One of my favorite things is being unsure about a movie and then being pleasantly surprised while watching it. Head Count was new to Shudder last week and it looked like your average ‘teens fight supernatural’ horror flick which are fun for a laugh so I put it on. And y’all, it was actually pretty darn good.
It’s Spring Break (probably) and Evan is headed to Joshua Tree to spend the weekend with his older brother, who is a straight edge hippie and with whom he has a strained relationship. Going for a hike, the two run into another group of college students who are there for the break and Evan, thinking one of the girls is pretty, ends up ditching his brother to hang out with the group. Four couples and Zoe, our love interest (three cheers for a black girl love interest!), at first the group seems unwieldy and you wonder how you’re supposed to remember all these people. But turns out, that’s the point.
Head Count gets to play in the same horrific space as greats like It Follows in having a slow pace that increases dread while the watcher is scanning the background of the scenes, trying to see something off while the characters are blissfully ignorant of the danger they’re in. The camera will pan and you’ll know there’s something there, if you can just figure out who’s who and who is where and oh god, wait, was that someone in the corner? It plays with doubles and camera angles and remembering who you’ve seen and I honestly really enjoyed it. It’s not a masterpiece but if you enjoy movies that are more creeping dread and reward paying attention, check it out. It’s on Shudder and it also looks like it’s on the great free streaming service Tubi.