Review #54: Head Count (2018)

This review was originally written in October 2019.

October Horror Movie Review #2: Head Count

I went into this movie with no expectations except for the knowledge of who recommended it (which, to be fair, was a high expectation in and of itself). I didn't know what kind of a movie it was, what type of horror to expect, or really anything beyond the title.

The biggest compliment I can give to this movie is that it had a concept I'd never seen in a movie before. Where most movies take a well-worn trope and try to do it better than everyone else, this one was treading new ground and I think it did so admirably. (I suppose maybe you could argue that this is just a doppelganger movie, and there's plenty of those out there, but I don't quite think that fits.) Once I understood what I was in for I was constantly watching every frame, looking for clues that might hint at what was about to happen, and even wondering if I should go back and re-watch the film again and look for more details I had missed- it was that intriguing of a concept.

However, this movie does some things that I think deserve some serious improvement. First off, 100% of the characters are 100% forgettable. (If I had to name them off the top of my head, the cast list would consist of "Main Character Guy", "Girl Who Likes the Main Character", "Main Character's Brother", "Jerk Guy", "Girl Who Wants Everyone To Get Drunk and/or Laid", "Guy Who Supplies Drugs", and.... "The Rest".) The sheer number of them (11 characters all introduced very early on) might be considered a problem but to an extent I think that actually serves the plot a bit; this would be much less tense of a film if there were, say, four characters, because it would always be obvious when something was amiss. However, the first third of the movie- a whole half hour- felt like it could have been replaced with a ten-second blurb with the characters' names and nothing would have been lost.

Until the actual mystery started, I didn't care about anyone or anything onscreen, and the dialogue and acting was forgettable at best and downright awful at worst. The number of times the main character and his brother state their relationship, for example ("Hey brother" and "I'm worried about my brother since our parents are dead" are two actual things said by actual characters in this actual movie) that I was certain that the nature of their relationship was going to be a plot point. (Why drop in a clue about their parents being dead if not to hint that their death might be plot-relevant?) But no, it's just bad dialogue. A little bit of the poor characterization is later justified (like the guy who is needlessly antagonistic to the main character sort of gets explained by a line about his failed relationship with the main's love interest, but... come on, chill out a bit) but for the most part it's just bad.

Also, the ending and some of the actual mechanics of the mystery don't really make sense to me. What happens to the Hisji (or whatever it was called) after it's done its thing and gotten rid of a bunch of people? Is it just... out there, walking around, doing people stuff? The fact that it was summoned and then everyone disappears makes it seem like it's a demon that appears, does its thing, and then vanishes, but no, the ending implies that it's here now and if it wanted to it could go off and live a life. That's... kind of weird, and makes me wonder why it had to be summoned in the first place when it could have simply shown up and then the mystery would be that much weirder and more unexpected. Also, was it trying to kill Zoe when they were up on the rocks and she fell? If so, why? That doesn't fit the incredibly specific M.O. it's given later in the film.

But if you can ignore those parts that just don't really make sense, hoo boy this movie is intriguing. I love love love the part where they're playing a drinking game and they realize their friend is in the other room. I love realizing how much the number five has been around the entire time and nobody noticed it. There were points where I knew something was about to happen (like Zoe outside on the porch near the end) but knowing it was about to happen only made it better.

Overall this film was a great watch and intrigued me enough to want to watch it again, however, by the end I no longer quite intended to do so. I'd definitely recommend this to anyone but I wish they had gone for another draft of the first half hour.

Overall rating: 8/10

Rating I Wanted To Give It As A Joke: 5/10

(You know, because... 5, but it's better than a 5/10. Not quite a 10/10 though.)