Horsehead

Conceived under the working title Fever—which is much more apt—French director Romain Basset serves up oodles of surreal horror imagery in seeming tribute to yesteryear's hallucinatory Italian "giallo" cinema, exemplified by cult-darling directors Dario Argento, Lucio Fulci, and Michele Soavi (only with even less of a plot, if that's possible). A grandmother's funeral compels sylph-like Jessica (Lilly-Fleur Pointeaux) to reluctantly return to her family home and an uncomfortable reunion with her mother (vet Euro-shock actress Catriona MacColl). A disciple of "lucid dreaming," Jessica suffers repeated nightmares of a horse-headed apparition (obviously inspired by Fuseli's painting "The Nightmare") and she flashes back to her female ancestor's involvement in an occult-fertility ceremony. Is Jessica Destined to Give Birth to the Anti-Christ? Or maybe she just doesn't get along with mom. Much ado about very little, this style-over-substance horror flick is an optional purchase. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include a “making-of” documentary (58 min.), four shorts (21 min.), and trailers. Bottom line: a solid extras package for an uneven horror film.] (C. Cassady)