NOW SHOWING IN THEATERS:  Feburary 15th - February 19th
Tribeca Cinemas - lower Manhattan, NYC

Thinking horror fans, revel in this new film by director Andrew van den Houten, now playing at Tribeca Cinemas down in New York City tonight through Feburay 20th.  This sharp new horror-suspense film first emerged out of the 2005 New York City Horror Film Festival - the only movie to win TWO awards at the event.  Best screenplay (William M. Millerwith STEPHEN KLAUSNER), and best cinematography (by William M. Miller).  Many in the general audience that week thought it could have won a couple more - best feature film, and best acting as well.  Picked up by Freestyle Home Entertainment, it will be released on DVD on March 21.  However this week, you have a rare chance to see it for all its power on the big screen if youre in the New York City area.

The story goes like this.  Alen Borden is a typical early 20's young man, keeping an apartment in New York City, with nothing much different to claim, except maybe that he's an orphan, has ADD, and keeps appointments with his psychiatrist to keep things balanced.  Average guy.  One day, after meeting a group of chess players in the park, things start to change.  Migraine headaches stop him in his tracks.  Flashbacks to childhood memories he's subconsciously supressed begin to reveal themselves.  He tells his doctor and they do a CAT scan, only to find that Alex is showing more fronal cognitive activity than, possibly, anyone ever charted.  Soon Alex can finish textbooks as fast as he can flip the pages - finish math formulas before the question is even finished.  But with all this superior knowledge comes a price.  Alex knows too much.  Soon, he begins to see beasts in his home.  His friends begin to turn up missing - murdered in extremely violent manners.  Over the hours, the migraines increase and the memories start to piece together his past.  Alex's mind keeps growing until finally he realizes that he is a "link", able to cross, mentally, between worlds - attracting some demonic presences from another plane - who fear his power, but seek to destroy him and anyone he comes across.

The plot is refreshingly original.  The story is well told, takes off quickly, and really grips your mind as you and Alex both try to piece together exactly what is happening.  This movie does not rely on gore, but does contain a couple of "horror-compilation" worthy injuries.  A see-through shotgun hole through mommy's head, and a palm crushed face and skull, complete with squooshed brains and severe hemmoraging.  Satisfied the sick gore-loving bastard inside of me that deserves some respect if I'm to enjoy or recommend a horror flick.  The rest is pure psychological suspense and unraveling terror you can really sink your intellect into.

And I tell you this why?  Because the thinking, intelligent moviegoer will enjoy bending a few brain cells on what is a great intricate story, while getting a little gore at the same time.  Headspace is a subtle, horror-suspense masterpiece, excellently casted with genre stars.  It was good to see Dee Wallace Stone (ET, Hills Have Eyes) again, as well as the eternally sexy Olivia Hussey (The Last Days of Pompeii, Black Christmas).  Udo Kier (Suspiria, Blood For Dracula) was intense as the Reverand Karl Hartman, bringing the film to a higher level, as did Mark Margolis (OZ, Requiem For a Dream) playing Boris Pavlovsky - small parts that accented the film like gems on a crown.  The directing was sharp and the editing professional.  What grew out of the festivals as Andrew van den Houten's latest film effort has blossomed into a quality horror film that is watchable many times over.  Christopher Denham played Alex with delicacy and intesity, who, alongside a powerful performance by Erick Kastel, really stole the film and brought Headspace far beyond and above that "independent film" feel.  

(Left to Right) Actress Olivia Hussey (Dr. Murphy), Director/Producer Andrew van den Houten, and actor Christopher Denham (Alex)

Director Andrew van den Houten began his career in front of the camera as a child actor, performing in commercials in his native New York City.  As a teenager, he performed stand-up comedy and hosted a pilot on Nickelodeon.  A film graduate of Boston's Emerson College, he marked his freshman year by producing and co-starring in the independent feature film Alma Mater, a recipient of the Audience Award at the 2002 Austin Film Festival.  Andrew founded ModernCine during his junior year of college, envisioning the company as an ideal vehicle for showcasing both his own creativity and that of his colleagues.  Headspace is ModernCine's first full-length feature film.

In the ever-ongoing battle between my preference for an all out gorefest or a good psychological horror flick, I had always been privy to the blood.  Give me cheap actors and actresses, a cabin in the woods, an axe, and gallons of gore.  For years, if they "didn't show it" (the murder in gruesome detail), I was instantly disappointed and frowned.  More recently its the psychological grip that has me locked in - the intricate story that I can't poke holes in...  Quality acting and filmmaking that can be watched a second and third time, offering even more insight into a rich plot that reveals more each time you watch it.  Such is the sustinance of Andrew van den Houten's Headspace.  Its not just splatter served up in a bowl with a spoon.  Its psychological suspense served on china with a sprig of fennel and a portion of coagulated blood, squeezed fresh from a virgin's head.

Watch for it on DVD in March.  If you're itchy to drop $15 on a horror movie in New York City this week, head down to Tribeca Cinemas in lower Manhattan and see this film.  Your support will help give this good horror film more of the attention it deserves.  There's a great lounge and bar just outside the screening rooms.  Nothing like a couple of Long Island Iced Tea's before 90 minutes of life-shattering carnage.  See you there.

Visit the Official Website for the film - trailer included

Click here for directions on how to get to Tribeca Cinemas in Manhattan

For more on ModernCine' - click here

DVD information here - at Freestyle Home Entertainment

(Left to Right) Director/Producer Andrew van den Houten and Actor Udo Kier rehearse a scene

(Left to Right) Actor Christopher Denham and Director/Producer Andrew van den Houten

(Left to Right) D.P./Producer/Screenwriter William M. Miller, Director/Producer Andrew van den Houten, and Special Make-Up Effects Artist Jamie Kelman

(Left to Right) Actress Dee Wallace Stone (Dr. Bell), Director/Producer Andrew van den Houten, and actress Olivia Hussey (Dr. Karen Murphy)