Review of Headspace (2005) by John T — 07 Jun 2008

This is one of those movies you have to watch just once and then put it aside for a year and then come back to it. Not because it is bad, but because it is very forgettable. I think it is the way the sequence of events have been either edited or the order they were scripted. I don't know? The plot just didn't seem very clear on the first viewing, but the second viewing fixed that. There are still some unanswered questions, but that is only a minor flaw in the script and at least I am now asking questions about the film, right? One year ago it was placed straight into my dvd collection and easily forgotten about.

The story itself is actually very good. it revolves around 25 year old Alex borden who is now an orphan. We get a brief introduction at the start where we see Alex and his family on his older brother's 10th birthday. The chain of events that happen are still not really clear, but their mum goes crazy, kills the dog and would have went on to kill the boys if it wasn't for their dad to leave a giant size hole in her head from a shot gun blast. During the film which takes place with Alex being 25, he has many flashbacks of his childhood. The flashback scenes really fit nicely. They are mainly used to move the plot along, but are also very interesting. Throughout the films entirety we just follow Alex as he tries to find out why he has an ongoing migraine. He can't sleep, has visions and hears voices. He must be psycho! He goes and sees a doctor for tests and brain scans etc. They see that there is nothing wrong with him physically, but scans show that he uses more of the frontal lobe of the brain than anyone ever tested. This explains why he can finish a book and remember it word from word in only a minute. So the doctors admit that there is nothing they can do, so refer him to a shrink who they think can help him. She is writing a book on people with unique mental abilities. He goes to see her and it is then that the film really takes off. The people with whom he associates with start getting killed off by a monster and Alex believe that he may have something to do with it. The cast is great. We get to see some good ol horror greats such as Dee Wallace and Udo Kier. Udo with his unique german accent was awesome.

If you like horror films with a psychological edge you must check this out! It may take a couple of viewings to grasp, but just be patient with it as in the end you will realize that Headspace is a very intellectual and some-what depressing flick..