Humans only use a fraction of the brain but for Alex it's a different story. His brain is using some of those regions that normal people never use which enables him to speed-read books and remember everything that's in them, among other things. But it all gives him terrible headaches as well as horrible visions that includes flashbacks to a childhood he had forgotten about. Now he must face his childhood that deals with the murder of his mother, the separation from his brother and the father who abandoned his sons. As the headaches and visions keeps getting worse, there's also someone who makes people disappear and a monster stalking him. Or is Alex the monster?
Headspace is a different indie piece of film and since it sounded like it was going to be quite original, I've been waiting to check it out. After seeing it, I thought it was original as well, but I'm not quite sure whether I really liked it or that I just liked the fact that it was a pretty different movie experience when comparing it to most of the stuff that you normally watch. At least I can say that the film was good and that it had a lot to offer, as well as it was thinkable, but I think I need to watch it at least one more time to be able to form a 'real' opinion to whether it was really good or just good enough. Other than that, for an indie film, it's absolutely smashing, the cinematography is awesome, the acting is solid and it both looks and plays out really well.
Most indie flicks doesn't look half as good, and five minutes into the film, I had totally forgot everything that's indie, it just looked to darn good. If more indie movies could accomplish this, that is not just looking great, but being smart and feature good solid acting as well, I would never have any doubts when about to watch an indie feature. Don't get me wrong as I really enjoy watching indie flicks, it's just that many of them lack a certain quality, so obviously Headspace came as a nice surprise.
It's amazing when thinking about that we only use 10 percent of our brain, and it of course makes one think a bit more about it when watching this movie. Alex uses much more of his brain which in one way is a good thing since that makes him being able to do stuff normal people can't do. On the other hand, this power also gives him headaches, nightmares and terrible visions. It starts out with nightmares but things eventually gets worse which kinda leads to a slow descent into madness. As the movie moves along, Alex keeps getting smarter but at the same time his condition gets worse. Eventually he gets to go see a specialist who wants to study him, but all Alex wants is to be cured since it feels like things are getting worse for him by the minute.
One night he dreams of some kind of beast-creature with claws, and after that, people start turning up dead. For a while he belives that the monster has come to life and is killing the people around him, but he's not sure if that's the case or if he's just going completely mad. For some reason this movie has a few bigger names in it like William Atherton (Ghostbusters), Udo Kier, Sean Young, Olivia Hussey and Dee Wallace-Stone, and I'm not really sure why, could it be for promotional purpose? It sure works but it wasn't really needed either since I think the movie has so much going for it as it is, semi-famous actors doesn't really improve it nor do they bring it down. Christopher Denham who plays Alex delivers a good performance and over all, the acting is definitely good, something that's quite unusual when it comes to indie flicks.
Even though it has a monster in it, I would still say that it's a psychological thriller that every now and then touches the creature-feature concept. Not quite sure about the ending as it felt like it kinda just cut off leaving a lot of stuff unexplained. Now, I'm not much for movies explaining every single piece of mystery they have, but it kinda felt like Headspace left some things unfinished. But watching it again might make me change my mind. Anyway, Headspace is a really good-looking and original indie film that you definitely should check out. Since a lot of new horror flicks coming out these days are just too unoriginal, Headspace was a nice and surprising break from all that. Recommended.
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ALTERNATIVE TITLE:
MOVIE YEAR: 2005
DIRECTOR: Andrew van den Houten
WRITING CREDITS: Steve Klausner, Troy McCombs
GENRE: Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
CAST: Christopher Denham, Olivia Hussey, Dee Wallace
COUNTRY: USA
RUNTIME: 95 min
RATING: 7/10
Headspace Website/IMDB Click here
Headspace Trailer Click here
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