The Head Hunter (2018) takes place in Medieval
Europe, however the specific date and location of this story is unidentified.
The main character, which remains unnamed, spends his days traveling far and
wide by horseback seeking revenge on the monster that killed his daughter years
ago. Our protagonist’s cottage houses a trophy wall with many heads of monsters
on stakes, and throughout this film our “hero” still vengefully seeks to add
one more item to his collection, the head of the monster that killed his daughter.
I would rate this film a 4 out of 10. The cast
consisted only of four people and had very little dialogue. Although the plot
was simple, the film was hard to follow at times. There was plenty of violence
and action, but the film did not provide much medieval historical value.
Religion was referenced briefly within the film; however, it was not well
represented throughout the plot. The main character often wore chain and other
classic medieval armor during his battles with monsters. Many medieval weapons
and a couple relics are seen during the film, which provide brief historical
value.
I would not recommend a history teacher to use
this film in a classroom. The film does not provide much historical context,
and the violence and gore most likely would not be acceptable in a classroom
setting. This film is much more of a medievalism than it is medieval. The movie
played to the stereotypes of medieval assumptions with: heads on stakes,
warriors, and violence, but not much medieval culture or historical context was
provided.
Of course this movie was very science fiction,
and included many mythological monsters and demons. Even though this was a
sci-fi movie, the reference to monsters during medieval times does carry some
historical context. Clarck Drieshen’s blog post provided on the Medieval
Manuscripts Blog cites medieval texts such as Cosmography and Letter of Pester
John that reference “hybrid figures” and “legendary people”. These texts go on
to describe myths of humans with dog heads, cyclopes, and minotaurs all over
Europe. Monsters during medieval times are also mentioned in the epics known as
Chansons de Geste or “songs of great deeds”. Bennett provides, “Sung by
minstrels in the halls of castles… a lonely hero fights monsters, slays
dragons, and struggles against a wild, windswept wilderness.” Even though
little historical context was provided of Medieval Europe, the legends and
myths surrounding monsters during Medieval times is well represented in the
plot of The Head Hunter.
Works Cited
The Head
Hunter. Jordan
Downey. 2019. Film.
Bennett, Judith M. Medieval Europe: A Short
History 11th Edition. New York: McGraw-Hill. 2011. Print.
Medieval
Manuscripts Blog. Marvelous Monsters. 25
July 2019. Clarck Drieshen. Polonsky Digitization Project. https://blogs.bl.uk/digitisedmanuscripts/2019/07/marvellous-monsters.html
I love the creative title that you used. I find it interesting how the filmmakers combined a tiny bit of history with scifi and mythology to create the film.b I also have to agree that this film isn't the best choice for teachers to use in the classroom, for the lack of accuracy and the extreme violence.
ReplyDeleteI will listen to your advice and skip watching this film. I guess they all can't be winners.
ReplyDeleteConsidering I haven't heard of this film before, I was definitely looking to this review for whether or not I'd watch it. After reading this, I'll pass. The comment about little to no dialogue, the movie being more about violence or "flash and smoke" is honestly enough to make that decision.
ReplyDeleteThis does not sound like a good film at all! Agreeing with you and our peers above, might have to skip this one on movie night.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your honest take on the film. Often times historical accuracy and context in movies that are medievalisms get lost in the action of the film. Good, honest post!
ReplyDelete