Headspace (2005)

25-year-old Alex Borden is handsome, charming, and intelligent. In fact, he may be too smart for his own good as his life is swiftly becoming a living hell. Alex's nightmare begins when he ... See full summary »

Director:

Andrew van den Houten

Writers:

Troy McCombs (story), Steve Klausner (screenplay)

Stars:

Christopher Denham, Sean Young, Larry Fessenden

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Christopher Denham	...	Alex
Sean Young	...	Mother
Larry Fessenden	...	Father
Daniel Manche	...	Young Harry
Quinn Lujan	...	Young Alex
Jennifer Mekalonis	...	Nude Model in Painting
Tatiana Vidus	...	Nude Model
Erick Kastel	...	Harry
Patrick Wang	...	Sammy
James Spruill	...	Lloyd
Paul Sparks	...	Jason
Mark von Kreuter	...	Mark, Ambulance Orderly
Andrew van den Houten	...	Charlie, Ambulance EMS
Paula Kelly	...	Alice, Ambulance Driver
William Atherton	...	Dr. Ira Gold

Storyline

25-year-old Alex Borden is handsome, charming, and intelligent. In fact, he may be too smart for his own good as his life is swiftly becoming a living hell. Alex's nightmare begins when he meets Harry, a mysterious artist and chess-master. Alex becomes alarmed when his intellect mysteriously begins to grow, and so do the horrors that invade his nightmares, and soon his waking hours. Long-suppressed memories surface and Alex must face the terrors of his violent past, a vanished older brother, a father who abandoned both his sons, and a mother who was viciously murdered. The visions intensify and he begins to experience intense headaches that ultimately cause him to blackout. But it is only the beginning of Alex's calamity. Friends and neighbors are disappearing, and people are whispering rumors of a serial killer. Menaced from all sides by the forces of evil, Alex must overcome his past and contain his own deadly urges so he can hopefully discover what demons, both real and imagined, ...

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Plot Keywords:

blood splatter | supernatural power | paranormal phenomena | voyeurism | sex | 

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Taglines:

Evil Has Many Faces.

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Genres:

Horror | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong horror violence/gore, sexuality and language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 September 2005 (USA)

Also Known As:

Headspace: El rostro del mal

Filming Locations:

Katonah, New York, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$1,430, 19 February 2006, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$1,650, 19 February 2006

Company Credits

Production Co:

Modernciné,Modern Headspace Productions LLC

Technical Specs

Runtime:

89 min 84 min (Director's Cut) 95 min (International)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

(at around 1h 28 mins) When Alex is shot in the arm, the police officer's slide on his pistol locks in the rear position indicating his gun is out of ammunition though he fired a single shot. This means the cop responded to a 911 emergency with one bullet in his gun.

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Connections

Referenced in The Making of 'The Girl Next Door' (2007)

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Soundtracks

BELIEVE
Performed by Dragwater
Under License From Brian McLaughlin
Written by Bill Doty, Brian McLaughlin and Sean Cannon
Published by Publishing Designees of Bill Doty, Brian McLaughlin and Sean Cannon

User Reviews

Phenomenal Film From Some Fresh Faces

A young man, Alex, has incredible mental capacity that seems to grow by the second... while at the same time his migraines become more and more frequent. How is this connected to the monsters that have recently appeared and began killing off his acquaintances one by one?

I received this film as the result of a contest at Killer Reviews (where I have since become a staff member). I had never heard of the director, never heard of the film, was a bit wary of the so-called "awards" listed on the back. I knew who Dee Wallace and Udo Kier were, but didn't know if that was enough to make a movie work. In short, I had expected this film to be watched once and filed away behind a copy of "Point Break" or "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days". I was wrong.

The film starts with some short shots that fade in and out (which I didn't care for but they end after the intro). Then, in the first ten minutes, we get the goriest scene in the movie and one of the better gore scenes in a horror movie I've seen lately (let's just say it's like the suicide from the remake of "Texas Chainsaw Massacre", but better).

The gore is toned down after that (which is too bad, because many times -- especially the restroom scene -- were just begging to be bloodbaths). But where the blood stops a deep and complex storyline begins, that you may not be able to figure out in your first viewing. Some aspects are guessable but the entirely film demands close attention if you want to even catch a fraction of the underlying plot.

There is a subplot concerning a chess game (or rather multiple chess games) I found to be very interesting. I didn't understand some of the technical dialog in these scenes (discussions of past chess players' defenses) but this really drove home the hyper-intellect aspect of the film and I appreciated that.

Udo Kier appears as the creepy German guy, just like most of his other films. And he makes it work, being a priest in this case. Dee Wallace plays a doctor, but her character does not really stand out much so other than a nod to her earlier horror work it wasn't really necessary to cast her. All the other actors (whose names I don't know) were perfect: there was nothing amateur or independent-looking about this production.

Andrew VanDenHouten is a great addition to the horror world, and is sadly being overlooked due to the mainstream work of such people as Rob Zombie and Eli Roth. Maybe "Headspace" will be for VanDenHouten what "Dog Soldiers" was for Neil Marshall, and in another year or two he will be a name known in the dark underbelly of film.