Horsehead (2014) User Reviews (22)

The next time anyone gets the idea that it might be cool to make a film about chaotic dream states... Watch this so you know you're wrong.

[angiris · 4/10 · 2 June 2015]

As my supremely long title highlights I view this as a complete mess.

I've read the above reviews. 9 out of 10. Fair enough. Can I ask why?

What makes you think this film's story...and lets start there... can compare to some of the BEST films ever made? Because these reviews sure don't express why that is. They just praise it. Slap a tall rating on it. No indication as to why specifically...

I'm gonna tell you exactly what you're gonna get here. And I'm not dazzled or smitten by the "artisticness" of this film.

This "masterpiece" takes place in our main protagonists mind for 95 % of the entire film. As we all know dreams as well as nightmares consist of immaterialistic states (no solid fundament) Now...imagine a 90 minute film like that. The film is all over the place. We got symbols of nature, of chaos, of death, of religion both biblical and satanic. This all sounds interesting right. Now...imagine all this without a red line. THAT...is where the fun stops. You will have no clue as to what is going on for 70 % of the time during each scene.

In regard to putting this film into perspective I'd like to highlight a little film called Haunting of the Innocent.

This is ALMOST the level of sheer chaos I'm talking about. I am so tired of films that are pumped with "artictic features" to make it strike you as if the director as well as writer had great plans for it WHEREAS the execution is nothing short of mad pandemonium.

In the start of the film we are explained about 1 big feature of her dreams in a way. The horse. Its meaning as a messenger of death and more. Ferryman even. But shortly afterwards we are pushed into the deep end of the pool where were struggling for breath. The film phases back and forth between her various dreams. We jump in small lengths of time.

Alright. Here's what you'll see basically. We see all these various scenes jumping from mythological and biblical torture to swimming, to drowning, to near lesbian intimacy during a bathtub scene, to a demonic horse headed creature stabbing people for...reasons... to a wolf walking around without any clear point or purpose (since its her dream) And then we got a red riding hood scenario (Im not joking) Except the wolf is the good guy and it gets killed by the horse demon thing. And during this dream! You got the main protagonists mother trying to stuff her full of pills.

Then she goes back to dreaming or having nightmares... and the freak show continues because....well... In the words of the show must go on? She then goes on to find a key to SOMETHING inside the wolf's body. She goes on to this big church she's near and walks inside to find the her mother giving birth to her and another child whilst Satan or someone is cursing the birth. Ultimately she uses this key which transforms into a massive object to kill the horse monster, then twist it to unlock his body to open a door which leads her to a copy or twin of herself. Probably her lost sibling we saw from her dream. Then the entire film ENDS...filming the sibling get reborn and our protagonist die.

THE END

That, ladies and gentlemen... is my own personal definition from this moment on of what a true, certifiable mind blown experience is like. And I don't mean that positively in any regard. Holy mother of god.

Now. I'd like to highlight I know the symbolic meaning of many of these animals. I appreciate the concept of compiling in a particular context. But I cannot approve of something that is executed this manner. It is mindless and utterly incomprehensible for most of the time and you will at no point be introduced to the greater meaning of ANYTHING of this. We are...(and I have no other way of putting it)... ALL over the place in this film. And as any good grammar teacher would tell you; You must have good structure and a red line through the stuff you've written because you gotta make sure people can understand it first and foremost!.

Well you wont find that here.

You might get smitten by what the director many included features and mind numbing visuals but you gotta ask yourself; is that really what you wanna take away from a film? Opium to numb your brain thinking you love what you just saw due to the effect? Or did you just watch an utter mess with absolutely no rime nor reason to it WHICH has zero replay value on top of it.

Incomprehensible madness, ladies and gentlemen. Incomprehensible...madness.

Its my opinion that if you watch something like this and you're like: ohhh and ahhh. This is some sorta masterpiece for sure. The music, the scenery, the symbolic meaning of the creatures we are introduced to is blowing my mind. I bet you are dazzled by the sheer chaoticness of this mess and not fully understanding what you are dealing with so you just rate it high because...you think its a masterpiece without TRULY grasping what you're dealing with.

I cannot stress the meaning of "non-sensical" to critically significant extent.

