Head Hunter

This looks nothing like Miami to me. I know it says this was partially shot in Miami, but this doesn't feel like it is set in America, or populated by Americans for that matter. The scene in the meat processing plant doesn't strike me as anything like what you would see in America, even in the 80's in a bad neighborhood. Maybe they thought setting this in America would make it easier to get it distributed.

Headhunter was one of those movies that was always on the shelf of your local video shop back in the early 90s. It was always there because nobody ever rented it and nobody ever rented it because the biggest cast names it could muster were a couple of second-string TV actors – usually a sure sign that a film is going to stink. To me, Kay Lenz is and always will be Nick Nolte's squeeze in Rich Man, Poor Man and Steve Kanaly will always be that ranch-hand who never got to say much in Dallas. Kanaly only has a support role here - the lead male is played by an actor called Wayne Crawford whom I have never heard of but who bears a passing resemblance to an old British footballer called Ian Rush. The story concerns a visit to Miami by an African demon who goes around chopping people's heads off for reasons that are never particularly made clear. Lenz and Crawford are the cops who are assigned the case. Lenz is seeing a uniformed cop, while Crawford's wife has just dumped him for a woman. You think Lenz and Crawford will get it on before the end credits, but they don't, which is at least original if nothing else. They're not having much luck on the case until a suspect who looks suspiciously like Samuel L. Jackson in Pulp Fiction introduces himself at one of the crime scenes and puts them wise re. the demon. Going from disbelieving sceptics to devout believers in a couple of scenes for no apparent reason, our two heroes spend the following hour running around in circles wondering what to do Despite my snipey synopsis, this film isn't really too bad. Or at least it's entertaining enough in its own small, unambitious way, although there is very little consistency in any aspect of it from performances to script to direction, and there is a very real sense that you're watching a neat 40-minute short padded out to 90 minutes as the whole thing grows increasingly repetitive. And director Francis Schaeffer obviously believes that if you repeatedly mention Playboy and show enough signs saying "This is Miami" viewers will eventually be brainwashed into believing the movie wasn't shot in South Africa after all. There are a couple of neat scenes here that look as if they belong in some other film: Crawford running into a hardware store and buying a chainsaw on his way to do battle with the demon strikes an agreeable note of absurdity, while the demon's hand trailing across a TV screen showing an old black-and-white horror movie is also well done. The ending is quite fun in a campy sort of way that is totally at odds with the tone of the rest of the film, and Kay Lenz makes an agreeable heroine despite some of the poor dialogue she is given. She's a pretty woman, Lenz; small, but with a generous mouth, small chin and wide jaw. She wears pink socks with a blue dress in this one

Damn, it's sad to see a movie fail so miserably when you can just feel the potential it had. This easily could have been a decent modern-day horror-flick about voodoo and an interesting demon on the loose chopping off heads. At least in two or three scenes there's a bit of suspense to be felt (I admit, it's not that much, but still...) and the demon's make-up is decent. The fact that he runs around decapitating people is a nice bonus too. However... I always admire the fact when scriptwriters of horror-stories try to give the main characters a bit of background (that doesn't happen much in horror). But here it really is a bit too much. I mean, the cop's ex-wife turned out to be lesbian, so then he starts hitting on his female partner who's dating a fellow-cop which wants to spend more quality time with her? Come on. Instead they should have made the demon a much bigger and menacing character. Where does he come from? Why and by who is he summoned? Why does he chop off all those heads of seemingly unrelated victims? Are there more of his kind? Nothing do we learn about this demon. But he does look cool. And he also seems to be able to shape-shift, but that concept isn't really worked out either. For a moment it looked like this movie was going to have a suspenseful bloody end fight. The set-up was present but the fight is over before you know it. What a waste. Even the over-all acting wasn't too bad. You can easily sit through this flick, but you'll forget about it as easily. So don't bother. But if you have a thing for sword-swinging demons then I won't stop ya.

