The Head Hunter

What seems like a simple and straightforward revenge story turns into a surprising and uncanny tale of life and death, amidst an eerie atmosphere.

Christopher Rygh's performance is astonishing. Even though the dialogue throughout the movie is scarce, he manages to convey all sorts of emotions through his acting, and turns this "one-character-film" into an amazing journey.

In this movie, what can't be seen is often as important as what is shown on the screen. So keep your ears peeled and let yourself be drifted by the carefully designed sound and the superb music score. Allow yourself to let your imagination flow freely and you won't regret it.

Last, but by no means least, the cinematography in this movie is simply beautiful, especially when it comes to lighting and camera shots. A note also to the fantastic decor and costumes, where no detail is too small to be dismissed.

This movie may have been made with a modest budget and a small crew, but that doesn't mean its quality isn't top-notch.

I watched The Head Hunter in this year's edition of Fantasporto - International Film Festival, and I loved it so much that on the last day of the festival, when the awarded movies were being shown again, I actually went in for a second screening (I don't do that often).

I strongly recommend it! (Rating: 9/10)

The amazing beauty of The Head Hunter is the minimalist storytelling that creates a high impact effect with virtually no extraneous dialogue or superfluous characters. The Father and his role are clearly defined as a singular, over-riding purpose; yet the Land and the Time in which he lives in is kept vague, building the larger-than-life mythology of the film. This story reminds me of the first, simple stories I read in grade school (Beowolf, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow) that set my imagination on fire and created a lifelong yearning for reading.

That being said, the action fans, gore aficionados, and special effects/CGI devotees are going to be disappointed. This is a low budget film, and from the outset, it's evident the producers were more focused on the quality of the storytelling than shiny bells and whistles. If you watch the film with this managed expectation, you are going to be more apt to enjoy it. After all, at one hour eleven minutes, it's a tale that moves along nicely.

A medieval father searches for the beast that killed his daughter.

Ok. So, this is a low budget film but it is filmed well. Some of the landscape scenes are very nice. This is supposed to be horror but I'm a bit of a horror buff and it wasn't horror for me. The biggest problem I have is that the story is so vague. You know what is going on and you sorta know why but it lacks detail. You have no backstory and for me, that is what draws me in and causes me to invest in the characters. The effects were passable but key moments were shot in low lighting and it couldn't be seen well.

It isn't awful but it is short, extremely about being "in the moment" and the scenic shots were good. If that sounds like something you are about, check it out.

This film is far better than its current IMDB rating.

For the budget this film is insane... great locations, cinematography and costume design. It's very atmospheric and at times reminded me of The Revenant, you get a real sense of the cold, harsh, isolated existence this character faces.

Like others have said its no action packed blockbuster. They clearly didn't have budget to rock out a big monster battle with CGI effects, so rather than ruin the film with a low budget attempt they made smart choices and spent the money wisely.

Nothing about this film felt low budget, the character design is amazing I would buy a hot toy figure of this dude tomorrow seriously!!

This was a beautifully shot almost silent film. Fantasy Viking mission on a hunt for Troll Beast. Avenging the death of his daughter you're brought into his world. Angst, pain and you feel every minute of it the actor brings you there 100% the creators of this film knew how to use their low-budget to there advantage.

DO NOT MISS