Anyway, my dear readers. That is the film. That is horse head. Evidently horse head has a symbolic meaning to it. A jail-ish symbolic gesture of a sort though I have never heard of anything of the sort. Apparently the Director and Writer have so thats fine...

You have this review based on my own personal experience watching this plus some more. Judge for yourself.

Have a good one guys. I gotta get some air and re-evaluate what I'm doing with my life.

Wicked crazy

[kosmasp · 5/10 · 2 September 2015]

While for some the most famous Horsehead will still remain one that can be seen in Godfather, is this movie an "offer you can't refuse" to watch? That depends on your viewing taste obviously. The movie itself has wicked ideas and some crazy story elements to it, that are not something you are used to see in "normal" movies.

It's still not really great, even though the acting is decent enough and there are enough good effects (not really for the squeamish, even if there are more explicit movies out there). There's also nudity involved, though with all craziness going on, I'm not sure that's something to be upset about or looking forward to. Decent effort, that might not make sense to everybody (which I reckon was intended)

All Head and no Body

[Cathex · 5/10 · 31 October 2015]

Visually this film is at times quite stunning, but beyond that there's not much else to recommend it.

Unfortunately one reviewer had to compare it to Dario Argento's work, which then started a trend. In reality it is only the director of photography that resembled Argento in this film, the actual director had some nice ideas but fails to hold the film together. The comparison with such a brilliant director is nothing short of total nonsense.

The cinematography was the best part of this movie, providing a powerfully attractive opening scene which exquisitely recreates Fuseli's 18th century oil painting, The Nightmare. After this point however the film is gradually let down by weak acting, a poor script and an overall immature plot.

That's unfortunate because it seems this film had potential, taking iconography from sleep paralysis, some interesting ideas provided by Jungian psychology and consistently attractive scene construction. But all of this gets flushed down the pan by a director who seems determined to compromise everything this film could have been with an over reliance on visual effects and music apparently compensating for a lack of any real substance.

This film is the work of a great cinematographer and a director that needs to develop his ability, especially his screen writing.

Not an entirely unpleasant way to pass 90 minutes

[lazarillo · 27 June 2016]

This phantasmagorical French horror movie is about a young college student who is dealing with troubling memories of her past by studying Freud and experimenting with "lucid dreaming". When her maternal grandmother dies, she joins her mother in her grandparent's country estate where she uses her lucid dreaming skills to uncover dark family secrets.

This film somewhat reminded me of the Walerian Borowzyk film "La Bete", but without the shocking imagery or nearly as strong of a grasp of Freudian surrealism. The "Horsehead" monster that haunts the dreams of the heroine may be the literal embodiment of a "nightmare" (or "cauchemare" in French), but horses are such magnificent and beautiful animals that it's hard to make them look too frightening or threatening. The weird imagery and occasionally effective atmosphere of this film is somewhat of a throwback to an earlier era, and it is refreshing in an age where "horror" is often synonymous with tons of gory effects, "torture porn", and shot-on-video "found-footage" bullsh*t. But the images, while pretty and colorful, are a little pedestrian and frankly just not all scary.

The movie does get a lot of mileage out of pretty, young French actress Lily-Fleur Pointeaux. I think at least half the audience will be very favorably disposed to scenes where she luxuriates in a bathtub with her magnificent breasts bobbing and glistening (bobbing and glistening. . .). But she also does a decent job carrying the principal weight of this movie, especially considering I've only previously seen her in small supporting roles in films like "Ma Premiere Pas" and "We Need a Vacation".

This film could have used some stronger and perhaps more shocking imagery like "La Bete" or the more recent French/Belgian film "Amer", but it's not an entirely unpleasant way to pass 90 minutes.

Nice effort... and I LOVE 'Lynchian' films. BUT... I feel it was ultimately disjointed, jarring, and somewhat amateurish despite some nice artistic touches...

[lathe-of-heaven · 5/10 · 7 October 2015]

I fully agree with Angiris' review above. I thought he articulated it really well as to what this film is 'about' and how it comes across.

