Customer Reviews

Head Trauma

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is your good ole' spooky house movie! The house in the movie is spooky, both inside the house and outside are eerie! No special effects or big name stars. This movie is a good old fashioned spook fest that takes you from the basement to the attic of a house.

The movie was shot in spooky Scranton, PA in the upper Hill Section!

This is one terrific, well-crafted little horror entry. If you are a true fan of horror films definately check this one out. This is especially true if you're a fan of "old school" Mario Bava, have seen the original Haunting of Hill House, and couldn't resist picking up Carnival of Souls for $8.00 at the DVD bin at the supermarket. This film pays attention to atmosphere like no film since the days of Mario Bava. In no other film since Hill House has the house itself truly become a character, and in no film since Carnival of Souls has a horror film more effectively straddled the line between surrealism and realism or kept you guessing throughout without frustrating you. Head Trauma is a successful fusion of all these elements - Bavaesque atmosphere, Carnival of Souls real/surrealism, and with a "prop" that takes on a life of its own like Hill House. But it's no rehash, Head Trauma is truly an original in its own right.

I would liken Head Trauma most to Carnival of Souls, the surreal no-budget early-60's cult classic made with a local cast of unknowns Like Carnival of Souls, Head Trauma displays a quality that belies its budget, displays shoestring resoucefulness in spades, and is more original and imaginative than the last ten major horror releases combined. I like Carnival of Souls - a lot. And I like Head Trauma for the same reasons. Both Head Trauma and Carnival of Souls are centered around loner types tormented by a demon figure. Both films are simultaneously waking dreams and a mystery. Both somehow successfully fuse experimental technique with realism. And both films use the media on which they were shot - grainy high speed low-contrast black and white film for Carnival of Souls, and in the case of Head Trauma, digital video, to their advantage. Also, both films feature excellent performances by skilled but unknown actors. At no point is the illusion broken by thinking "poor Johnny Depp". We know these people and the neighborhood they reside. No beauty queens, no dashing hunky stars, no cliched heros or villiams - real people, in a real setting, placed in an entirely believable context result in an illustion that absorbs without distraction, never asks for excessive latitude, nor ever slips into camp or unbelievability. Set against a highly believable "everyday" backdrop, the horror has far more impact than the ineffective excesses of uncreative, unoriginal, unbelievable, slasher films like those featuring recognizable professional wrestlers as villians. The time of Halloween rip-offs and cannibal zombie films has long since ended. It's high-time that a filmmaker with vision ala George Romano, ala John Carpenter, came along and breathed some life into this genre. And usually these films that re-invigorate horror come out of nowhere, and are shot on a shoestring. The pattern is they don't "get their due" upon release, but like any monster worth its salt(?), they never seem to die. Word of mouth spreads, and the hype they receive isn't "hype", rather, it's sincere praise that "hype" tries to mimic with million dollar PR campaigns. What I'm saying is Head Trauma is "the real deal". It's a film you "tuck away" for repeat viewings. Lend it to close friends who you're sure will give it back. A film you think about long after you've seen it. A film you revisit by replaying scenes in your mind, or by simply watching it again, outright.

Don't expect over-the-top excessive blood-letting and a huge body count. If a big body count, excessive graphic gore, standard shock cuts, and over the top violence is your bag, look elsewhere. If you are interested in a literate script, a novel and believable concept, dream-like surrealism worthy of Carl Dreyer, unnerving and subtle sense of dread, a story that grabs you as well as any well-executed mystery, and a logical uncontrived truly suprising surprise ending that neatly and logically ties things up = resolves the mystery, but doesn't try to beat you over the head, then this is your film.

The only distraction is at times the media on which this was shot - digital video, betrays the excellent work of the cinematographer and director despite best efforts. Digital video just isn't "there" yet but it's improving, especially in skilled hands. That said, these few gaffes are more than compensated for by some rich, atmospheric, and truly brooding camera work and inspired "cinematic" direction. I've not seen a film shot on DV as cinematic as Head Trauma, much of the time its indistinguishable from film, and when it's not, it's usually not distracting. However there are gaffes at times that result in fleeting but jarring distractions that breaks the cinematic flow of the film. These few scenes stand out all the moreso due to the overall excellent production values and care put into this production.

As a horror fan who has endured his share of unwatchable dreck, it's nice to stumble upon a gem from time to time. This is one of those gems. And it's these unexpected gems that makes it worth the risk and the time.

Like Carnival of Souls, I expect this film will stand the test of time, develp its own cult following, and rise above the din to take its place among the more memorable entries in the genre.

Good show.

