User Reviews

First of all, the plot summary is wrong. That is not what this movie is about. Second, it doesn't matter because this is the worst movie ever. I think the actors had microphones in their shoes because the dialogue was all muffled and their foot steps were extremely loud. Never see this movie.

Some seventies type guy and his loose friends head to a ranch where he must show a profit. In the process they stumble into a legend of a headless horseman who goes around killing people during a certain moon phase. Every once in a while a film comes along where you can't say anything good about it. Whoever thought this up didn't know what he was doing. The acting is about as bad as you can get. The people speak in seventies slang which sounds absolutely ridiculous (probably did then, too). They all sit around an discuss things on camera, instead of doing anything. Finally, there is nothing campy or fun about the thing either. Toss it.

Nonetheless, I find this to be absolutely hilarious. It's got all kinds of great things. The narrator is one of the most incomprehensible that I have ever seen. Half of what he says is more or less incomprehensible, and the other half is usually irrelevant to what's going on. I'm really not sure how we're supposed to be menaced by the bad guy. All he does is go up to people and shake his head at them spattering a little blood on them. Why would anyone bother doing that? To be honest, I think that even Scooby and Shaggy might have the courage to look at this guy for a while. Most of the dialogue is idiotic too, and clearly not written by any of the "right on hepcats" who really "know where it is at". There are definitely a lot of sequences that you will be wishing for an end to. The strange improv comedy routine (I think) from Unfunny and Unfunnier would definitely be an example. The acid trip is a little bizarre too. Also, it's hard to know where to go with a scene that has a rape scene going on with cool folk music in the background. I think we're supposed to be okay with it, but I'm really not. Anyway, this is a pretty hilarious movie. I recommend, if you can deal with the seventy six minutes of pain that it will cause you. Washington Irving need have no fear, though.

Mark Callahan inherits a cowboy ghost town from his uncle.He takes his fiancée Brenda and a group of hippie friends there,but it seems that a legendary Headless Horseman is prowling the area and scaring people to death..."Curse of the Headless Horseman" by Leonard Kirtman is even worse than his earlier horror schlock "Carnival of Blood".The story is boring,the acting is amateurish and there is almost no blood.Still "Curse of the Headless Horseman" offers some jaw-droppingly psychedelic moments for the lovers of low-budget trash.The faking of headless horseman is priceless.4 decapitated heads out of 10.A chore to sit through.

This film is somewhat intestering example of grade Z filmmaker, from a guy who was responsible for something called "Carnival of Blood" before moving on to hard core porno. Some footloose hippie types move out to a western ranch to help a friend, but the headless horsemen starts knocking them off, then there is a surprise ending. There seems to be no script, but the actors do a surprisingly good job just sort of cobbing the scenes together. It's kind of fun if you are in the right mood, the place kind of looks like the Spann ranch, and they sure don't make them like this anymore. The "Something Weird" video comes with trailers and other stuff

Can't argue much with the previous reviewer, only to add if you like REALLY bad movies, you might get a few kicks out of this one. Featuring some unintelligible dialog, seriously cheesy visual "effects", and beyond confusing plot developments, this movie contains enough dated "hippie" music and catchphrases guaranteed to make you laugh. Plenty of technical goofs abound, like shooting at night (or is it day? hard to tell with all the colored filters), head scratching jump cuts, and awful voice overs. Throw in some drug use, thoroughly unexciting gun play, and curious "blood less" gore, and you've got a great way to snicker for an hour and change.

"A young man inherits his uncle's western ranch and invites his friends to come along and help out with the operation. After arriving, the caretaker explains to the group the legend of the headless horseman who roams the area to seek revenge. Laughing off the legend as the ramblings of an old man, the group are then shocked when the phantom rider appears, causing the deaths of some of the group," according to the DVD sleeve's synopsis… This is one of those films for which even the lowest ranking seems too elevated - but, perhaps it's earned by walk-on Ultra Violet's "Superman" lunchbox.

* Curse of the Headless Horseman (1974) Leon Gucci ~ Marland Proctor, Don Carrara, Ultra Violet

Amateurish and virtually incoherent with little sense, structure, plot development or solid narrative, there's very little to recommend. A voice-over tells us that Mark's uncle has died leaving to him a tourist ranch that he'll only fully inherit if he can turn it into a profitable concern in six months. Gathering up his hippie mates, he embarks on the ambitious task of converting the struggling backwoods amusement park into a viable business, with the aid of his willing friends -that is until a headless horseman appears to cause havoc in the commune.