I THINK that I can see what the director is TRYING to do. I appreciate a number of the visual sequences, especially the REALLY creative lighting. The Ambient soundtrack (NOT the sound design. I will come back to that in a moment) is quite good. VERY moody. This is the ONE aspect where I think the director did achieve a Lynchian feel in the movie. In my lowly and wretched opinion, IF they had just approached the film DIFFERENTLY, I think there was enough creative energy and vivid imagery to pull it off. BUT... what I feel is 'wrong' with this film and unfortunately where it fails in what it is TRYING to do, is just the approach is all wrong. If you are going to imitate or be inspired by or try to have a similar approach to a film as, say, David Lynch, I feel that the single, vital thing ABOVE ALL is the MOOD that you create. Now, I feel that he did this SOMETIMES with certain short sequences. But, where I feel that he worked against himself is by 'jarring' or kind of 'cross-purposing' the very mood he was trying to create by introducing a kinetic visual style and Techno-Electronic sound that, to me anyway, totally destroyed whatever eerie, disturbing mood that he was trying to create.

Again, just my opinion... But, I think that if he had gone for a more laid back, static shot, murky sub-conscious approach and ditched all the Techno-Electronic / Mtv crap, then it likely would have worked pretty well. Just the wrong approach. And, what the HELL was up with the almost bloody CONTINUOUS hand-held crap in just about every scene. Dude... you are NOT going for a 'Found Footage' feel here mate. What the hell is the film all about anyway...? DREAMS, right? So, to me, it seems that the ENTIRE mood and visual / sonic approach to the film should have centered around Dreamy, murky, understated visuals and effects. Just SLOW the damn thing down dude... All that hyperkinetic Techno stuff, in my opinion, just ruins the whole thing. This is PRECISELY why I hate the 'American Horror Story' series. Absolutely NO subtlety at all...

Look... if you are making a film about 'Lucid Dreaming', I can understand why you would want to let loose with all these GREAT awesome visuals. Okay, fine... However, WAIT until you build up to it. WAIT until you create a ponderous and disturbing and YES, a DREAMY mood, even a Nightmarish mood and then BUILD and ratchet up the tension until you have this great WILD, Hallucinatory finale. THAT would work, I think. It was a shame too, because some of the technical approaches and techniques were GREAT, in and of themselves. A shot here, a short sequence there. BUT... you HAVE to be able to put it all together in such a way that it is EFFECTIVE and creates the mood and overall result that you are trying to achieve.

Also, maybe it was just me, but I REALLY thought the girl was LAME. She was not a very good actress. So, when you are trying to evoke this deep, disturbing, subconscious fear in your audience, you ABSOLUTELY have to have an actress who can convey that BELIEVABLY and GEEZ, a LOT more subtly than this girl did. Particularly this really stupid, open-mouthed expression that she had throughout most of the film. Bad...

And I KNOW that I've harped on this before, and I KNOW it is one of my little personal neuroses, but the Sound Design was VERY amateurish, and at least to me, that takes me right out of the film every time. What I am talking about is like for example the girl is opening a little box across the room from the audience's perspective. And from where you and I are seeing her it is like 30 feet away. And yet, the sound of the cardboard rustling is around like 100 decibels and sounds like it is right next to your ear. Or, just in general, EVERY bloody sound is HUGELY amplified, every footstep, every swish of material, ALL of it is boosted up to '11' I'm sorry, but not only is that NOT at all realistic, but to me it just is plain stupid and inexcusable.

So, yes, I did give the film a '5' And yes, that is probably a little generous. BUT, what tears at me somewhat is that I can ALMOST see the film that the director is trying to make coming through on the screen, but it is hidden under all this crap that I mentioned which basically ruins it. And I DID truly appreciate the EXCEPTIONAL creativity that went into a lot of the lighting, editing, and some of the visual techniques, so I felt that my score should at least reflect my acknowledgment of some of these things.

I guess I would say that if you are like me and you REALLY like David Lynch and what he does, then you likely will find this film to be clumsy and conflicted in it's approach and mood. If you like the subtlety that David Lynch uses in his long, static shots, and SLOW build ups and weird images and visuals that seem like he dug them up right from your subconscious, then I think this film here will probably come across as far to jarring and disjointed. Now, IF you are the kind of person who likes stuff that is more 'In your face' and kinetic with an Electronic-Techno soundtrack, and you like more direct, brutal imagery, well then you might like this movie more than I did. So, it just depends on the TYPE of visually 'Out There' kind of stuff that you like...

A movie about a nightmare, is a nightmare - who would have guessed?