A forgettable little horror ditty involving two cops in Miami (Wayne Crawford and Kay Lenz) investigating some bloody murders which prove to be the work of an African demon which has pursued some refugees there. Headhunter is actually kind of plodding and uneventful and not the cheesefest the gaudy cover promised (How many times have I been let down by a dull movie with a cheesy VHS cover). There is little in the way of suspense, gore or action until the end of the movie when we finally get a look at the titular nasty which is actually a rather impressive, if rubbery, looking nasty. The dialogue is dull, the acting is decent and the plot is a little muddled (Something about the creature killing those are unfaithful to the African religion involved the movie and those who know its secret but it is unclear and underdeveloped and comes across as somewhat nonsensical and random given the events of the movie). There is some attempt at characterisation but it is of the clumsy, awkwardly inserted background personal life stuff that just eats up running time instead of seeming part of the movie – Your wife left you for a woman, boo-hoo, go and sit in the sitcom corner with George Costanza and that big nosed schlub from friends. There are some weak attempts at black humour such as an aborted baptism scene and one amusing scene involving a spontaneous late night visit to a hardware store by the films male protagonist to grab a chainsaw to do battle with the headhunter. A good sense of place and atmosphere is actually created in the seamy back blocks of Miami but it is not enough to make the film work any better. Not really terrible but mot really worth watching unless you're really stuck for something.

"Headhunter" is a fairly intense, murky supernatural horror-thriller starring the amiable pair of Kay Lenz (as Detective Katherine Hall) and Wayne Crawford (as Detective Pete Giuliani). They get faced with an African demon that is raising Hell among Miamis' Nigerian community; this demon decapitates some victims and possesses others, and generally makes life miserable for our protagonists. While it's commendable that director Francis Schaeffer and screenwriter Len Spinell spend a fair amount of time developing the two main characters, some viewers may feel that all of this human drama detracts from the horror. And "Headhunter" does have some pretty good horror content to deliver, as well as some humour (it doesn't take itself too, too seriously). There's some gore, with director Schaeffer trying mightily to give his film some atmosphere and ambiance (it does go heavy on the horrific imagery). Unfortunately, we never do see very much of the demon, nor get much insight into why it does what it does. The film does benefit from the chemistry between the weary Katherine and the more volatile Pete; Lenz and Crawford make an interesting pair. Steve Kanaly pops up as their racist boss, who's not too concerned about the killers' choice of victims, June Chadwick has a two-scene cameo as Petes' ex-wife (who's become a lesbian), John Fatooh is okay as Katherines' boyfriend Roger, Gordon Mulholland figures memorably as an exposition provider, and Sam Williams is similarly striking as another provider of background information. At least "Headhunter" does manage to go out with a bang, as Pete channels his inner Ash and chops up everything in sight with a chainsaw. He and Katherine remain reasonably compelling heroes, and rooting interest in them does not wane. Overall, an okay B horror flick. Six out of 10.

This review has some minor spoilers in it. I avoided renting `Headhunter' for years. I would see it on the shelves and the picture on the cover would make it so that I just did not even want to hold the box in my hands. It has a picture of a deformed head on the cover, which would turn out to be the head of the title character. But it looked really gross. I finally broke down and rented it, and as it turns out, I had no reason to be hesitant, as it is neither very gross nor very scary. Yet that also serves to work against this movie, for much of it is not very interesting enough to keep your attention. That fact has more to do with the plot than anything else. The plot is that people are being murdered in the city of Miami, Florida, with all the victims being Haitian immigrants and all of them having their heads lopped off. Two detectives are assigned the case. One of them (Wayne Crawford) is struggling with the stress of a separation from his wife. His wife has been seeing another woman, and his ego is pretty dashed. In the meantime, he has to balance out his feelings for his partner (Kay Lenz). So when the grisly murders start to happen, it is just another stressful aspect in his life, but one he hopes he can at least handle. But then the case takes an unusual turn when their prime suspect informs them that the people are being killed by black magic. Yep, for some reason, voodoo has been used to conjure up a big, sword-wielding creature that pops up mysteriously for fun dismemberment. All that is nice, but it isn't effectively pulled off. It is never fully clear why the murders are happening, for one thing, and then it never makes sense how the creature gets around so fast. If he is magical enough to pop up in and out of places, why not dispose of all targets in one night? But then it starts to target anyone that knows the secret of the Headhunter. So it makes less sense with every little twist, and this makes it so that you have some contempt for the movie for a long time. It isn't until we actually get to see the Headhunter fully in the end climax that the movie turns from so-so to good. The climax is thrilling, well-shot, and all-around cool, although the final scene sort of robs you of all this. It's too bad the rest of the movie couldn't have been as good, for it would have made it a wonderful gem. I mean, it isn't all bad up to this point. It does things some horror movies don't even bother with, and that is nice characterization. The personal struggles of the main characters are realistic and insightful, it's just that the movie chooses not to resolve them interestingly but to resolve them through bloodshed. Still, the things I liked most about the movie were the main players. Crawford and Lenz are good in their parts when the story isn't making you scratch your head. They aren't the usual pretty faces, and I thought that was a good step by the casting department. If only the whole movie had been more cohesive, perhaps these two would be more noticed for their abilities. Zantara's score: 5 out of 10.

