A man seeks revenge in this Asylum mashup combining the likes of Ghost Rider and Wolverine with a taste of Dracula.

Brandon is on cloud nine since he has been in a relationship with Sofia. When he finally asks her to marry him, she accepts and he is more excited. However, Sofia has a dark past. Her ex-boyfriend, Angel Cregar, is the city’s biggest drug dealer and Sofia was once an addict until she broke her ties with him. When Angel discovers Sofia’s whereabouts, he tracks her down and when he and his cohort are confronted by Brandon, they shoot him down until he is near dead.

Shortly under his dying breath, Brandon asks for help and in comes the Devil himself. He makes Brandon a deal to get revenge and rescue Sofia from the hands of Angel. He has 24 hours, or his soul will be the Devil’s forever. Armed with a clawed gauntlet and given the ability to become a flaming pumpkin-headed vigilante, Brandon becomes the Horseman. And he’s hellbent on revenge and in hopes to get the love of his life back, even if he must feed on human blood to recharge.

You will either love or hate the Asylum’s mockbusters. They have had some decent films in their filmography and this one takes the cake in terms bringing some love. Writer/director Jose Prendes took inspiration from two Marvel characters, Ghost Rider and Wolverine, and added a taste of Dracula to create a modern-day Legend of Sleepy Hollow if you will.  

Nic Caruccio is great as Brandon, the titular Headless Horseman. He’s definitely reminiscent of Ichabod Crane in terms of his manners and having love for Amanda Jones’ Katrina Van Tassel, or in this case Sofia. The two actors’ chemistry is the heart of the film as it is when Sofia is kidnapped by her ex that Brandon becomes the vengeance-seeking titular character thanks to another excellent performance by veteran Michael Paré as the Devil himself. As the Devil, Paré just lights up the screen and brings his charisma to the role.

As lead villain Angel, Ethan Daniel Corbett goes a bit over the top at times but brings this slyness to the role that is reminiscent of another great villain actor, Kevin Durand of Legion and Walking Tall. It is also great to see Kate Hodge of Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III and She-Wolf of London make the most of her appearance here as a businesswoman in cahoots with Angel with the always great Sean Whalen in the role of Fleck, Angel’s right hand man who becomes shocked when he sees Brandon re-emerge as the Horseman and there is a quite a twist in the finale that was quite unexpected.

Headless Horseman is actually a good Asylum mockbuster that has its fair share of twists with a cast that makes the most of their performances.

WFG RATING: B+

A production of The Asylum. Director: Jose Prendes. Producer: David Michael Latt. Writer: Jose Prendes. Cinematography: Zach Voytas. Editing: Nicholas Gautschi.

Cast: Michael Paré, Nic Caruccio, Amanda Jones, Ethan Daniel Corbett, Kate Hodge, Sean Whalen.