BLOCKHEAD
***
Directed by Matt Harlock.
Starring Danny Horn, Joe Simms. Michele Moran.
Horror, UK, 90 Minutes.
Reviewed as part of FrightFest 2025 - World Premiere
Primarily known for his documentary work, director Matt Harlock jumps over to narrative features with this look into the creative process through a psychological , kaleidoscopic lens. Harlock’s debut film tells the tale of young author Will Mercer, celebrated for his debut but now struggling to follow it up with all the pressures from a hungry publisher. While trying to write his follow-up novel Will meets over friendly handyman Mikey who proves to be more than handy with his fists whenever he feels like it. Encouraged and emboldened by Mikey’s plain speaking style, Will soon finds himself creatively refreshed but simultaneously disturbed by the fact that a disturbing amount of familiar bodies soon begin to drop like flies.
Harlock’s look at the creative process may feel at first it's relying on a certain and over familiar trope that involves a mild mannered protagonist being seduced into the dark side by a more charismatic and carefree individual. Harlock knows that you have already guessed this however and offers up something far more interesting. His kaleidoscopic editing style, particularly with the mind bending conclusion keeps viewers guessing long after the end credits have rolled into the black.
Several possibilities are presented, sometimes all at once, and in an often dizzying style that it sometimes becomes overwhelming and sometimes confusingly presented. At the same time, Harlock’s pacy script keeps things rolling along at such a pace that it races ahead in a dizzying fashion that demands a rewatch that also rewards the viewer.
Intelligently made, it may prove a tad overwhelming for some viewers, especially with its sudden ending that is open to several interpretations. At the same time the amount of ideas presented in what could otherwise be considered just another tale of a man in crisis seeking solace in exaggerated masculinity suggests that Harlock is much sharper than presenting us with the usual tropes, instead offering up something far more interesting that will keep you guessing for days.
Iain MacLeod