Daddy's Head

I can't speak as much for the 90s but I feel confident in saying a lot of horror movies have followed a similar theme as this movie for the last 20 years or so. Mainly, some isolated spooky location. Some traumatic event. Followed by usually something spooky happening and everyone around them doubting what they saw or experienced etc etc. Seriously, the only thing missing from this formula is they didn't go to the library and look up articles from the 1950s about something similar. Or go into a nursing home to meet with some 90 year old who can barely talk who then dies or has some kind of episode while telling them vital information. You've seen that before... I don't care if its a recycled theme. There are so many ways to make this type of movie good. The problem with this one is it committed one of the biggest sins a movie in this category can do. It just never takes off like it should. I for one will NEVER understand making 90 minute movies like this and at the 60 minute mark still not having the cat out of the bag or having the ball rolling. I've seen some movies go insanely hard for the final 30 so theres that. But what usually happens is the way it goes here. A few scares but nothing serious. It leaves you wonder just what in the world is the point of giving an hour or so of build up only to have a handful of creepy scenes that never really go anywhere? Extra points for having an annoying and weird ending that raises a ton of questions and also doesn't make any sense. The idea that they would remain living there. Would NEVER touch the creepy monster shack after the fact is absurd. The main thing this movie had going for it is the monster/alien was truly creepy. As in truly something out of a nightmare. Why have SUCH a creepy "villian" and then basically be a "diet horror" film? So so so many of these films make this mistake and I will never get it. I mean why would you explore the super interesting creepy villian. When you could instead spend most of the movie focusing on this weird tension dynamic between the widow and her dead husbands friend. The thing that absolutely no one watching this film signed on to give the slightest care about. We picked out a horror film...

In Daddy's Head, a young boy, Isaac (Rupert Turnbull), struggles to come to terms with the death of his father and the fact that he has been left in the care of his stepmother Laura (Julia Brown), who has turned to the bottle to cope with her grief. When strange occurrences happen in and around their woodland home, Isaac becomes convinced that his father is still alive, albeit in a very different form... I'm not a big fan of horror films that revolve around processing grief or dealing with trauma: they're nearly always morose, pretentious and frustratingly ambiguous. Daddy's Head can be filed alongside equally dull and dreary films such as Hereditary, Midsommar, MEN, Possum, and The Babadook (I guess if you like those, you'll like this one). Writer director Benjamin Barfoot refuses to give too much away, preferring the viewer to come to their own conclusion about what is happening: is the creature a physical manifestation of Isaac's grief or a figment of his imagination? Is it a mischievous woodland spirit that feeds on human emotion? Is it an alien that has landed in the woods? I haven't the foggiest. I'm not averse to a film being left open to interpretation, only when it is painfully slow and joyless, and Daddy's Head is just that (except for the last minute happy ending that feels tacked on and out of place). 2/10.

At first, I was a bit skeptical about this movie because the first 25 minutes were not particularly entertaining. It didn't give me much to work with, and the characters were not very interesting. The drama also didn't hit as hard, as we've seen movies with tragic deaths of loved ones a million times before. However, after the first encounter with the threat that Isaac-and especially Laura-have to deal with throughout the movie, I was hooked. Every time this entity appeared on screen, I was mesmerized by its design and movement. It felt like something new, not the typical evil you see in every third horror movie nowadays. As the relationship between Laura and Isaac escalated, the drama worked more for me. Imagining the grief and pain that come after the death of a loved one under these circumstances was harrowing. The movie also has some really interesting visuals that look unique and engaging. The acting was decent, though nothing extraordinary, but Rupert Turnbull definitely succeeded in making me very annoyed with his portrayal of a grieving Isaac. In the end, I had a rather good time watching this, and even though it's not spectacular, I would recommend giving it a try. [6.1/10]

The film seems to set itself up in the first 2 acts to deliver some interesting history on the characters. It drops ambiguous tid bits relating to past trauma and connections between characters both dead and alive that pique the interest. It then never eventuates to anything. What is the connection between the father's work as an architect and the way the creature is presented? How are any of the characters related? Why should the viewer care about the fate of anyone when there is little semblance of character development? The creators of this film must have run out of time or budget because the script doesn't just feel ambiguous, it feels unfinished. The cinematography is absolutely beautiful and creates tension and suspense which is utilised well with some creepy and scary moments. This would have been enough to salvage the film but for the ending that undoes the little character development seen previously. It instead opts for a nonsensical deus ex machina reminiscent of the ending that was re-shot for the British release of 'Invaders From Mars (1953)'

But I still hated it. The monster design is neat, and kind of reminds me of the face stealing creature from the Avatar: The Last Airbender series. They did right by horror standards and kept the thing mostly hidden until the right moment, but as a result of a small, annoyingly written cast, the movie draaaags. The kid behaves like an absolute idiot, and they seem to want to sell him as younger than he clearly is. He makes infuriating decisions that are quite unbelievable. Grief is powerful, but it doesn't turn you into an imbecile. I didn't feel scared, but more annoyed. I felt almost no empathy for these characters, as they are wholly unrelatable, even in the very familiar and tragic aftermath of the plot's impetus.

