Head Case (2007) – Anthony Spadaccini.

This expressly grim, relentlessly downbeat found footage horror is constructed from the many hours of audio/video footage pertaining to an investigation into serial thrill killers Andrea & Wayne, and the alleged murders of at least 100 victims between 1986 to 2007. There's no doubt that the intimate, confessional quality, roughly captured on analogue tape lends an additional charge of intensity to Spadaccini's visceral Head Case. While much, if not all of the content is upsetting, for me, one of the more wickedly compelling elements are the informal scenes, presenting the almost bland normalcy of Wayne & Andrea's suburban day-to-day existence. This queasily elucidates how functional psychopaths can effectively compartmentalize their lives, during the day, the married couple are apparently anonymous working stiffs, smiling dully at a disinterested world, absolute evil hiding in plain sight.

One of the film's greatest strengths is how shockingly unthreatening they often appear, their perverse, feral natures absolutely heightened by the dissonant contrast of faux cosy domesticity, the playful mom & pop banter with their two children ringing disturbingly false. Head Case is terse, and mean-spirited throughout, unflinchingly exposing the utterly ruthless personalities of sadistic narcissists Wayne & Andrea. Their contempt for human life is absolute, two dreary perverts, blithely committing sickening acts of torture solely for their sordid edification often leaves a sour taste. A singularly nauseating couple, their monstrous peccadilloes provide for an especially glum, unhallowed soap opera of numbing depravity. The unfamiliar cast deliver natural performances, including a fine contribution from Brinke Stevens. Not exactly fun stuff, Head Case often proved so immersive, there were many instances when I forgot that it was fiction.