The acting is rank amateurish with only B.G. Fisher as the scar-faced old salt Soloman attempting to act, his mysterious ramblings and incantations warning of the imminent danger. Most of the cast looks like an amateur theatre company, excepting Marland Proctor, truly awful as the medical student Mark, while Andy Warhol's one- time muse Ultra Violet has a frivolous, marquee cameo as an eccentric French tourist.

Lots of blood splattering but little actual violence, a mind-warping acid trip and some pop gun stunts set against a dreary folk song soundtrack offer little respite from the abomination. The concluding voice over promises that the curse will begin again (incessantly) to which I could only plead for mercy that the 75 minutes were up. Make no mistake, this is a howler but if it's your mission in life to experience it all, then I'm afraid you will need to see this dross.

A phantom horseman who appears every night with a human head tucked under his arm lets it be known that he is searching for eight gunfighters.

Not sure I really get the bad reviews who all say it's a lot of fun, etc. This movie is written like an Ed Wood film and directed like a porno. In fact the director did some porn and the flick is filled with actors who did porn or soft core largely in the 70s.

Others are one shot wonders who never worked again and some are whose character names are their actual names.

I disagree with the reviewers who say this is a hoot and then give it one star. I think it deserves one star. It's actually a horrible movie filled with bad kumbaya folk music and even worse acting.

They should have made this as a porno. The title character is dismal and you can see his head under the robe. He doesn't really show up until the movie is nearly done and that's after you're forced to listen to all that horrible hippie folk music.

I do enjoy these "seat-of-their-pants", "Hey gang! Let's make a movie" type of films. It's done for cheap, likely with little scripting and shot like someone is think they are making high art.

I really wish the print was better. I want this remastered!

As a film, this is truly an awful awful attempt. It's one of those "do it yourself" horror flicks that were so plentiful in the days of the drive-in and then repeated ad nauseum in the 70's on TV as "Creature Features". However this is quite a curio for those who find any of it's themes particularly interesting.

The whole movie takes place at a closed-down "wild west" tourist attraction which once speckled our American highways in great numbers, but now only a few remain. For that reason alone, this film provides a rare time capsule into the great lost Roadside America! The cast of characters are hippies - tie-dye wearing, acid- dropping hippies. There's some yodeling. And of course the titular Headless Horseman who carries around a pretty realistic looking dead head for a bottom-of- the-barrel production such as this.

Bad movie lovers will certainly find much to amuse in this. However, if you are a traditional movie-goer, this inept insanity will certainly try your patience or put you to sleep.

It's bad alright, but not >that< bad. The editing is really bad, the acting really bad, the sound "effects" and visual "effects" are really bad, but, personally, this all adds up to a really move that ends up being >somewhat< watchable in its badness. Don't get me wrong, the movie sucks, big time. Do NOT pay even a dime to watch it! It came on late-nite TV locally, and I HAD to watch it after reading the reviews here. So, if it it comes on TV, give it a shot -you can always change the channel- but do NOT spend any money on renting/buying this movie!! BTW- does anyone know where this was filmed? I'm sure in S.Cal somewhere, but it looks like a few different spots where I've hung out before (in my mis-spent youth), plus it looks like it was filmed next to a somewhat major road or minor highway....

Easily the worst movie I've ever seen and I've seen Manos, I've also seen Creeping Terror, Movies by Jerry Warren, Coleman Francis, Ed Wood, Ray Dennis Steckler, Jess Franco and Al Adamson but along with Snake People and Monster A GoGo this is the most horrific cinematic experience of my life.

The movie is something I'd imagine the Manson family would have liked to make. It all takes place at a Western amusement park. Features a bunch of hippies who squat there. The premise is a medical student inherits a 'ranch' (aka western amusement park, replete with a tiny plywood church). The student can't inherit the property unless he can show he can make a profit. His solution, get his hippie friends to go down there and live there. People will flock to the place. Painter, Ultra Violet (playing a millionaire burlesque queen, yes they can make millions doing that) and her boyfriend are the only people who show up.

