Those of you who may recall Peter Jackson’s rather fun yet equally repugnant dark puppet comedy ‘Meet the Feebles’ from back in 1989 will be pleased to hear that Elmwood Productions have also bought together a new batch of felt faced friends to entertain you. Writer/director Jon Bristol’s horror project ‘HEAD’ introduces us to a group of young friends who are heading out on a camping trip for the weekend to the remote mountains of New England. Oh and did I mention that it happens to be on the site of Satanic cult murders that took place years before?
All sounds a little familiar in terms of horror tropes I’m sure. However, there’s no irritating teenagers running around here and instead all the acting action is thanks to some talented voice and puppeteering work. The story as already mentioned is a tad imitative which to be honest if it was played out with actual human actors as opposed to puppets I’m not sure it would have held much attention from the viewer. Thankfully as you enter the world of ‘HEAD’ you soon forget the fact that its a lineup of puppets and soon find yourself taken along on their terrifying journey.
Puppet Graveyard Gil is the host of a public access show which is where the main feature is…well…featured. Clocking in at under an hour in runtime ‘HEAD’ is quite a quick and simple horror movie yet has all the craft and imagination needed in order to bring it to life even helping create some actual scary moments. All the puppets on show were hand crafted for the movie and plenty of thought and attention has gone in to just how the puppets would be on show in specific scenes and of course the logistics involved in this.
OVERALL SUMMARY
‘HEAD’ is by no means innovative with regards to the story telling itself and of course the concept of using puppets as your main characters in a movie has been done numerous times before, particularly and surprisingly in the horror genre itself. But it’s a project with definite heart and there are clearly a passionate and talented team working behind the scenes. ‘HEAD’ is an enjoyable tongue-in-cheek horror outing so if you’re looking for a more sinister Sesame Street this could be your answer.
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