Director:
MPAA Rating: NR
Film Pulse Score: 5.5/10
Head Cases: Serial Killers in the Delaware Valley is a well-crafted mockumentary about an infamous serial killer by the name of Wayne Montgomery and his bloody legacy of disciples. The film is extremely brutal in its presentation, but does an admirable job convincing us what we’re seeing is a real doc. Although the façade begins to crumble near the end of the film, it’s still an interesting, yet very disturbing portrait of the lives of several psychotic killers.
Head Cases is exhibited as a talking head style documentary, featuring interviews of family members, police officers, and various people who came into contact with Wayne Montgomery. Wayne meticulously recorded audio and video of all of his murders, which occurred from 1979 through 2007, so there’s plenty of gory violence on display, but it’s the old home movies and photographs that felt the most realistic. Adding in these elements made the film feel more genuine and even though I knew it wasn’t real going into it, it’s very convincing. Much of the footage is done with old video cameras that give it a raw, VHS look, which further adds to the realism. This also made the violence look much more brutal and harder to watch. Fortunately the camera pulls away from the stuff that gets too extreme, but sometimes violence proves to me more impactful when left to the imagination.
Initially, the acting in the film is quite good, with the conversations feeling natural and unscripted. Barbara Lessin, who played Wayne’s wife, was very convincing, but Paul McCloskey performance as Wayne was a bit of a mixed bag. Some of his delivery feels organic and off the cuff and other times it seems like dialogue recital. Some of the other performances are more noticeably poor and completely pulled me out of the experience, which I was thankful for given how horrific it was. It’s not that the acting was bad per se, it’s just that in a movie like this where the illusion of reality hinges on everything fitting perfectly into place it was more obvious when something was off. These off kilter moments occur more as the movie progresses.
The runtime of the film also ran a little long for my taste. At almost two hours, it asks a lot of the viewer to devote that much time into following a fake story that’s presented as fact. There’s a ton of content packed in as well, and after it was over I felt like I watched an entire season of some random true crime show on The History Channel. Following the life of Wayne is only one aspect of the film. It also follows his stepson, his wife, his mother, one of his disciples, and a copycat killer. It’s interesting to see how this guy formed a legacy of serial killers and shaped the lives of those around him for generations, but it could have been pulled together in a more concise way.
Were it not for the questionable performances Anthony Spadaccini’s Head Cases would be one of the most convincing mockumentaries I’ve ever seen. Even so, the film uses documentary conventions to weave a tapestry of evil that proves to be equal parts disturbing and horrific.
Head Cases: Serial Killers in the Delaware Valley – Trailer from Fleet Street Films on Vimeo.
