I have had the great honor to experience many films in my lifetime. To my great fortune, I have lived in large cities that have theatres devoted to independent and small production films. So, to my pleasant surprise, I can across an independent film by a filmmaker in my own hometown. Admittedly, I didn't expect muchsmall town director, local interest, and a modest, grassroots release. Reading beyond the teaser, one realizes that this is more than a simple local filmthis is deeper than one may expect. This film spoke to a teleological focal point that may beyond grasp for so many of us, yet much like an accident on the highway, we can't resist watching.
"Head Case," by filmmaker Anthony Spadaccini, takes place in Claymont, DE; a quaint hamlet born out of the burgeoning steel industry of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, located just outside the Wilmington metropolitan limits. Situated in this once prosperous, suburban context, the film details the sojourn of Wayne and Andrea Montgomery from a couple in a stagnant, archetypal marriage to a malevolent duet feeding their rapacious thirst for unsuspecting victims. Wayne, the more experienced of the pair, imposed upon himself a hiatus from his vicious activities during the birth and childhood of the couple's two children. Now as their progeny reaches adolescence, Wayne and Andrea team up to recommence Wayne's interest. Taking a more scientific approach to homicide, these serial executioners test methods, techniques, poisons concentrations, and demographics all the while documenting their episodes on filmthe source for this filmmaker's canvas. However, this is more than just a gruesome documentary on the countless murders of the Montgomery's victims; it is a glimpse inside the darkness within all of humanity.
Guided by the filmmaker's careful hand, the observer is immersed in the intoxicating vantage point of a voyeur during these crimes. Indeed, the enthralled film audience moves with the gritty, oft times jittery camera movement, shifting their bodies so as to coax the camera to move in closer, get a better look, experience the milieu of another's fleeting life. Returning to the aforementioned vehicular accident scene, we slow down and move about in any way possible, in the hope to see more that what is being made visible for our consumption. In ways beyond my naïve understanding, the filmmaker invites his audience to slow down and look deeperhe wants us to feel more than simple voyeurs, we are commissioners along with Wayne and Andrea.
I encourage you to investigate beyond my feeble review and experience this movie for yourself. What are your reactions to each murder? How do you react to the heightened paranoia on the part of Wayne and Andrea? How do you think the story will really end? Check out Anthony Spadaccini's, "Head Case."
"Head Case," by filmmaker Anthony Spadaccini, takes place in Claymont, DE; a quaint hamlet born out of the burgeoning steel industry of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, located just outside the Wilmington metropolitan limits. Situated in this once prosperous, suburban context, the film details the sojourn of Wayne and Andrea Montgomery from a couple in a stagnant, archetypal marriage to a malevolent duet feeding their rapacious thirst for unsuspecting victims. Wayne, the more experienced of the pair, imposed upon himself a hiatus from his vicious activities during the birth and childhood of the couple's two children. Now as their progeny reaches adolescence, Wayne and Andrea team up to recommence Wayne's interest. Taking a more scientific approach to homicide, these serial executioners test methods, techniques, poisons concentrations, and demographics all the while documenting their episodes on filmthe source for this filmmaker's canvas. However, this is more than just a gruesome documentary on the countless murders of the Montgomery's victims; it is a glimpse inside the darkness within all of humanity.
Guided by the filmmaker's careful hand, the observer is immersed in the intoxicating vantage point of a voyeur during these crimes. Indeed, the enthralled film audience moves with the gritty, oft times jittery camera movement, shifting their bodies so as to coax the camera to move in closer, get a better look, experience the milieu of another's fleeting life. Returning to the aforementioned vehicular accident scene, we slow down and move about in any way possible, in the hope to see more that what is being made visible for our consumption. In ways beyond my naïve understanding, the filmmaker invites his audience to slow down and look deeperhe wants us to feel more than simple voyeurs, we are commissioners along with Wayne and Andrea.
I encourage you to investigate beyond my feeble review and experience this movie for yourself. What are your reactions to each murder? How do you react to the heightened paranoia on the part of Wayne and Andrea? How do you think the story will really end? Check out Anthony Spadaccini's, "Head Case."