Nothing happens until the last 10 minutes of the movie, for the rest it just drags on and on and on......... skip this one the demon at the end was pretty cool but you see so little of it.

Spazzy Miami cop Pete Giullani (a solid and likeable performance by Wayne Crawford) and his spunky partner Katherine Hall (a perky and appealing portrayal by the ever-luscious Kay Lenz) investigate a series of grisly decapitation murders that turn out to be the bloody work of a lethal African voodoo demon. While director Francis Schaeffer fails to generate much in the way of either tension or spooky atmosphere, he still does manage to keep the enjoyably inane story moving at an even keel, makes nice use of the steamy Miami locations, delivers a satisfying smattering of gore, and stages a wild last reel confrontation between the demon and a chainsaw-wielding Pete with considerable flair and skill. Crawford and Lenz display a winning chemistry in the lead roles; they receive sturdy support from Steve Kanaly as the huffy Captain Ted Calvin, June Chadwick as Pete's bitter estranged wife Denise, and Sam Williams as helpful occult expert Samuel Juru. Hans Kuhle's fluid cinematography gives this movie an impressive stylish look and makes invigorating use of a smooth gliding camera. Julian Laxton's spirited score hits the stirring spot. An entertaining time-killer.

The overuse of banging sound effects and banging drums and tedious chanting had me reaching for pain relief how to get past the voodoo that they didn't do do so well. This tedious horror movie is boring with unlikable characters, a ridiculous premise and an over-the-top presentation. Unhappy Wayne Crawford should be happy that his harpy of a wife has kicked him out so she can be with her girlfriend even though the scene that shows that doesn't give any of the people involved any sympathy including the wife's girlfriend. The only support he gets his from his cop partner tail ends and they end up on the weirdest case of their careers, dealing with a series of mysterious decapitations that seem to be connected to Nigerian tribal curses. Steve Kanaly took a break from "Dallas" for this film, and he should have stayed at Southfork. There really is nothing to recommend about this although there are a few unintentionally funny scenes, but if there were any efforts to make a camp, they failed miserably. Save your head a lot of pain and just stay away.

I guess one of the primary interest factors with this one was that it was made in South Africa during the Apartheid years. I have heard some detect a racism in it but I am not so sure - the one racist character was the police chief who everyone thought was an idiot. If this had been American, nothing would be said. In actual fact, it is trying to pass itself off as American to help its commercial appeal, setting its action in Miami. But you can tell this sure isn't Florida - unless the Sunshine State resembled a third world country in the late 80's! It would have been better if like Dust Devil, they had just set the movie in Africa, as it would have given it a more distinct flavour. Anyway, this horror is about a Nigerian demon who goes around decapitating folks when it is unleashed in 'Miami'. The voodoo angle is quite effective and there are some well-staged sequences, including a fun/ridiculous finale replete with chainsaw. Generally, it's a fairly standard bit of late 80's horror but the context is everything.