Daddy’s Head (2024), directed by Benjamin Barfoot, stars Julia Brown, Rupert Turnbull, Nathaniel Martello-White, Charles Aitken, Mary Woodvine, Nila Aalia, and Matthew Allen. After the death of his stepfather (Aitken), a young boy (Turnbull) and his stepmother (Brown) struggle to move on. Things go from bad to worse when the two begin seeing a monstrous creature who takes on the appearance of their deceased father/husband. As the creature begins to manipulate the young boy, his stepmother enlists the help of her late husband’s best friend (Martello-White) to save the boy before it’s too late. 

The two lead performances are solid enough, so it’s a shame that their characters are often written to be immature, unintelligent, and emotionally rash. They don’t respond realistically to odd situations and act in ways that are nothing less than frustrating. This results in the dog sometimes feeling like he’s the smartest character. It also takes the first third of its runtime not to establish these characters, but to give us occurrences of supernatural activity that happen for reasons that are never explained. I guess this would be fine if these scenes were scary, but they’re just random. When we finally understand what the threat is at the beginning of the second act, the film improves. 

There are a few decent jump-scares implemented, but the film’s main strength is its use of effectively chilling imagery/creature design. I think the director understands how to strike a satisfying balance between hiding the creature enough to build tension and showing enough to satisfy the viewer visually.

Unfortunately, the movie can’t seem to overcome its basic setup and lack of any twists or surprises. There’s also the fact that the movie never seems too concerned with actually explaining anything. Yes, oftentimes ambiguity is scary and builds tension, but there still needs to be some level of explanation/lore to fully satisfy the viewer. In other words, it just feels like it wasn’t thought out. The monster is just there and who gives a flying f*ck why? That’s cool, I guess. 

Overall, this is a pretty forgettable horror movie, but at least it satisfies somewhat in terms of creature feature fun. It’s also not very demanding at 90 min long. Honestly, it’s the type of film that will disappear into the depths of Shudder’s streaming library, never to be seen again. It’s not that bad, but it’s going to be a tough one to remember. C