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Movie Review by The Spastic Cannibal
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01.27.10
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It feels like I've waited half my lifetime to see this flick which seemed to be in the making for FAR too many years and, finally, it was released through Synapse and I checked it out. Being a huge fan of Edward Lee, it seemed about time for a film adaptation of one of his stories and, while I have not read his novella "Header", I can safely presume that this movie couldn't have skimped on the twisted brand of violence only Mr. Lee could've devised.
A guy is released from prison and goes to stay with his invalid grandfather in his backwoods shack where he soon learns of a bizarre family tradition. A certain kind of redneck justice, perpetrated against the loved ones of those who have done them wrong, which entails carving holes in the skull and having freaky sex with the exposed brain. The victims applied in this necrophilic act are called "headers". An ATF agent stationed in the area to bust up a cocaine smuggling operation becomes a pack-mule for two dealers and ends up discovering the glory-holed corpses and is the only one who seems to care about tracking down the culprits...
"Header" is an incredibly strange movie for the fact that the bulk of the story has to do with ritualistic skull-fucking. Serial-cranium-rapists! That's got to be the greatest revenge concept ever. Not only is the movie nasty, depraved, fairly disturbing - it's got a good deal of humor thrown in as well! Actually, the entire idea of the film is goofy, hilarious and hugely entertaining. I only wished they had more of a budget and a little better production value. They could have also gotten better actors. Adding Lee and Jack Ketchum as state patrol officers was cool, though. The poor performances got a bit irritating and distracting at times, but that hardly comes close to swaying my overall assessment: Crazy indie- Redneck Horror! I hope to see more of Lee's books adapted into films. As much as I dug this flick, I'd like to see a more serious cinematic portrayal of his work.. All 'n all, check out "Header".
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Rating: 8.0 out of 10.0 - 1 vote cast total
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