The Head Hunter

The Head Hunter (2019)

Grief. Anger. Vengeance.

On the outskirts of a kingdom, a quiet but fierce medieval warrior protects the realm from monsters and the occult. His gruesome collection of heads is missing only one - the monster that killed his daughter years ago. Driven by a thirst for revenge, he travels wild expanses on horseback. When his second chance arrives, it’s in a way far more horrifying than he ever imagined.

Date of release
2019-04-05
TMDB
5.4 / 10 (346)
Runtime
1h 12m
Genres
Horror, Fantasy
Director
Jordan Downey

Casting

Interesting facts

  • Filmed in: California

The Head Hunter, originally titled The Head, is a 2018 American independent fantasy horror film directed, written, produced and edited by Jordan Downey. It stars Norwegian actor Christopher Rygh, Cora Kaufman, and Aisha Ricketts. The film centers on the title character, who works as a bounty hunter for a local kingdom, all the while he awaits the eventual return of the creature that murdered his daughter.

Production

The Head Hunter was produced and directed by Jordan Downey, who also co-wrote the script with Kevin Stewart. Downey had previously directed several short films, including the 2014 short Critters: Bounty Hunter, and the 2008 comedy-horror film ThanksKilling. After the completion of several short films, including Thankskilling 2, Downey and his frequent collaborator Stewart began development of their next project.

The concept for The Head Hunter was not immediately forthcoming, as Downey states, "We didn't have the idea first, we just had this drive to make a movie [...] So we just sat down, to see if we could come up with something that we could shoot for a low budget." The story was later developed during a writer's retreat at Stewart's family home.

Early in pre-production, the two filmmakers decided to shoot in Soutelo Mourisco, a small village in Northern Portugal, due to the remoteness of its location. The filmmakers wanted to utilize the location for some time, feeling that its remoteness and scenery "would lend itself very well to a horror movie".

Construction of the props and monsters commenced before the script was completed, with the filmmakers experimenting with the designs and techniques to accommodate their low budget. In creating the look and feel of decomposition in the severed heads, the production crew acquired old Halloween masks, staining them and placing layers of melted plastic over them to create the effect of rotting flesh.

Principal photography began in Bragança, Portugal, while additional scenes were shot in Norway, and Mammoth Lakes, California. With little dialogue in the film, Downey stated that he had always admired films that centered more on visual storytelling, rather than relying on dialogue to convey the story.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.

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