Head Trauma (2006)
9/10
this is what psych-thrillers should be...
11 February 2008
I always seem to be the film critic about horror movies. Especially nowadays. Someone like Eli Roth can make a movie like "hostel" and make a squillion dollars and have people scared out of their wits because they never thought they'd see the day someones eyeball gets cut off or arm severed, etc.

Horror seems to be focused on shock factor nowadays. What's gory and what you think you can feel by looking at it. I think it's unfortunate for one: because the mind will always be the best scare tactic, and for two: there are so much worse (gratuitous) movies out there than American forerunners "saw" and "hostel". (Check out Ichi the Killer, or read a Chuck Palahniuk novel...then say how "bad" those movies are).

Head Trauma is a subtle, well-played and paced indie psychological horror movie. Not for gore or action hounds this movie sets a great pace and lets you become familiar with the characters, finally twisting you to realize you don't know the characters at all. I do think the acting wasn't the best at points, but I also think that added to the 'oddity' of the movie. There are some "scare points" that made me jump out of my seat because I never saw them coming. Coupled with that, Head Trauma is full of nail-bitters, guess-who's, and 'DONT OPEN THE DOOR's.

I loved it and I'd recommend it to any one in the mood for a great psych. thriller. Anyone who's a fan of Session 9, Primer, any David Lynch films, or anyone in the mood for a good scary mind screw; check this movie out.

I can only imagine more experience in directing will send Lance Weiler to the top of the indie list. I wish I could thank him in person for making such a great movie. Check it out.

On a side note, I don't mean to belittle new horror movies like the "saw" or "hostel" series. I'm not a fan of them, but I do give them loads of credit in the special effects field. I just wish horror amounted to more than how real a decapitation scene looked. Head trauma gives horror films that chance.
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