Horsehead (Movie Review)

Cinema fans looking for a film that makes them think outside the box and take a break from reality, then Horsehead (2014) is a great place to start! Directed and written by Romain Basset (Projection 2006, Bloody Current Exchange 2007), Horsehead is a French Horror that is sure to impress audiences everywhere with its twisted uniqueness. Produced by Olivier Piasentin (Faces in the Crowd 2011, The Tall Man 2012), this surreal, dream-like Thriller was filmed in both Paris and Argenton-sur-Creuse, France. Basset’s vision and passion for this subject matter shows throughout this beautifully done film, stimulating one’s mind with scene after scene of fairy tale infused terror and dramatic tension. Horsehead stars the captivating Lilly-Fleur Pointeaux (Ronin 1998, Second Chance 2008), who gives a stunning performance that captures her emotion and allows the audience to experience what she is going through. The other main actors in this film are Italian cult Horror icon Catriona MacColl (City of the Living Dead 1980, The Beyond 1981), Murray Head (Sunday Bloody Sunday 1971), and Gala Besson (Me, Myself, and Mum 2013). Horsehead was first released in the USA on September 18^th, 2014 at the Austin Fantastic Fest and will be released on Blu-Ray/DVD on June, 23^rd, 2015 via Artsploitation Films.

Still from Horsehead

Horsehead starts out with Jessica (Pointeaux) having a terrifying nightmare in which she appears paralyzed with tears streaming down her face, when a cloaked, horseheaded figure appears and impales someone through the stomach with a large, key-like weapon. When she awakens, she finds that she has a voicemail from her mother, Catelyn (MacColl), stating that her grandmother, Rose (Besson), had passed away and that she hoped Jessica would come back home for the funeral. On the train to her hometown, Jessica reflects back on her study of the psychophysiology of dreams with the dream analysis book she had been reading – a gift from her boyfriend and mentor, Sean (Shane Woodward) – to try to understand the nightmares that have been haunting her. She searches for the meaning behind the horsehead and why it is the focus of her nightmares.

Still from Horsehead

Upon arrival, she discovers that she will be in the room next door to where her Grandmother’s wake will take place. She is understandably uncomfortable with this situation, one that is compounded by the fact that she never really knew her Grandmother. Exhausted from dealing with an unhealthy relationship with her Mother, Jessica spends the first night back in her old room dreaming of her estranged Grandmother Rose, waking up severely ill with a high fever. She uses this hallucinatory state to her advantage, taking the knowledge she has learned about lucid dreaming and works on perfecting the craft. Little by little, night after night, Jessica gains control of her dreams, discovers family secrets and uncovers the mysteries that lay behind the horsehead.

A truly original Horror movie, Horsehead takes lucid dreaming and the meanings behind our nocturnal subconscious to a whole other level. Humans have always been fascinated with dreams, their meanings and the purpose behind them. Horsehead lets the audience explore that mystery to the darkest level, intertwining dream control, family secrets and help from the other side into a dark, haunting mystery. As many seemingly unrelated images dovetail into an astounding climax, the movie wraps itself up into a neat yet bloody little bow that leaves the viewer breathless and immediately ready for another watch.

Still from Horsehead

Although some critics say that this film is amateurish and its subject matter has been done before, Horsehead proves them wrong by demanding the audience’s attention throughout, all the while making one wonder what their dreams are really trying to tell them. CrypticRock gives Horsehead 4 out of 5 stars.

Artsploitation Films

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