- Directed by: Scott Schirmer
- Written by: Todd Rigney, Scott Schirmer
- Stars: Gavin Brown, Ethan Philbeck, Phyllis Munro
- Run Time: 1 Hour, 43 Minutes
- Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LT-_9U-lrns
Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone
It’s a strange coming of age story. We find right off the bat that little Marty’s big brother is a serial killer. And the rest of the movie is watching things get worse. It’s very realistic, the effects are good, the cast all does a good job. It’s very good.
Spoilery Synopsis
We open with “My brother keeps a human head in his closet. Every few days, it’s a new head,” explains Marty. He opened up his brother’s bowling ball bag, and we see what he means. Marty’s twelve, and big into horror movies and drawing comics. Steve, the older brother, comes home, and he’s quiet and sullen. Very graphic animated credits roll.
Mom says she has to work overtime, leaving the boys alone home with Dad. Dad and Steve clearly don’t get alone, but Marty seems to do fine with the parents. At school, Marty gets bullied by Marcus. The teacher is especially mean and isn’t much help. After school, Marty runs home to snoop in his mother’s old love letters and Dad’s porn magazines before checking his brother’s bowling bag. The bag is empty today, so he tries on his brother’s gas mask.
Steve comes in, catches Marty, and yells at him. They talk about Marcus and the bullying problem. Steve says Marty needs to retaliate against the bullies but then asks who the bully is.
Later, Marty goes to a funhouse and museum to meet his friend David. They talk about the graphic novel they’re writing, and also about what happened at school that day. At home, Dad’s not happy to hear about the situation either. Marty goes to the video store and picks up a movie called “Headless,” but there’s no tape inside.
That night, the power goes out in a storm, and Marty goes into Steve’s room for a flashlight. Steve comes in, and Marty hides under the bed. Steve grabs a shovel from the closet and goes out again.
In the morning, Steve tells Marty not to worry about Marcus anymore. Marty stays home from school. David comes over and mentions that Marcus wasn’t at school today, then they watch Steve’s VHS movies, including “Headless.” It’s a little more graphic than Marty likes, since this one is unrated. It’s about a guy who puts heads in bowling bags; Marty imagines that it’s Steve in the movie.
Marty reacts badly to the movie, and then David mocks him. Marty shows him something really scary– the bag. Inside, they find Marcus’s head. David pukes and goes home. Steve comes home before Marty can put the head away. Now Steve knows that Marty knows his secret. He also knows that David knows.
Tormented, Marty goes off and burns all the comic pages he drew with David. Steve catches up with Marty, and they talk. Steve explains himself; that it’s mostly a racial thing– he only kills black people by choice. Marty thanks him for killing Marcus and they make their peace.
Mom takes Marty to a church thing, and the preacher is black. Marty wanders off in the middle, and another kid, Trevor, follows him to taunt Marty some more. Marty’s not gonna take it anymore and beats the crap out of Trevor, who totally had it coming. Marty knows he’s going to get into trouble, but he doesn’t care anymore.
Marty’s mom is not supportive, and his dad is even worse. Steve stands up for Marty, and that goes badly. They throw Steve out.
Steve comes back in the middle of the night, and he’s got his shovel with him. He tells Marty to stay in his room tonight. “I don’t want to hurt you.” As Marty tries to talk Steve out of hurting the parents, Dad catches them outside and starts yelling, and he meets Steve’s shovel. Marty gets knocked out in the scuffle
Marty wakes up tied and gagged in Steve’s room as Steve clearly is having his way with the parents, we can hear but not see the struggle. He listens as his parents scream and die. Steve comes back in, covered in blood, and promises that Marty will understand in the morning and thank him for it later.
Marty won’t stop crying, which infuriates Steve.
In the morning, Steve goes outside, naked and covered in blood, and walks down the street. We cut to Marty, still tied up in bed, book-ended by what’s left of his parents.
Brian’s Commentary
The severed heads in this are all really well done.
I love how the parents are attentive and trying to be good parents, yet they’re still completely clueless. As the movie progresses, they don’t seem like such good people anymore. The bullying situation, including multiple tattletales, also feels very real.
It’s a very slow buildup, but it never gets boring. It’s very intense, helped a lot by the moody, foreboding soundtrack.
This was really good!
Kevin’s Commentary
This was disturbingly realistic and thoroughly entertaining. It’s unique and well put together. There’s still an indie vibe here and there, but I didn’t mind it a bit. It builds nicely and what a finish it builds to.