Head Count (2016) - Horror Film Review

This is an indy film I defy anyone to disparage. Did it take a while to get going? Yes. Was it worth it in the house when the group starts freaking out, YES.

As usual I fail to identify with the blind allegiance to a sibling in a film. The "addict" is more grown up if you asked me. The preppie is a "shitehead" but that's just my hippie perspective. Watching this film makes me want to grab my friends and go to JOshua tree to do shrooms. That's what these dudes end up doing and as they say, shit goes down. Not all who wander are lost. Both brothers suck at acting but hey. hang in there it's worth it.

You have a rental at Joshua Tree, the mystic place of retreat and LSD. Those parts are beautifully filmed. I live in Apple Valley which is one of the only places in the world where they grow. IN fact they are endangered and protected. But I digress. The prep is there for his bro (yeah right). The hippie is there for his own spine and getting blazed.

Chicks show up as you would imagine. Drugs start coming out and everybody gets stoned and fried. Again, shit acting but hang in there.

In the climax, we see something so cool that I refuse to spoil. What makes it so scary to me is that I have been in charge of people a lot in my life. To just have one pop up and then disappear willy nilly would scare the fuck out of me. There isn't anything else redeeming about it. I gave it a hugely high score because the climax idea and writing is so good. It was as if the director said, don't worry about dialog or acting until the thing starts to happen. When it does, everybody spins around it religiously and that when the shit acting improves and the film becomes one of my favorites. What did you think of "Head Count?"

---

Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/damien-riley/message