Headhunter (1988)
Headhunter is a South African horror film from 1988 directed by Francis Schaeffer. Starring Kay Lenz, Wayne Crawford, and Steve Kanaly.
Plot
Set in Miami (but obviously for the people who know Miami it is somewhere else).
A Miami cop finds out his wife has a female lover, and he begins to have an affair with his female partner. 
Then a voodoo demon from Africa arrives among Miami’s Nigerian community and begins decapitating some people. Thr demon is also possessing others including the cop’s wife. 
Then the cop takes a chainsaw and gets his revenge.
Notable Scenes
The chainsaw fighting scene.
Making of Headhunter
Headhunter was made in South Africa during the Apartheid years.
Director Frank Schaeffer was in his early days a key architect of the Christian Right movement in the US, mobilizing millions of born-again Christians to support conservative causes and oppose liberal causes, such as abortion and homosexuality.
Frank since renounced his part in the creation of the Religious Right. His book “Crazy for God” is a memoir of his childhood and a renunciation of his earlier religious and political activities.
Kay Lenz was born in Los Angeles, California to Ted Lenz, an actor and producer, and Kay Miller Lenz, who worked as a radio engineer and professional model. Her television debut was as a baby, held by a guest on a program that her father produced.
Special effect makeup was done by Mike Elizalde. He first became interested in monsters and creature effects as a young child watching films like Universal Studios’ Frankenstein and Dracula. Armed with these early inspirations, he put together a portfolio of original makeup designs and, in 1987, joined the world of creature and makeup effects. Mike quickly established his career as a makeup effects designer, sculptor, and as one of the top animatronics engineers in his field.
Our view on Headhunter
Headhunter is an obscure decent horror movie from South Africa starring Kay Lenz and Wayne Crawford. The killings by the demon are well done. The fighting with a chainsaw is a bit of an Evil Dead rip off. With decent cinematography and music for an exploitation flic Headhunter is an Exploitflix one to watch!
Trailer
Where to buy
DVD/VHS/Betamax/VCC
Watch on Youtube
Details
Genre: Horror
Released in: 1988
Era: Eighties
Actors: Kay Lenz
Director: Francis Schaeffer
Poster artist: unknown
Country: USA