[biopsyheaven · 4/10 · 12 September 2015]

In my opinion I'm being slightly generous about the ranking that I give this movie. I think the only good parts (excuse my being a simple minded male at this time) was the bathtub scene. Not the battle between 'Horsehead' and our trusty wolf totem, not the story line (or the lack of), nothing. The bosom of our main character is quite possibly the only appeal this movie has, that and the intriguing horse headed figure.

Not many remember their dreams thoroughly upon waking, nor any time thereafter. If any recollection is made of the startling dream, it's usually a jumbled mess. As is the case with this film - maybe that was the intent? I couldn't help but take a glance or two at my cellphone as there were a few REALLY dull moments.

My speakers were acting up for the first five to ten minutes so I missed most of that dialogue, however even so I can validly state that I feel I did not miss too much important information at all. Moving along; The main character studies deep sleep and how to control her dreams and such (again, I honestly wasn't giving this movie my undivided attention - and there's no way I'm bound to watch it again) she finds herself waking to hear her grand mother in the next room (her deceased grand mother) she keeps going on about finding a key (said key is later found and utilized) and it is not found. Her grand mother soon turns around revealing a face that looks like it had been torn. She (the main character) then wakes after some incontinent flashes of herself being crucified and her rolling around in bed whilst the lights flicker for some odd reason even though, if I remember correctly at the beginning of the film her mother hands her a new set of bulbs. (What?) <<< Lets stop here... The bulbs are flickering because an entity IN HER DREAM, is haunting her..? I don't remember Freddy Kruger making the lights flicker in the physical world. However I could be wrong, don't quote me it's been quite a few years since I've watched that series. >>> Then she wakes and speaks with her mother about the short images she witnessed in her dreams, her mother seems concerned and then she goes back to sleep shortly after the discussion and the nonsense begins again. Only this time she referred to an audio recording of what I presumed was a lecture from her professor. This instructed her to take a photograph blablablablah, look at her hands blablablah (full details are in the film) to help control her dream and she begins speaking with her grand mother. Her grandmother tells her to follow the wolf, not the horse, always run from the horse. OH! Excuse my inaccuracy, THIS is where the nude crucifying came in. Anyways, I'll skip a few hours of detail. She decides it's a good idea (after her mother's boyfriend suggested it) to go to a church near by (in her dream) and this is where we see our friendly wolf totem fight the satanic horse headed figure. <<< This whole costume reminded me of what I like to call Pyramid Face (Head) from Silent Hill >>> They then engage in an obvious one sided combat where the wolf then dies. THIS, THIS is where the key is found. Our main character finds the wolf's carcass and goes "Hey lets reach inside of this cadaver and see what I can find!" She then pulls out (Drum roll please) THE KEY!!! OH GOOD, now she can go and figure out what this not-so-bloody-comparatively-even-though- it-was-pulled-out-of-a-dead-wolf's-flesh key unlocks. (WAAAIIIT!!! How did the key get into the wolf, how did she by any means decide to take a gander inside the wolf, whaaat is going on?!) She walks into the church and she sees (AND EVEN HELPS) her mother give birth to a stillborn (her twin sister) and herself. (Think that's bad? A couple scenes before she made out with her mother, YUP!!! MADE. OUT. WITH. (((WITH))) HER. MOTHER! ...Interesting dreams she's having... SO! The key, isn't really a key - I mean it is, in a sense, but it's also SUDDENLY A WEAPON TO STAB INTO THE ABDOMEN OF THE HORSE GUY! See how random that was? Well... That's pretty much how it goes down in the movie as well... She then twists the enlarged key and it makes a grinding noise inside of the abdomen and she unlocks a door. (OH!!! You know when you see terrible actors holding the sword at their side pretending to be stabbed in the abdomen? IT'S IMPLEMENTED IN THIS MOVIE! IT'S NOT EVEN AT A DECENT ANGLE SO YOU HAVE TO LOOK FOR IT. IT'S AS BLATANT AS AN ORANGE IN THE MILK SECTION BECAUSE SOME JERK WAS TOO LAZY TO WALK 10 METERS TO GO PUT IT BACK!) MOVING ALONG.... She walks through the door revealing what looks to be an amniotic sac then surprisingly (not) her twin sister pops out, they hug and then she dies in reality.