As good as indie horror gets at least. No special effects and no known actors... ah yes my favorite kind of horror movie. Odds are you'll enjoy this one more the 2nd viewing, as things will make more sense the second time around because you now know what to look for and whats actually happening. For being a massively low budget movie you'll find great acting and an actual creepy house and "monster" so to speak. Can't really compare this one to Last Broadcast because its a whole different type of movie... indie horror fans shouldn't be disappointed though.

Although it is pretty obvious that 'Head Trauma' was filmed on a shoestring, I still feel that it can compete with studio produced thrillers. The story is interesting and there isn't the goofy explanation that is included in some movies (a recent example is 'Room 6' with Christine Taylor, where they actually have dialogue that explains what just happened as if the viewer can't figure it out on their own).

Overall, 'Head Trauma' is a nice diversion for those who like psychological thrillers somewhat in the same vein as 'Blair Witch Project' in cinematography and 'Memento' for theme.

i saw this movie in best buy and was attracted to the reviews on the cover...and the design so i brought it......wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!glad i did...this movie is very scarry...and should not be watched alone at night...very creepy movie

I first heard of this on MySpace through the director's page, and, as a natural horror movie buff, I was intrigued. There are no real special effects to speak of, no blood-and-guts, and no "flavor of the month" monster/beast/killer... Still, the acting was actually quite decent, the plot holes were minimal, and the story was good. An obvious independent film, but not a bad addition to a horror movie collection.

I purchased this movie on the merit of Lance Weiler's previous effort The Last Broadcast. While Head Trauma does not live up to the genius that was The Last Broadcast, it is an interesting and enigmatic psychological horror with great editing and creepy settings. While watching it, I definitely had a sinking feeling that I had seen something similar to it, and then I realized that it reminded me a lot of The Machinist starring Christian Bale. I believe The Machinist to be a superior film but those of you who were enthralled by Wieler's The Last Broadcast will enjoy the directing style and psychological mystery.

Head Trauma is not the typical thriller/horror flick from this or the past decade. Thats because it actually IS creepy. The story is a more than welcomed break from the run of the mill PG-13 craptastic horror flicks produced for the bubblegum chompin' junior high crowd.

While the acting isn't oscar-worthy, the photography and lighting make up for it and deliver genuine chills somewhat similar to recent J-horror and classics of 70s and 80s.

Not the scariest, but definitely worth checking out.

I'm a big fan of indie horror...there's really some gems hidden out there if you look hard enough. One of them is Lance Weiler's The Last Broadcast, which is pretty much the thinking person's Blair Witch, even though it preceeded the latter.

So I was eager to check out his new film Head Trauma. Unfortunately it fails in almost every way The Last Broadcast succeeds. In The Last Broadcast, digital video may have been used for bugetary reasons, but it also matched the tone, themes and overall narrative of the film. In Head Trauma, DV seems to have been used purely for budgetary reasons, giving the entire film a soft, murky look. The uninspired lighting and camerawork doesn't help things either. While none of the actors in The Last Broadcast won awards for their performances, they were at least believable as the characters they were portraying. Meanwhile, the acting in Head Trauma is atrocious. It's student film-bad.

But for indie horror fare, I'm pretty forgiving of bad acting and languid cinematography. I've made some short films, I know how hard it is. As long as the concept is interesting, I'm willing to ignore some sloppy execution. The concept of The Last Broadcast was ingenious...a thoughtful yet tense examination of digital media with a twist ending that really shocked. The concept of Head Trauma seems to be to throw every horror movie cliche at us. And the "twist"...well lets just say that by telling you the basic plot point that Head Trauma is about a man being terrorized by a hooded figure, I may actually be spoiling the ending for you. I bet you can't possibly guess who the hooded figure is, can you?

There's other problems with Head Trauma...they stretch about 30 minutes worth of plot into 1:30 by introducing secondary characters who really add nothing to the film for one...but I'll leave it at that. I have a lot of respect for people who make a truly independant feature film, as I am aware of how hard it is. But I simply did not see a single redeeming quality in Head Trauma.

This is an example of a film hyped-up more by the people who created it than by an actual audience. This is the type of movie that you'll NEVER hear about within the context of film discourse (not even in that of cult movies), and the reason for this is that there is no trace of it in the minds of those who have viewed it; the people have simply forgotten about it. Even if this movie was merely a high school film project (as I had presumed), it probably received a failing grade. 'Head Trauma' seems to be more of a hastily-assembled portrayal of depressing inner city life in a dead end town from which there is no escape, and I suppose that's considered scary by some. WHAT was the deal with this movie?! It was almost as if the director's vision was to put the viewers to sleep as soon as possible - even the actors looked bored. The scariest and most unjustifiable aspect about this particular movie is that at one time, its shelf price was $25. I am not surprised whatsoever by the 'currently unavailable' status of this movie.