DADDY’S Head is an unsettling and eerie exploration into grief that is as haunting as it is well executed in its nightmarish vision.
Directed by self-taught filmmaker Benjamin Barfoot, this beautifully crafted night terror unfolds in the wake of the untimely death of a young boy’s father.
Not long after the passing of his mother, Isaac (Rupert Turnbull) struggles to come to terms with the sudden and unexpected death of his father James (Charles Aitken). After a tragic car accident, Isaac finds himself left in the ghostly solitude of a sprawling country estate with his newly widowed and coldhearted stepmother Laura (Julia Brown), a woman he has little or no relationship with.
Struggling to navigate the overwhelming task of parenthood, his stepmother grows distant, leaving their fragile bond at risk of collapse as the friction between the grieving pair intensifies.
As they sink deeper into despair, and tension grows, Isaac begins to hear unsettling sounds echoing through the corridors, and is soon haunted by the presence of a grotesque creature bearing a disturbingly familiar resemblance to his late father. Dismissed as the rantings of a grieving child, his warnings are seen to be that of an overactive imagination, allowing their unnatural intruder a tightening grip on their fragile and vulnerable lives.
Now streaming on Shudder, Daddy’s Head is a chilling examination of sudden loss that is emotionally charged with plenty of atmosphere and folk horror elements to keep audiences on tenterhooks throughout. There’s a Stanley Kubrick edge to the stalking cinematography and quickening soundscapes that is hard not to get caught up in.
Rupert Turnbull also gives a brilliant performance as Isaac, a young boy in denial over the loss of his beloved father, who finds himself left to his own devices in a big, characterless house to fret over scuttling shadows and whispers in the wind. The monster at the heart of the film is gleefully repelling and should whet the appetites of fans of creepy Aussie horror The Babadook.
(4/5)
