‘HEAD COUNT’ Review

A HISJI is a vengeful thing five times its name you never sing with skin pale white and eyes of green it’s something you’ve already seen it’s here it’s there it’s there it’s here evoke its form and disappear a HISJI is a vengeful thing five times its name you never sing

College teen Evan (Isaac Jay) is spending a break by visiting his semi-estranged, sober brother Peyton (Cooper Rowe). He’s moved out to the desert somewhere in California, presumably enthused for life and nature with his sobriety. He wants to go on a hike, and Evan reluctantly obliges. On their journey they encounter a group of peers on a more raucous vacation, and Evan takes an interest in a flirtatious beauty, Zoe (Ashleigh Morghan). The group they meet thinks Peyton is a bit strange, and his lack of substance intake estranges them further. As the two parties begin to part ways, Peyton decides it’s best that he not stand in the way of romance, so he urges Evan to go with them, they’ll reconnect the next day. A night of partying at their rented house leads to telling scary stories by the campfire, and Evan discovers through Google a little bit of nonsense called “Hisji Hisji Hisji Hisji Hisji,” which all parties believe is lame. Partying and debauchery continues after, and no thought is paid any mind until some strange occurrences happen. That bit of Hisji nonsense may have a little legitimacy. Something strange is in the cabin on the property. Evan feels they’re being watched. The number 5 is everywhere. And someone is not who they say they are.

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Elle Callahan’s feature debut Head Count is, for all intents and purposes, good. She’s been kind of a jack-of-all-trades in the film industry working on everything from sound editing to visual effects, and she’s picked up some skills along the way. There’s a sense of unease and dread that is there from the get go, which increases as the movie progresses into more horror movie territory. The lighting and camera movement are both moody and on point to where even when it’s well lit indoors it doesn’t feel lit. There are a few well earned scares, but it’s all about strange and atmospheric, established and executed with a few long take sequences that feel like they’re building to something major…even when they don’t, it still works. Acting is fairly standard young adult fare, sometimes a bit naturalistic and sometimes straight outta drama classes. Ashleigh Morghan (FX’s Snowfall) is the stand out among the crowd, along with newcomer Bevin Bru playing her matchmaker bestie Camille. I didn’t dislike Isaac Jay as our protagonist, but he didn’t bring enough to make the character more than just an awkward guy, which is something I’m not entirely sure was intended.

This movie builds well as a slow burn, but I really wished this had gone a bit more off the rails than it does. Nothing in the climax is a “wow” moment that I haven’t seen before, and it’s not done as well as when I had previously seen it. Part of it doesn’t even feel well established enough to be convincing. So while the premise doesn’t entirely pay off, and it ends on an fun (albeit oft overused) reveal that isn’t that revealing, I did enjoy it for the most part. Callahan has a bright future, but a more substantial script to back up her visual skills is hopefully in the cards.

HEAD COUNT is available on digital and On Demand this Friday, June 14th. and will be on DVD July 16th!