The ONLY way I can make sense of this movie is that the unborn sister was envious that the living sister was in fact alive she became jealous and then began to haunt her and lure her away toward death eventually succeeding. The wolf was a protector to stop her from doing so (maybe) and the horse head was like an omen of impending doom.

CONCLUSION

The trailer was intriguing, there's bare chested-ness, there's dubstep music, the movie is entirely random and as fun deciphering as the enigma code... Wouldn't recommend this to anyone who values their time.

Artsy-Fartsy

[bartonmaru-69135 · 1/10 · 18 October 2020]

What does Artsy-Fartsy produce? It produces horse-s**t. And that about all that can be said about this car wreck. Every time a new plot element is introduced, its just left there hanging with no resolution. The director spends a lot time on images to go on and on and on. He violated the first tenant of horror movies: tell a good scary story that is coherent. I am continuously amazed how people can be bamboozled into spending real money to make these phoney art films. And the people who think they just seen something magnificent are more confused that the director.

Interesting nightmare depiction

[dracforever · 7/10 · 29 July 2021]

This is a bizarre movie that does a very good job depicting the nature of the nightmare, not the bad dream itself, rather the malicious entity that causes sleep paralysis and bedevils the victim with awful dreams. If you are unfamiliar with the folklore I suggest you look it up as that knowledge may congeal the seemingly disjointed story in your mind.

The imagery was beautiful while the story was rather simplistic, although I feel if the story was more complicated it may have distracted from the nature of the nightmare (horsehead) itself. There is so much communicated through the nightmare images that no narrative is needed to explain the journey if you are acquainted with the folklore.

Um....Excuse Me But WTF?

[Foutainoflife · 3/10 · 8 February 2019]

This is a strange film. A woman plagued with nightmares as a child, chooses to study dreams, their meanings and how to direct your dreams all in an attempt to understand her own.

I'm gonna be honest and let you know that I have no idea what I just watched. The pace of this film is absolutely awful. You keep seeing all these dream sequences that are far from being coherent and they just drag out forever. It was hard to make sense of it all and at some point I just sped up the playback so I could have those few extra minutes of my life to do something worthwhile. The only good thing I can say about this is that it was filmed well yet that alone just isn't enough to save it from being an absolute hot mess.

I'll recommend it though for anyone who wants to see how screwed up a film can become with long dream sequences that make zero sense. They should've focused more on the story rather than the artsy dream scenes. This was a waste of my time.

First viewing was near 8... but lowered to 7 on rewatching

[richardperez-39520 · 7/10 · 17 February 2022]

I am usually generous with stars here, so I hope this is a good explanation of why I give it a 7 star review.

My first view of this, was a little more entertaining than the few time's I tried to re watch this. I found it interesting and it had cool sequences of her nightmares that were pretty intriguing. I liked it and thought that was interesting. Sadly I have re watched it a few times and don't usually finish it.

It seems like a good movie, but I guess I don't get it and the theme's are more interesting to me since I don't fully get it. I'll be honest I rarely get movies fully and like the actor's and visuals or settings way more than the content, so detailed content and further meaning usually buzz my tower at high speed and then are gone... lol.

Give it a try for horror with deep meaning... I think. Hopefully you like it, I almost did... but I still give it a chance now and then for the hope I will since it made such a good first impression.

Well done! (like when my ex-wife burnt the pot roast)

[duckman_079 · 4/10 · 22 November 2021]

This movie is indeed well done! The acting was good, the scenes and locations were perfect! The symbolism. And just the general quality of the movie was outstanding! I just had difficulty knowing what was going on much of the time. Also, there wasn't good flow for me. I had to watch it separate days to finish. Horsehead was a beautiful piece of cinematic art that wasn't that entertaining as a movie.

Hypnotic and phantasmagoria

[stephhorror51 · 8/10 · 4 March 2015]

By certain aspects, "Horsehead" made for me thought of the Dario Argento's Inferno : both movies have in common to be enigmatic, fascinating, of a total pictorial beauty, but also to rather hermetic and difficult to access.

Horsehead risks hardly to embarrass and to divide the spectators. The movie is not indeed an entertainment popcorn and will ask a real effort of attention and especially an emotional participation and a total dumping in its universe.

Horsehead indeed takes the shape of a nightmare in the shape of mysterious puzzle, plunging her heroine into a terrible, dreamlike, fantastical, gory and erotic universe.

