Are you afraid of the wilderness?
Written and directed by Elle Callahan, Head Count follows
Evan, a young man spending the weekend with his big brother Peyton in
Joshua Tree. While hiking through the park, the brothers come across
a group of friends who quickly invite them to join their group for
the day. Unfortunately, what begins as a fun excursion slowly takes
a turn towards the sinister as Evan and his new friends begin to
notice some disturbing occurrences at their remote cabin in the
desert.
While many other horror films within
this subgenre tend to center around some lone psychopath in a mask
picking off his prey with a knife or something, Head Count
takes thing in a slightly different direction, perhaps more towards
the supernatural. While sitting around the campfire that first
night, everyone in the gang takes turns telling scary stories, and
Evan of all people, ends up telling the story that may or may not
have released an evil force into their camp.
This departure from other similar
horror films is arguably one of the best aspects Head Count
has going for it. There's so much mystery at play as the film
continues to get creepier and creepier while simultaneously keeping
us in the dark about what is stalking Evan and company. The whole
horror trope about fearing the unknown can often feel like a tired
cliché at this point, yet on occasion it can still be surprisingly
effective, such as is the case with Head Count. Whenever a
film is being made on a low budget, the filmmakers are forced to get
creative with the tools available to them, and it's clear that
Callahan used this to the fullest effect that she could. What's
unfortunate however is that there are several instances where a
reliance on visual effects ends up looking cheap and disingenuous.
Head Count does suffer from some
other faults as well. The weakest aspect of the script has got to be
the character development. Several of Evan's new acquaintances feel
like cookie cutter twenty something's, existing purely as
stereotypical horror film cannon fodder. Perhaps the only real
exceptions to this are Zoe and Camille, both of whom do display some
semblance of depth. It also doesn't hurt that the actresses playing
them are arguably the best in the film. Aside from Evan, they're the
only people I remember, except for perhaps one of the guys whose sole
purpose in the film is just to be a dick to Evan, but that just ends
up feeling too forced.
Overall, Head Count ends up
feeling like a bit of a mixed bag, in that the script contains some
really interesting ideas, which mostly translate to the screen in an
effective way. Of course, there are several signs of a first time
director, which resulted in some sequences that featured some awkward
blocking and editing. Disorienting scenes like this definitely took
me out of the story, but I'd say the good still outweighs the bad in
Head Count. Anyone looking for a something a little different
and a little creepy should give it a shot. It's worth at least one
or two viewings.
-Derek Miranda
