DVD Review: Header

You can forget about the famous “He’s got a purdy mouth” line from Deliverance — because Header just one-upped it. Big time.

Based on horror author Edward Lee’s novella, Header reminds us once again why we should just sever the entire Bible Belt portion of the United States from the continent and flush it out to sea. The story here crisscrosses between our “hero,” a dangerously-crooked ATF Agent stationed in rural West Virginia, and a pair of vengeful inbred locals begin to exact their twisted method of payback against their enemies (of which there are many).

Agent Cummings (Jake Suffian) is on the take, helping moonshiners deliver their goods across the border, all in the hopes of making more money to help cover his significant other’s overpriced medication (of which there are also many). As costs go up, Cummings decides to start running drugs as well. But even Cummings gets a little more than he bargained for when he starts to poke his nose into several bloody and very disgusting murders (of which there are many more) against the advise of his superior.

Since it was shot on video, Header isn’t going to win any awards for its audio/video quality, so just accept that right here and now. Synapse Films present the disturbing movie in a 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen ratio with Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo sound. Like I said, neither the audio or video are great, but when you take into consideration the budget, it’s forgivable. No subtitles are included. A pity, too — because if ever there was a movie that needed subtitles, this would be it, as some of the Southern drawl/lingo (particularly from the grandpappy character) may leave you scratching your head.

Special features for the Synapse Films release of Header on DVD are sadly only limited to several interviews with cast and crew (among them author Edward Lee and fellow writer Jack Ketchum); and two promotional trailers for the film.

While the film may be very low-budget and the acting sometimes borders on “shitty,” Header still manages to linger around in your brain like…well, if I used that analogy, I’d give the meaning of “Header” away, wouldn’t I? I’m sure that modern horror movie buffs will definitely want to get this one.