Following the example of "Lords of Salem" (Rob Zombie - 2012), Horsehead is for my part one of the most interesting proposals of the fantastic movies seen for a long time.

(sorry for my English...)

Underrated Horror Fantasy: an explainer

[Armin_Nikkhah_Shirazi · 7/10 · 18 January 2024]

HORSEHEAD is a fantasy movie with horror elements which takes place on two planes of reality, so to speak:

The first is the real world, in which a young woman is visiting her mother and step-father on the occasion of her grandmother's death, whom she hadn't seen since she was a little child. The relationship with her mother is frosty, and there are unspoken issues between them. During her stay, she gets the flu, experiences vivid and disturbing dreams and gets progressively weaker and sicker until the final scene.

The second is the dream world, where in the first dream after her arrival she sees her grandmother looking for a key, and from there she tries to piece together the solution to the mystery using lucid dream techniques. At first, her dreams are very confusing, but as she puts together clues (and the audience is also given clues from scenes in the real world scenes), it becomes gradually clear that she is uncovering a long-held damning family secret.

The movie demands a lot of patience from the viewer in that it does not even begin to become clear what this is all about until past the midpoint. No doubt some people will be turned off by that since by then, they may no longer be interested in putting the puzzle together. In my case, the gorgeous fantastic dream imagery kept me interested enough to pay attention to what is going on, so here is an explainer of how I understand this movie.

In short, as I see it, the movie is a story about the sorrow and pain visited upon three generations of women of a family by the mandates of archaic religious belief. More precisely, I see this as an indictment of the harmful consequences of religious beliefs surrounding "illegitimate children", an inadequate standard expression which already dehumanizes them, in my opinion.

Now to the details:

SPOILER ALERT

The protagonist, Jessica, has had a certain kind of confusing nightmare which features a demon-like feature with a horse-head, all her life, and indeed the movie opens with one. She wakes up to a phone message from her mother to come home because her grandmother just died.

On the train ride, we are exposed to a book she has been studying about a lucid dream technique (a technique for building awareness that one is dreaming and changing events as one wishes) called MILD, which stands for Mnemonic Induction of Dreams (this is a real-life technique, by the way).

We are told that the technique is used to "fight and destroy evil in dreams" that gnaws at people in real life, and that the horse is an "archetype of the mother", or alternatively a "messenger of death".

Once she arrives, we quickly find that her stepfather is much warmer and welcoming to her than her mother. The subsequent events have been broadly summarized above, so let's get to the meaning of the imagery.

Many of her dreams begin with the depiction of clockwork and metronomes, which I interpret as her traveling back in time. Indeed, whenever her grandmother is shown in her dreams, she is a young woman only slightly older than her.

We are also introduced to her grandfather, previously described by the family handyman as an "Old testament kind of person". In her dream, he is similarly young as the grandmother, and depicted as a cruel and sadistic punisher. His booming voice and dark, handsome appearance make it almost appear as if he is the devil himself. The implication that his zealous adherence to religious belief has turned him into a kind of devil is unmistakable.

The one person who does not appear younger in Jessica's dreams is her mother. I interpret this to mean that her mother, or at least a defining aspect of her, has not changed since she was a young person. In time, it becomes clear that this aspect is that she would rather lie or be dishonest than face reality, which is particularly ironic given that she lectures her daughter early on that Jessica needs to face reality. The mother lies to her own father about her pregnancy and tries to escape into the fantasy that she is "the immaculate one" when she is young, and she ends up lying to her daughter about aspects of her pregnancy when she is old.

The grandmother calls the horsehead demon "the Cardinal", which to me makes it plain that it is an allegory for religious guilt. She advises that Jessica should follow the wolf and always run from the cardinal.

What the wolf represents is not spelled out in the movie, but it is an easy guess that it represents the authentic, independent self, untamed, so to say, by the restrains of religious guilt. Coincidentally, I recently saw the unsettling but excellent movie WOLF HOUSE (2018) where the wolf, as I understand it, represents the fascist mindset, so interpretation is still context-dependent. Therefore, even if it is not difficult to guess, I think the filmmakers should have given more hints as to what the wolf represents.