This film had so much potential - the visuals, the music, an original creature, a child actor that was actually great, a super intriguing setup, etc. The entire thing falls flat however because the of the lead character. She just takes up space and wastes run time - she has no motivation, there is no point to her character whatsoever. I cannot fathom what the writer/director were thinking with her, she is both bland and unsympathetic and her total lack of even basic empathy or care for this orphan child is staggering. Give it a shot if you've got some time to waste and it's free on whatever streaming service you use but be ready to be frustrated.

Pretty standard/cliche story. Things happy and it gets blamed on another character. Being accused of being crazy, yada yada yada. The execution is pretty solid. There's lights in the woods and a meteor or comet or something crashes in the woods and a monster shows up. But the climax happens within the last 10 minutes and is just a little struggle in the kids bedroom, maybe 4 minutes top and it's over. Slow burns are fine but movies like this make me question, who's sleeping with who to get these scripts made? Who read this script and said "yes, this is the one. Here take our money to make it." Over all it's a solid film, just nothing special or unique, go into it with NO expectations. Just have fun because it's all stuff that been seen before.

Now, I always say, it ain't about a picture show havin' a story that's been told before. What matters is how they tell it. Pictures, they're all about spinning a yarn, see? It's a tradition passed down from our ancestors, gatherin' 'round a fire in them caves, tellin' tales and paintin' on the walls. And that's where director/writer Benjamin Barfoot, he shows his stuff. "Daddy's Head," it ain't the first picture to tell this kind of story, and it don't pretend to be. But the way Barfoot handles it, with his camerawork and set design and sound, it's like he's pieced together a masterpiece outta bits and pieces. And the result, it's a picture that keeps you hooked from the first flicker to the last. Now, gotta give credit where credit's due. Young Rupert Turnbull, he's a real find. Been trainin' himself since he was five years old, they say, on TV, in pictures, even on the stage at the National Theatre. There's scenes in this picture where he carries the whole thing on his shoulders. This film, it follows in the footsteps of "The Babadook" and "Under the Skin," and does a mighty fine job of it. It's proof that SHUDDER, they're still churnin' out quality pictures to keep us entertained this year. One of these days, I'm gonna buy myself an island and call it SHUDDER Island, and I'm gonna have SHUDDER pictures playin' there 24/7.

I recently watched the UK film 🇬🇧 Daddy's Head (2024) on Shudder. The story follows a young man living with his stepmother after the tragic death of his father. As they both struggle to cope with their loss, a strange figure emerges from the woods, claiming to be the boy's father. But what is buried in the woods, and is this really his father? The film is written and directed by Benjamin Barfoot (Double Date) and stars Julia Brown (Shetland), Rupert Turnbull (Scrooge: A Christmas Carol), Nila Aalia (The Commuter), and Charles Aitken (Happy Death Day). This film had a lot of potential. The casting and performances were spot on, and the settings, cinematography, and props effectively created a moody, atmospheric backdrop. The psychological struggles of the main characters felt authentic, making their vulnerability palpable. However, despite the buildup, the villain or supernatural presence never fully takes over the film as you'd expect. The best horror elements come from the eerie sound effects of the creature, but even that isn't enough to carry the tension. The ending is especially disappointing, as it leaves you waiting for a climactic moment that never happens. In conclusion, Daddy's Head has all the ingredients to be a great horror film, but it never quite delivers. I'd rate it a 5/10 and recommend giving it a pass.

Overall it was fine but the kid was so irritating that I was mostly just annoyed and didn't care what happened to him. This mostly seemed half-baked and not like something I will likely ever watch a second time because it's relatively joyless. There's nothing to draw you in. It falls into the same category as movies like The Hole in the Ground that are trying to recapture what made The Babadook successful but not offering anything particularly compelling. I'd say this is perfectly fine for like... a Sunday afternoon in October 2024 viewing but I can't see it having much appeal outside of that.