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Aliens punish one of their own by sending him to earth. The alien is very violent, and when the body he occupies is damaged, he is forced to find another. Strange, unorthodox science fiction/horror film. The script is quite clever and the film has plenty of amusing moments, but Mr. Mcnaughton should stick to more serious films, i.e. "Henry". Impressive make-up effects by Kevin Yagher and plenty of gore help but only to a certain extent. Runs to long and tends to drag out a bit, especially towards the end. Above average for this kind of film but somewhat disappointing in the end.

5.5/10.

What a strange career decision of John McNaughton to follow-up his dark masterpiece "Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer" with this silly and ultra-cheesy Sci-Fi romp! "Henry" was an intense and harrowing shock-drama, partly based on horrible real-life events, whereas this crazy flick revolves on naughty aliens banished from their planet and killer headaches! "The Borrower" is an endurable and occasionally even fun little flick, but it lacks a proper script and especially that last half hour lingers on enormously. This low-budget B-movie opens with images inside an alien spaceship as it heads for earth to drop off a banished member of their intergalactic community. The opening is pretty funny, as the alien refers to human beings as the absolute lowest forms of life and getting sent to earth is actually a punishment far worse than execution. Gee thanks, Mr. Alien! We like your planet, too. The rest of the film is reminiscent of "The Hidden"; only the alien's modus operandi to switch hosts is a whole lot messier. Whenever the unfriendly visitor runs out of energy or gets damaged, he simply rips off the head of any poor person (or dog) that stands too close and attaches it to his own body. His first victim is a redneck hunter (the ultra-cool Tom Towles of "House of 1.000 Corpses") and the alien uses his head to go to the big city and run a little amok there. Meanwhile, the ambitious female detective Diana Pierce pursues an escaped psycho-killer and naturally both story lines will neatly come together in the end. The crazy head-transplant aspect results in some excellent splatter-sequences and a fair amount of delightful black humor. Also, and as some other reviewers already mentioned, the film is even mildly effective as a social commentary pointing out all the issues of life in the big city. Too bad about the imbecile and downright crappy ending. It almost seems like McNaughton completely lost interest in finishing the film properly.

A criminal alien is sentenced to spend time on Earth ("A fate worse than death") but finds the climate doesn't agree with its genetics and its human head explodes. No problem, right? It just keeps grabbing heads off of victims (including a dog) and swapping them out to survive. Chicago cop Diana Pierce (Rae Dawn Chong) is on the case though. This was John McNaughton's follow-up feature to HENRY: PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER and I will admit it has a genius set-up. Unfortunately, the film completely lacks focus and feels like two scripts slapped together. Chong's cop character, who apparently is assigned every case in and outside of the city, spends too much time obsessing over a rapist she busted and they try to wrap this into the alien head snatching plot. When the film focuses on the alien bits, it really shines thanks to great turns by Tom Towles as alien's first victim and Antonio Fargas as a homeless guy who befriends Towles. This was shot in the late 80s (a movie marquee offers DAKOTA) but not released until 1991. As a rule, this should always be played as a double feature with JT Petty's THE BURROWERS.

Like he did in "Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer", director John McNaughton presents us with a predator's eye view of the wonderful world of victims, with a tad more dark humor this time around, and the result is a fine little film. We clueless humans are portayed as a strange bunch in the eyes of an alien criminal, who has been sentenced to the worst punishment on his planet: Life as a human! The human form is not entirely compatible with this species' biology, the annoying result being the head's tendency to explode. Consequently, our alien protagonist is constantly "head-shopping", taking on characteristics of each victim he decapitates in order to capacitate himself. Rae Dawn Chong is the only human to catch on, but of course, who's going to believe a hotheaded female detective? The offbeat characters and wonderfully warped humor set this title apart from most genre offerings .... a cult gem, maybe not for most tastes, but definitely worth a DVD re-release. Check it out if looking for something a bit ... different.

From the guy who brought us the unnervingly realistic and tense 'Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986)' comes another genre effort by director John McNaughton, but you can call 'The Borrower' somewhat a total change of pace. Its ridiculous premise bathes itself in hysteria, cheese and an overpowering metallic soundtrack. A true step-down, but the angle has changed for this low-budget outing in favour of a black comedy with a less than serious tone and horrifically in-your-face FX work. It kind reminded of the similar themed 'The Hidden (1987)', which seemed to be a trend-setter for many that followed ('Dark Angel and 'Split Second' shoot to mind) involving cops on the trail of a serial killer that may be of extra-terrestrial origins.

A criminal alien is genetically devolved and vanquished to earth in human form. There he discovers that his head has a habit of exploding, forcing him to find another replacement and eventually another one. Police detectives Diana Pierce and her partner Charlie Krieger find themselves on the case of this very demented serial killer who likes to take the heads of the victim, but soon they realise there might be more to this case.

