A pair of Miami cops, Kat (Kay Lenz) and Pete (Wayne Crawford), investigate a series of grisly murders in the city's Nigerian community, in which the victims have been decapitated, their heads stolen. The pair's enquiries lead them to believe that a shape-shifting African demon is behind the slayings, which puts them both in danger of losing their own heads to the supernatural being.
There's potential for a lot of over-the-top fun with the notion of a Nigerian demon lopping off people's heads in Florida, but Headhunter fails to do the idea justice, the meandering script focusing way too much on Pete's boring relationship issues with his wife, and on routine police work.
Director Francis Schaeffer handles his visuals well enough - the film looks stylish throughout - and the decapitations, when they happen, are entertaining, but for much of the time the drama makes the film feel like a made-for-TV movie, at least until the rousing finale which makes up somewhat for all of the dull stuff. After discovering his wife and her girlfriend dead (some decent gore in this scene), Pete purchases a chainsaw and rushes to rescue Kat from the demon (which we finally get to see in its true form). Pete and Kay battle the monster, successfully dismembering it, but a final scene sees the demon brought back to life by its Nigerian worshippers, ready for the sequel that never happened.
There's potential for a lot of over-the-top fun with the notion of a Nigerian demon lopping off people's heads in Florida, but Headhunter fails to do the idea justice, the meandering script focusing way too much on Pete's boring relationship issues with his wife, and on routine police work.
Director Francis Schaeffer handles his visuals well enough - the film looks stylish throughout - and the decapitations, when they happen, are entertaining, but for much of the time the drama makes the film feel like a made-for-TV movie, at least until the rousing finale which makes up somewhat for all of the dull stuff. After discovering his wife and her girlfriend dead (some decent gore in this scene), Pete purchases a chainsaw and rushes to rescue Kat from the demon (which we finally get to see in its true form). Pete and Kay battle the monster, successfully dismembering it, but a final scene sees the demon brought back to life by its Nigerian worshippers, ready for the sequel that never happened.