental!
Badass B's are Back
jjwinsler15 June 2006
it's been awhile since i've seen a badass horror flick without a major studio budget, but Paul Tarantino's headhunter ends the dry streak with a BANG. it's got everything from blood, guts, and gut-wrenching suspense to one sexy ass chick. the acting, surprisingly is great. not to mention the fact that Mark Aiken from Alias and Matt Bushell from 24 are in it. if u like either of those shows you gotta see headhunter. i think the description on IMDb was perfect: Evil Dead meets Office Space. it can tickle your funny bone and make your stomach churn. i can't wait until the DVD comes out later this summer. gotta check this one guys.
Excellent effort regardless of budget
pdrdes3 November 2005
Saw this movie at Dances with Film and thought it was really well-done. There are moments when you can see that the budget wasn't huge, but not many. Overall, the direction, acting, and story were very strong. I saw one of the director's first films, "Courting Coutrney," and that was a refreshingly original romantic comedy. Here he displays a real knowledge of what makes an offbeat horror film good; a creepy setup, dark humor, good looking girls, and delivering the gore when needed. Impressed also by the CGI. This was a fun but dark film that shows Paul Tarantino has talent. When this comes to DVD I hope other can check it out and see for themselves.
Nifty indie horror outing
Woodyanders11 February 2013
Warning: Spoilers
Ambitious young go-getter Ben Caruso (a solid and likable performance by Ben Parrillo) signs on with sexy corporate headhunter Sarah Tierney (a fine portrayal by the lovely Kristi Clainos). Sarah gets Ben a new job with great pay working the graveyard shift. However, Ben soon discovers that Sarah is a witch and his coworkers are the tormented souls of Sarah's previous conquests. If Ben doesn't find a missing head in a few days, he's in danger of losing his own. Writer/director Paul Tarantino relates the engrossing and entertaining story at a brisk pace, makes good use of the claustrophobic office building setting, expertly creates and sustains an eerie and intriguing oddball atmosphere, and grounds the offbeat premise in a credible white collar reality. Moreover, Tarantino further spices things up with amusing touches of inspired black humor and several grisly moments of nasty gore. The sound acting from the capable cast rates as another real plus: Parrillo and Clainos do top work in the leads, with sturdy support from Mark Aiken as the smarmy Doug Bennett, Matt Bushell as Ben's loyal friend Scott, and Lindsay Stoddart as Ben's concerned girlfriend Donna. Both Seth Kotak's sharp cinematography and Vincent Gillioz's shivery score are up to par. A cool little flick.
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