As it is it's a mildly fun b-grade romp with numerous moments of flamboyantly gooey head explosions and tearing off heads (kind of like that in 1979 film 'The Dark') to only borrow them. Strangely when the alien does do that, the body changes too, even though its only should be the head. Whoops. The idea shows a breath imagination, but McNaughton's duplicated handling of it is simply disappointing and never variable enough. Even the social element is weakly penned. Other than those unconventional graphic scenes, nothing much tends to happen from its slight structure. It suffers from a languishing last quarter, muddled writing with a redundant sub-plot (though it does tie in at the end… but why?) involving another killer and one of the cops. Even the lighting is so smoky, or some sequences are paved in darkness making it hard to work out certain details. While the action when it occurs is frenetic, there's nothing beating its systematic feel and where we are left with an incomplete feel due to its cop-out ending after rattling climax.

Rae Dawn Chong emit's an uninterestingly sullen temperament as detective Pierce and a grizzled Don Gordon is fine as detective Krieger. The support fairs up much better with a delightfully amusing Tom Towles and Antonio Fargas steals some scenes.

'The Borrower' is moderate entertainment due largely to the make-up FX, but ends up being bounded in its bizarre concept and plodding narrative.

If you enjoy bad movies, especially late 1980s/early 1990s science fiction/horror, I recommend this movie. The premise and story are interesting, there are both intentionally funny parts and unintentionally funny parts, and the music is good (especially the theme). Probably the weakest aspect is the acting. Between the title character--an alien who is played by five different actors as he changes identities--and the two heroes, a pair of cops boringly played by Rae Dawn Chong and Dan Gordon, we never really have anyone to care about. One aspect of the movie that I found especially pleasantly surprising is its urban setting. Most low-budget SF or horror b-movies are set in the wilderness or a post-apocalypse to cut down on costs, while this was set in the big city, full of people and streets and buildings and modern technology. That--and the unexpected cross-dressing by Brad-Pitt-manqué Neil Giuntoli--are what make this movie a keeper!

A disappointing horror flick from John McNaughton("Henry:Portrait of a Serial Killer")has one of the dumbest premises in memory.The plot is about an alien whose head keeps exploding for some reason,forcing him to steal new heads from innocent victims.There are some interesting twists and the gore effects are suitably splashy!The cast is also okay,but still the film is laughable and stupid.Definitely one to avoid,if you don't like cheesy horror/sci-fi genre!

You gotta say one thing for director John McNaughton: he certainly hasn't been predictable, having directed horror, comedy, documentary, erotic drama, and even a made-for-TV women in prison flick. For The Borrower, the follow up to his dark, gritty, and critically acclaimed 'Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer', he stays within the horror genre, but still surprises by drastically changing tack to enter cheesy, B-movie territory with the tale of a violent alien creature, banished to Earth in human form, who regularly requires new heads in order to survive.

This hokey story allows McNaughton to indulge in some cool special effects (courtesy of Kevin Yagher), a touch of light hearted humour, and plenty of horror/sci-fi silliness in the vein of The Hidden—and for a while, it looks like his new, fun approach is going to pay off, with the first half-an-hour or so being very entertaining stuff. After the premise has been established, however, the action becomes rather monotonous, with the alien repeatedly swapping heads (allowing several actors to play the monster, including Antonio 'Huggy Bear' Fargas), whilst tough cop Diana Pierce (Rae Dawn Chong) struggles to make sense of the carnage left in his wake.

Towards the end, the film is lifted momentarily by a bonkers scene in which the creature, wearing the head of a dog, attacks and kills a metal-head, but this level of craziness isn't maintained for long—a shame, because this is exactly the kind of lunacy the film needed more of. Instead, the momentum quickly wanes, and the film finishes with a very unsatisfying ending that feels as though no-one could really be arsed to think of anything better.

5.5 out of 10, rounded up to 6 for the dog-headed monster, a bit of dead mouse munching, and a totally gratuitous sex scene.

This is a fairly original film, unfortunately original does not necessarily mean good. Furthermore, it can't quite make up its mind what it wants to be: horror, comedy horror, black farce...

An alien is apparently dumped on Earth from a flying saucer, and goes walkabout. Does he kill people? Sure, and no, he doesn't take over them as for example in "Invasion Of The Body Snatchers", rather he rips off the victims head and places it on the old body. There is also a bit of a side plot, a feisty woman detective who shoots a dangerous criminal, then the guy escapes and comes after her. There is all sorts of other stuff too, but seriously, if you think the music is the best part of this film, few will disagree.

... 'cause once that guy has your head, he won't give it back ;) This is an odd, bizarre little movie... the whole thing is as anticlimactic as it gets and there's no excitement or suspense at all. However, I prefer to take "The Borrower" as a look at society's problems seen through the eyes of an alien convict. This makes for some funny bits. There's one scene, where he sits in a coffee shop, doing nothing at all, and all people around him suddenly grab their guns and start killing each other. Then he he just gets up and walks away, like nothing what happened matters to him. The whole movie's like this. So, if you're going to watch this, think less of a horror movie, more of a social commentary and you know what you're in for. Recommended...

If you only watch one movie this year containing a couple watching The Garbage Pail Kids while a head swapping alien crashes a music video shoot wearing their dog's head make it this one.

If you're expecting a serious Sci-Fi or Horror flick, this film will disappoint you. But if you can appreciate something that's so ridiculous it's funny, then this movie is for you. I laughed harder and harder as the movie progressed. It's no five-star film, but I think the humor is enough to redeem this film.

