Header

Title: Header
Rating: 2.5/5
Genre: Horror
Starring: Jake Suffian, Elliot V. Kotek, Dick Mullaney
Director: Archibald Flancranstin
Duration: 89 mins

Sexual perversion in horror films is nothing new. In Buio Omega and Nekromantik we have extreme cases of necrophilia. In Emanuelle in America we have some bestiality with a horse named Pedro. And in Peter Jackson's Dead Alive (aka Braindead) we have a banging zombie priest. Nothing is sacred anymore and nothing easily disgusts an already jaded audience. I suppose the same can be said for the adaptation of Edward Lee's chapbook "Header," but it's sheer, twisted audacity alone will have people flinching again.

Hillbilly Travis Tuckton has just been released from prison and pays a surprise visit to his footless grandpappy, a shoemaker. Travis' one question to his grandpappy that has been bugging him during his stay in the big house is what a "header" is. His grandpappy explains that when two families are feudin' or when a man has done you wrong, the only way to get ultimate revenge on them is to take one of their kinfolk, preferably a young woman, and give them a header. This answer gets both Travis and his grandpappy all excited and Travis starts seeking out young women to bring home and preform headers on. Meanwhile, ATF agent Stewart Cummings is smuggling drugs for extra income to pay for his ill wife's medication. When he comes across bodies of young women with holes powerdrilled into the tops of their skulls, he himself becomes curious as to what headers are and how he can stop whoever is doing them.

Dispite the disturbing subject matter, I found Header to be not as graphic as I had anticipated. Not to say that the film isn't graphic at all, it's just that with the shocking nature of "headers" you'd think the filmmakers would go all out and make it as depraved as possible instead of layering it with dark comedy. The acting is not that great, with the exception of "grandpappy," who probably is an authentic backwoods hick.The direction is very good and the story, provided by hardcore horror author Lee, is developed and effective. This adaptation is, according to the author, surprisingly very faithful. The original book is very hard to find, hopefully a reissue will come around soon as this movie will definitely incite some curiosity. We are even treated to a small cameo of Lee and fellow horror author Jack Ketchum.

I'm predicting that Header will remain a cult classic in the horror genre, but won't receive legendary status as the films in the introduction have received. There is a scattering of flaws throughout the film and most everything else feels ordinary. The header scenes don't play on shock value very well and I think that's the film's biggest disadvantage. Also, the character of Travis does not have a menacing aura about him that could have escalated Header's disturbing nature and benefitted the film overall. The end is the saving grace of the whole movie. It is here that the audience is forced to share the tragic emotions of the character of Stewart and it is here that we really learn that a header is truly the ultimate form of revenge.

A very original movie with a definite gross-out factor. I'm hoping that Edward Lee's story "The Pig" will be made into a movie because it may be even more perverse and shocking. Recommended to anyone who's looking for something fresh in horror but not expecting a masterpiece.

Trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzAm9D6hVmU

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