There are two near-incestuous scenes, one in which Jessica is in the bathtub with her own grandmother as a young person, and one in which she begins to make out with her mother upon the latter's initiation. I interpret these to mean that Jessica is so desperate for love from either-love which she never received (the first because she last saw her as a small child, the second because her mother has always been unloving toward her)-that she is even willing to go the incestuous route.

There is a scene in which the horsehead demon slays the wolf, just before Jessica uncovers the family secret, which I interpret as a foreshadowing of the events which she is about to witness, but at a spiritual level: religious guilt won out and robbed the people involved-her mother and her grandmother-of their authenticity.

In the grand reveal, we find that upon the unrelenting pressure and intimidation by her grandfather, Jessica's grandmother performed an abortion on her mother in a church. The twist is that her mother was pregnant with twins: the second twin survives and becomes Jessica.

In the quasi-epilogue, it all comes together: Jessica's grandmother, who was looking for a key early in the movie, was actually looking for some kind of absolution for the religious sin she committed; Jessica's mother was always cold and unloving to her because Jessica was a constant reminder that she had violated religious tenets, something she could have pretended as if it had never had happened if the abortion had been completely successful; and Jessica finally finds peace in knowing that she has a twin, and as such, part of her twin is in her, as symbolized by her heterochromia in the concluding scene.

This is a good fantasy movie with a definite message, but the message gets kind of buried under all the admittedly gorgeous imagery. I personally do not like movies where there are confusing elements just for the sake of causing confusion, and HORSEHEAD is definitely not that kind of movie, but it is sufficiently opaque that a portion of the audience will find it difficult to discern what it is about. Also, the ending should have been a little less open-ended, in my opinion. But those who do not mind a challenging movie with wonderful visuals will likely enjoy it.

A surreal and puzzling nightmare

[mario_c · 9/10 · 5 March 2015]

Surreal, phantasmagoric, enigmatic! HORSEHEAD is a visually stunning puzzle full of symbolic figures where each one of them represent one particular icon related to imagery of dreams. We can notice, for instance, the clear inspiration in some previous and notable works about the allegories of dreams, as the Henry Fuseli's painting THE NIGHTMARE. And this inspiration is not denied, it's even reinforced when at the beginning of the movie appears a picture of that famous painting... On the other hand it made me remind some surrealistic and artsy films of the 70's, in particular those from European cinema (also French cinema...). The kind of cinematography used, the short but puzzling plot, the enigmatic symbols and characters, the twisted eroticism, the camera work - focusing on certain plans and details... All of this truly make me compare this film to those remarkable movies of the 70's. But of course HORSEHEAD has it own value, in fact it's a great film that we could resume as a frantic journey into the depths of the subconscious, a dream that crosses two dimensions, ending both in one same reality...

The Acid Trip Of Your Worst Nightmare!

[parishilton-lover · 10/10 · 31 August 2015]

A stunningly terrifying visual experience like no other. The cinematography was breathtaking along with the haunting musical score. I have never been so entranced by horror film before and that is just what Horsehead did to me. I was captivated by the whole film and was locked into this lucid nightmare. The film was a dreamy jolting ride into the dark side of our subconscious and nightmares. There were mesmerizing colors and frightening images shot with such beautiful detail that it echoed the great Dario Argento. I do not need to get into the plot to say why the film was good, but the actors did a phenomenal job accomplishing this beautiful believable visual nightmare. I recommend everyone give this film a chance and prepare for an enticing visual nightmare for all the senses. I simply describe the film as the acid trip of your worst nightmare.

The Return of the LIVING AND NEW BREAD OF CINEMA MAKERS !

[fernandomancinelli86 · 8/10 · 11 June 2015]

An absolute joyride of a movie , with twists in its plot so simple but yet so touching , the psyche , the heart. Its all entangled into this huge Beautiful film that whatever everyone might say ....... its a jewel in brute , anybody can do blood and guts but not anybody cant touch your mind and heart in ways like Horsehead does. I wish to applaud the director of photography. The Scenes are wonderfully done , beautiful not so much dialogue but with such scenes .......... it does not even needs to be an actor talking or such but again such a great cast. It has taints of the great Dario Argento , Some of Kubrick and I totally found some Clive Barker at his Best in here with Hellraiser 1986 ........ for those who love Cinema, Please support this movie and if you are disappointed i clearly wont understand why , and you are missing the whole point of the dedication and passion put into this. ITS ART IN ITS MORE ABSTRACT YET BEAUTIFULLY POINTED OUT AND PURE AND RAW WAY. My favorite thus far.

