The film centers on the title character, who works as a bounty hunter for a local kingdom, all the while he awaits the eventual return of the creature responsible for the murder of his daughter.

Influenced by Jean-Jacques Annaud's 1981 film Quest for Fire, The X-Files and Tales From the Crypt television series, The Head Hunter was developed by Downey and Kevin Stewart.

The initial concept came about during a writer's retreat, in which the filmmakers had assembled and hosted at Stewart's family home in Soutelo Mourisco, a small village in Northern Portugal.

In the Dark Ages, after the death of his daughter, a fierce warrior known simply as "The Father" begins amassing a gruesome collection of heads of monsters he stakes to the wall of his cabin.

His victory is short-lived as one of his jars containing the elixir he left near his window is knocked over and spills over the creature's severed head, bringing it back to life.

[8] After the completion of several short films, including Thankskilling 2, Downey and his frequent collaborator Kevin Stewart began developing their next project.

[9] The concept for The Head Hunter was not immediately forthcoming, as Downey later recalled, "We didn't have the idea first, we just had this drive to make a movie [...] So we just sat down, to see if we could come up with something that we could shoot for a low budget.

[3] For inspiration, Jordan Downey and Kevin Stewart have cited Jean-Jacques Annaud's Quest for Fire (1981), Robert Eggers' The Witch (2015), as well as The X-Files, and Tales From the Crypt.

[10] Early in pre-production, the two filmmakers had decided to shoot the film around Stewart's family home in Soutelo Mourisco, a small village in Northern Portugal, due to the remoteness of its location.

Other props for the film were purchased inexpensively by the production crew the day after Halloween, as Downey recalled "we just bought every medieval thing in there we could find.

The film's main antagonist, credited as "The Head", was designed Troy Smith, who had previously worked with Downey in both his Thankskilling series and Critters: Bounty Hunter.

[10] Shooting occasionally proved challenging, as the costumes and props had to be shot in a certain way to "look right on camera", and crew members, including Downey, performing multiple roles during production.

[11] Rygh, who had previously starred in the Norwegian short film Ulfberht,[13] was described by Downey as easy to work with, and never complained on set.

[16][17][18] The soundtrack was featured in an official selection of Soole's works during the 2019 San Diego Comic Con's "Sounds of Horror" Panel on July 19, 2019.

[19][20] On September 15, 2020, it was given a limited edition "Viking Flame" vinyl by Ship To Shore, with copies including a 30-day free subscription to the streaming service Shudder.

[26] It was selected for inclusion into the 54th annual Portland International Film Festival, and was screened in the "PIFF After Dark" section of the program on March 16, 2019.

Paste Magazine's Kenneth Lowe wrote that the film "eschews most graphic violence and crazy battle scenes to tell a tighter story", and favorably compared its storytelling approach to the literary works of Robert E. Howard in its "hinting at a wider world of ghoulish dangers".

[34][41] Writing for Screen Rant, Sandy Schaefer said that the film location "help to create the feeling that this story really is unfolding in an ancient setting".

[42] Writing for Polygon, Rafael Motamayor favorably compared the cinematography to the fantasy game Skyrim in its "capturing vast emptiness and misty forests".

[43] Its seamless blend of music and cinematography was noted by Starburst Magazine's John Townsend, who states that it effectively "deepen[s] the sense of scale and emotion.

"[41] Joblo's Jake Dee found The Head Hunter's cinematography and imagery effective in its building of a "real and authentic" world.

[44] Kat Hughes of The Hollywood News highlighted the cinematography as the film's main strength commenting that it "successfully conjures up otherworldly and Medieval vibes and effortlessly transports the viewer to another plane".

[45] Writing for the British magazine Little White Lies, Anton Bitel noted that Downey's decision to focus on what he described as "the inner workings of its protagonist's day-to-day existence", he crafted a film "as a close study in psychodrama".

[12] Bloody Disgusting's John Squires wrote that, despite the film's low budget, it "looks and feels like a polished Hollywood production".

[43] This criticism was echoed by Hughes who found issue with the lack of action and character details, leaving the audience to watch "a continual stream of a man sitting silently, reflecting on his quest".