Some say the very best of avant-garde cinema comes from the land of escargot. Jean-Luc Godard, François Truffaut, Roger Vadim, and Jean Cocteau to just name a few. Even more recently with the French new wave horror films by Gaspar Noé, Pascal Laugier, Xavier Gens, Alexandre Bustillo, and Julien Maury. Now French director Romain Basset with a screenplay by Karim Chériguène presents a new French horror film entitled Horsehead. Though with a bizarre title and an esoteric approach, the film has drawn numerous folks to champion it.

In this English language film, ex-UK patriots Jessica (played by French actress Lilly-Fleur Pointeaux) returns to her French home after the suicide of her grandmother. While there, she becomes sick with influenza and begins to have dreams both naturally as well as self induced about her grandmother who seems to be trying to let her know something from beyond the grave. Soon secrets about her past and her family begin to come into focus. Jessica wonders what is real as she starts seeing things that she should know nothing of.

Having played numerous festival circuits, Horsehead began building both a word of mouth as well as a distribution base where it eventually appeared on VOD platforms. With visuals that hark back to films like The Cell and Jacob’s Ladder, and a story that fits nicely along side the French new wave horror scene, it becomes apparent that multiple watches may bestow more secrets to the tale. Dark Discussions discusses what they think.