10/10 And if i could give it a 12 i would.

All About Visuals... And A Gorgeous Girl

[twelve-house-books · 10/10 · 30 November 2018]

This is a classically-shot and extremely colorful venture into the sins of the fathers... and mothers, now visited on their children. Don't try to make much sense out of this story. Watch it for the pretty girl, the mad, mad, mad nightmare scenes (not stable), the vintage architecture, the Gothic, and even the Golgothic (inverted that it may be). All in all, this film will likely make as much sense to you as my review. But I love excursions like this. 10345 or 1134, take your pick.

Amazing !!!

[wassimchaouche · 10/10 · 16 June 2021]

This film really made me vibrate. The achievement is just amazing and I just can't wait to see the next movies.

This is very promising for the future.

Thank you for this masterpiece.

Fantastic

[boyadjianethan · 10/10 · 16 June 2021]

What a movie!!

I spent the best 2 hours of my life watching it!

The job done by the director is just tremendous without mentioning the main actress who's actor play is phenomenal.

Congratulations, looking forward another masterpiece by Romain Basset!

Artistic Gem

[WARUIl · 10/10 · 2 January 2019]

I'm very interested in Lucid Dreaming, Sleep Paralysis and the Dreams itself of course; so I've just waited for this movie! It is made in an artistic way, so don't expect a real Horror movie! I love it! It's a little treasure.

Of Course, Of Course

[NoDakTatum · 9/10 · 15 October 2023]

Despite some convenient plot points, Romain Basset's feature film debut is an astounding visual nightmare. University student Jessica (Lilly-Fleur Pointeaux) is called home after her grandmother dies suddenly. Jessica has a cold-as-ice relationship with her mother (genre veteran Catriona MacColl), and gets along much better with her milquetoast stepfather Jim (Murray Head) and the handyman George (Vernon Dobtcheff). Lucky for you and I, and the screenwriters, Jessica studies the psychology of dreams and believes that what we dream at night can tell us a lot about our subconscious. When Jessica arrives at the house, she finds out her grandmother's body is still in the bedroom next door, and then the weird dreams begin. Jessica dreams of her grandmother Rose as a much younger woman (Gala Besson), as well as a mysterious clawed figure who carries a circular sickle and has the head of a horse. Jessica comes down with an awful flu, giving her dreams that lovely feverish quality we all have had, and she begins inhaling ether in order to sleep more. The dream world begins crossing over into Jessica's reality, and huge family secrets begin to emerge.

As with his short films, Basset shows great judgement choosing his cinematographer. Vincent Vieillard-Baron's lighting is a masterwork, using simple contraptions and colors. Change in mood and lighting tell the viewer when Jessica is dreaming, and Basset doesn't go for the cheap "this is a dream, OR IS IT?" jump scare. Benjamin Shielden's musical score sets the mood very well. Basset and his co-screenwriter come up with many disturbing images, many of them uncomfortable, and downright gory and frightening. There is an anti-Christian element, too, that might make some cringe. The "Horsehead" of the title is a striking figure, exhaling smoke, and frightening character and viewer alike. This isn't a slasher movie, but not a cerebral horror film wrapped up in its own importance, either. There were two shoots put into the film, separated by a few months, but I did not notice any difference in scenes onscreen. The cast is great, and Pointeaux is effective as Jessica. Her strained relationship with her mother is played out very well between the two actresses. MacColl and Head make for a believable couple, and Philippe Nahon has a good scene as a local priest. I wish more had been explained about some of the plot points, and having a student of dream psychology get to enter such a nightmarish environment seems a little too coincidental, but the script doesn't let up once it gets going, and some of the twists did surprise me. "Horsehead" is a feast for the senses, every frame gives your eyes something to behold.

Hypnotic

[boundlaw · 8/10 · 31 March 2022]

I enjoyed this movie a great deal more than many other reviewers. Sexy, spooky, sensual and sinister, all in a haunting Gothic mansion. Symbolic and dreamlike, it does what movies are supposed to do: transport you away to another world. I am not sure what it all means, but I enjoyed the immersive experience.