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Armed with a pulpy spirit and plenty of monster gore to go around, The Head Hunter makes for enjoyably gnarly fantasy horror B-movie entertainment.
With films likeThanksKillingand theCritters : Bounty Huntershort under his knock , director Jordan Downey is firmly in his low - budget wheelhouse onThe Head Hunter . A mashup of medieval fantasy and monster horror , Downey ’s latest movie has riddle at a handful of festivals ahead of its spill , and even won some liberal prizes at Portugal ’s Fantasporto 2019 in February . While he clearly had limited resources to draw from here , Downey is nevertheless able to extradite a mean and skimpy tale of revenge with a surprisingly rich sense of atmosphere . Armed with a pulpy heart and plenty of monster gore to go around , The Head Huntermakes for agreeably gnarly illusion horror barn - movie entertainment .
Christopher Rygh star here as " Father " , a medieval monster Orion who sets out to slay the creature that murdered his daughter ( Cora Kaufman ) some years before . The film ’s opening alone invites comparisons to something likeThe Revenant , with its beautifully desaturated visuals and chilling shot of apparently sempiternal frozen woodland . Downey and his cinematographer Kevin Stewart ( who cowrote the handwriting with Downey ) make similarly heavy use of raw lighting and vestige throughout the pic to give it an unexpected amount of texture . The pair also made the impudent decision to shootThe Head Hunterin relatively distant locations in Portugal and Mammoth Lakes , California . These vast and unspoiled landscapes avail to create the flavour that this tarradiddle really is spread out in an ancient place setting where all fashion of behemoth vagabond the earth .
The first one-half ofThe Head Hunteris something of a mood piece that focuses on the grimly monotonous rituals of Father ’s 24-hour interval to sidereal day liveliness ( hunt creature for money , make fire , cooking a mysterious substance that heal his struggle wounds ) . Rygh does a good job of carrying the film on his shoulders in these scenes , even with half a 12 to a twelve railway line of dialogue ( if that many ) to flesh out the character and his motivation . In a way , this portion of the movie feel like a weird version ofNever Cry Wolf , only with fantastical devil running murderously instead of Arctic zoology . The tempo never drag , however , and these second do a nice job of establishing just how unforgivingly brutal and dangerous Father ’s world in truth is .
As the second half get underway , The Head Hunterevolves into a monster repulsion - thriller more along the lines ofPredator(where it ’s not entirely clear who ’s really the hunter and who ’s the quarry ) . While the movie offer up small more than fleeting glimpse of Father ’s opponent ( aka . " The Head " ) , it ’s for the in effect , grant the quality ’s low - cost design . Downey modishly sets the natural process at night to better hide the limitation of the giant , which is contribute to lifespan as a portmanteau word of practical and digital effect . This further impart emanation to some tense sequences where Father must struggle around the natural roadblock of the flick ’s setting , in his efforts to find and carry out The Head . If anything , this section of the film wraps up too chop-chop and feel like it could ’ve benefitted from some additional respiration elbow room .
All in all , The Head Huntermakes for a passably creative exercise in minimalism and music genre film making . Of of course , there are times when the film ’s low budget display , and those wanting lots of monster brawl will be disappoint to learn that most of the fight take home off - screen ( again , for cost - reduce reason ) . The news report is a real meat and potatoes tale too , and is overall lacking when it comes to substance and emotional encroachment . Still , Rygh has the screen presence needed to pass off for a convincingly Conan the Barbarian - like brutish warrior , and his adventure at great has an equally dark and rugged vibration . That depart double for the world he lives in , thanks to a compounding of the scene and the intricately detailed production design of Father ’s cabin and weaponry .
WhileThe Head Hunterdoesn’t demand to be enjoyed on the largest screen door available , its visuals are amazingly rich for such a low - budget film , and would mostly benefit from being consider in a theater . Then again , it ’s all the easy to be forgive of the motion picture ’s defect and ( very ) scant runtime when you ’re watching it for a lower Mary Leontyne Price at home , so On Demand might be the good option anyway . If anything , this is the sort of vitamin B - movie that give you inquire what its director and crew could do with a proper studio budget ( even a mid - reach one ) . Until that happen , here ’s hoping Downey continues to make play , pulpy genre fare along these lines in the time to come .
TRAILER
The Head Hunteris now play in prize theater and usable On Demand . It is 72 minutes long and is Not Rated .
The Head Hunter is a dark fantasy repugnance pic conduct by Jordan Downey . It stars Christopher Rygh as a medieval warrior who spends his twenty-four hours collecting the straits of giant in an effort to retaliate his girl ’s dying . Set in an obscure and eerie landscape , the pic emphasise atmospherical tension and minimum duologue , focusing on the protagonist ’s solitary and savage quest .
The Head Hunter is a dark fantasy horror film directed by Jordan Downey. It stars Christopher Rygh as a medieval warrior who spends his days collecting the heads of monsters in an effort to avenge his daughter’s death. Set in an isolated and eerie landscape, the film emphasizes atmospheric tension and minimal dialogue, focusing on the protagonist’s solitary and brutal quest.
The Head Hunter is a dark fantasy horror film directed by Jordan Downey. It stars Christopher Rygh as a medieval warrior who spends his days collecting the heads of monsters in an effort to avenge his daughter’s death. Set in an isolated and eerie landscape, the film emphasizes atmospheric tension and minimal dialogue, focusing on the protagonist’s solitary and brutal quest.
