Head Trauma (2006, Featuring In-Film Use of Comic Art by Stephen & Daniel Bissette)

From Lance Weiler, the co-director/co-producer of The Last Broadcast (1998, the film The Blair Witch Project borrowed more than a few tricks from), comes a chilling trauma-drama involving a lonely, disturbed man (Vince Mola) returning to his deceased grandmother's home in hopes of rescuing the abandoned abode from condemnation and destruction, only to find himself consumed in a labyrinthian search for the secrets behind his own uneasy state of mind. Nightmares and waking visions of woodland visitations, inexplicable flooding and fires, and hooded figures stalking him are only fueled by his finding a Christian comic tract (created by Stephen & Daniel Bissette)—comicbook images that lead to the most terrifying secret of all...

A truly independent feature film conceived before and made during the post-Millennial eruption of "head trauma" movies (i.e., Memento, The Machinist, etc.) so attuned to the George W. Bush Presidency and times, and of that era's unsettling breed of ghost films (from Asia, Europe, and domestic filmmakers), Lance Weiler's Head Trauma remains a galvanizing and haunting experience, and among the most unusual unions of digital video filmmaking and original comics material of its decade. While remaining an entertaining, intimate, and engagingly atmospheric chiller in and of itself, Head Trauma is also a seamless, compelling, organic collaboration between a progressive filmmaker and a team of adventurous cartoonists attuned to his project. As such, Head Trauma is worthy of deeper viewing and analysis.

Lance worked with two teams of cartoonists—one of whom created the comics pages "drawn" by a character who tries to help Vince Mola's paranoid "prodigal grandson," and two (myself and my son Daniel) who created the cover, pages, and panels of the faux-Christian comic tract that obsesses Mola's character and eventually drives him round the bend (Jack T. Chick comics tract fans and collectors, take note!).

This DVD—which is the original manufacturer's first and only edition, still shrink-wrapped and unopened—details that process in its generous bounty of extras. The bonus features include an illustrated 8-page collector's edition booklet, Weiler's director commentary, behind-the-scenes cast and crew interviews, bonus short featurettes on the film's musical score and special effects secrets, and—of particular interest to Bissette collectors—a short overview narrated by yours truly detailing Dan's and my process of collaboration with Lance Weiler, and how our faux-Christian comic became a character in and of itself before we were done!

This DVD is long out-of-print. I held on to my small stash of comp copies, and more recently acquired the remaining (tiny) backstock from the original DVD manufacturer—once these are gone, they're gone. This is not a copy or dupe—this is the definitive DVD edition of Head Trauma—the original Heretic Films release, not a DVD-R, in pristine condition, still shrinkwrapped in its original unopened packaging.

Extremely limited stock—get it while you can!