As the "story" moves along, bad things happen to a few of the characters, even some deaths but the hippies seem to go on like nothing happened; not until a specific scene when they MUST care to further the plot. These clumsy scenes have alot dialogue dumped to try and manage that.

There's a rape scene fairly early on while a couple of the hippies smile over it while watching. Later on we learn that the couple sort of go together but it would be better making that clear before showing the scene. As it is, it looks like a rape scene and the "good guys" are watching and enjoying it.

Another thing I can't stand is after one of the hippies murders a man in cold blood right in front of everyone. Incidentially this murder happens with a knife in front of people armed with guns and whips. They all just sort of stand a round and watch. After we see this, one of the murderer's hippie friends refuses to bad mouth the guy or testify against him as if he were innocent. These are the hippies who are supposed to be the good guys in this??? What in the hell???

This somehow leads to the story's dramatic conclusion which is a stretch because nothing that points the finger to the character is shown in the movie. It's simply dumped on the audience in one scene and tossed out in a burst of dialogue! Awful.

If the story made more sense then....it would still be a technical disaster. The day for night looks like 3pm. The setting doesn't fit the reason why the ranch is valuable property and a western themed amusement park is not a damn ranch.

There's a couple funny things in it. The two characters who are supposed to be brothers show this by wearing matching outfits. I don't think that was intended to be amusing and the narration sounds like it's about to break out into a thunderous rendition of Monster Mash.

An absolutely wretched movie. At least in other bad movies you knew who to root for in those things. Here, every character is reprehensible.

I don't know how to fix it, but the director is Leonard Kirtman, who also made Carnival of Blood and then dozens of adult films in the 1970s for his own company. Kirtland has his own IMBD page and this film should be listed there instead of under Kirkland.

I suppose the lighting director named Kirkland is somebody else and whoever entered the name missed a letter ore selected the wrong one from a menu.

The film itself is incredibly low budget but worth a look by fans of underground cinema. Especially noteworthy is the presence of Warhol factory superstar Ultra Violet in an non-Warhol project. The cinematography and sound are definitely on the amateur level and the story seems to have been written under the influence of something.

Too much sluggish filler of hippies doing jack-all of interest in this virtually ramshackle hang-out film with a lot going on, yet going nowhere fast. You know having a good time (mingling, drinking, smoking, singing and etc) when they should be repairing a Wild West ranch that has a deadline, or tripping balls when on day for night strolls encountering the headless horseman. Not enough of the cackling headless horseman splashing blood on (upset) people as he dangles his severed head. Then the narrator would begin to talk and come off sounding like Bobby 'monster mash' Pickett. Quite a distraction when the song kept lingering in my mind whenever he spoke. Although helping you from completely dozing off was the erratic music score with its random, and often sudden electronic internet dial-up bursts. It didn't feel out of place, since everything right down to the performances and direction is beyond creaky. By the end it turns into a lousy Scooby Doo episode with accusations flying around, and the zany motivation spill of the dastardly suspect. And they would have got away with it, if not for those meddling hippies.

Would make a good companion piece with Howling 7... that's if you dare.

Curse of the Headless Horseman (1972)

BOMB (out of 4)

Mark Callahan (Marland Proctor) inherits his uncle's old ranch so he takes his acting troop as well as various other hippies out there. It doesn't take long for them to realize that the legendary Headless Horseman is stalking the grounds.

I kinda lied with my plot description because it did take a very long time to see the Headless Horseman because he didn't show up until the fifty-minute mark of an eighty-minute movie. CURSE OF THE HEADLESS HORSEMAN is the perfect example of why filmmakers shouldn't be dropping acid or other drugs whenever they're making movies. It might be unfair for me to accuse the filmmakers of taking drugs but that's the only logical way to explain this awful film.

This film is pretty awful on all levels but it's just downright shocking at how stupid the entire film was. It almost seemed as if the director wanted to show off these various acts that range from acting shows to musical performances including one lady covering a Bob Dylan song. All of these scenes are just downright annoying and worst of all is the fact that the film drags so poorly. There's really not a single good moment to be found in this film so one can only hope that they manage to find something to laugh at.

As I said, it takes forever for the Headless Horseman to finally appear and when he does it's very quick. I'm really not sure if they named the film this just to try and get people into the drive- in but as a horror movie it's pretty awful.