Aliens punish one of their own by sending him to earth. The alien is very violent, and when the body he occupies is damaged, he is forced to find another.

Originally, the distributor for "Borrower" was Atlantic Releasing Corporation, with William Tennant at the helm. Atlantic had been involved with "Valley Girl" and "Night of the Comet", but folded before "Borrower" could be completed (resulting in director John McNaughton taking it back to Chicago). Atlantic also distributed the "Garbage Pail Kids Movie", which explains why it is prominently featured.

Tennant, incidentally, was a friend of Roman Polanski's and his business manager. Of all the terrible things that could happen, he was the man called in to identify the bodies of Sharon Tate and friends after the notorious 1969 Manson murders. (Tennant's whole life is a shambles, with him one time being homeless, sleeping in doorways and another time being a vice president at Columbia when the studio took a huge crash.)

McNaughton brought back his actors (Tom Towles and Tracy Arnold) from "Henry", as well as most of the crew. He has said the original cinematographer was awful and had to be replaced (which one from the credits is the bad one is unclear). And also new this time was Kevin Yagher, who worked on Chucky and Freddy (among others) and offered makeup effects here.

Rae Dawn Chong plays the detective, and therefore the hero. Her relationship with McNaughton was strained, as she only accepted the role because she needed he money. McNaughton has said it was evident she was making no effort to give a good performance, and anyone who will do something they dislike for money is (in his eyes) just a "whore".

As a bonus, we get Mädchen Amick, of "Twin Peaks" fame, briefly appearing as a rock groupie. Whatever happened to her?

Ya know, I saw this movie back in 1991 when it came out and I remember really liking this film. Years later I go ahead and buy this movie and had to force myself to watch it. OK, I kind of like the idea of this alien having to switch heads because his head keeps blowing up. Stupid, but could have been fun. Now, this is what I didn't like. Lack of gore, extremely bad music score, and horrendous acting. This movie had so much potential to be a shocking gore fest but decided to go a much tamer route and less serious. This just ruined the whole film. All the way through the movie I kept expecting to see multiple head explosions, a serious score to give the movie some frightening atmosphere, and to have some characters that you actually cared about. Instead, this movie delivers something that a 12 year old kid could write. I can't believe this movie was directed by the same guy that directed "Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer". What a horrible disappointment. The only good part of this movie is the last 5 minutes when it finally starts picking up. Unfortuanatly, it still goes nowhere. Highly disappointing and if you are a real horror fan stay away from this movie. Don't even rent it.

An Alien serial killer is banished to Earth, and transformed into a human. On arrival on Earth, the alien's head explodes. He kills a nearby man and takes his head. The man's son runs for help, but the police believes him to be the killer. The police is baffled by the murder scene and the absence of the head.

The case is handed to tough cop Diana Pierce (Rae Dawn Chong), who just captured - and hospitalized - a convict named Scully. Diana and her partner Charles Krieger (Don Gordon) investigate the killings. Meanwhile, the alien is wandering Earth aimlessly, and befriends a homeless man, Julius. With the borrowed heads not lasting long, the alien continuously needs to find another head.

When Scully escapes from hospital, the suspense is elevated as he pursues Diana. The film features very good practical effects, and good performances all round. I also enjoyed the subtle humour scattered throughout this fantasy horror.

What a repulsive movie. It goes from one repulsive scene to the next repulsive scene. I dont know what made me think to look up this movie. I saw it years ago and did not remember much of it, which was a blessing in disguise. Now, I know more of this movie than I would ever want to know. Stay away from it.

The Borrower (1991) is a very good horror, it's very bizarre but i really enjoyed it, Tom Towles and Antonio Fargas made this a very fun outing!!! The movie is about this alien who has committed a bad crime on his own planet and his punishment for the crime is that he is brought to earth and forced to live in a human form!! The aliens head soon explodes when arriving on earth and he goes around stealing other peoples heads, hot on the chase of the alien is a police detective woman (Rae Dawn Chong), the only thing she finds at the scene of the killings is the severed head of the previous victim!!! Like i said before, this movie is very bizarre but yet it's really cool and the characters are all great fun, it has some good gore and special effects too, hunt this down if you like movies like "The Hidden" and "Something is out there".

I give "The Borrower" a well deserved 9/10.

A vicious alien criminal is "devolved" into human form (Robert Dryer, "Savage Streets") and exiled on Earth. Its main problem? Shortly after arriving on Earth, its head explodes, and it immediately finds a replacement head from a knucklehead hunter (Tom Towles, "House of 1000 Corpses"). After a while, this head goes "bad", too, and the alien has to keep killing various unlucky people and stealing their craniums. Ever-sexy Rae Dawn Chong ("Commando") and top character actor Don Gordon ("Bullitt") play the weary police detectives who understandably become confused as they pick up the creatures' trail.

Although a familiar-enough premise (it definitely plays like "The Hidden"), this benefits from capable direction by cult-favorite filmmaker John McNaughton ("Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer") and a reasonably clever, fun, funny script by Mason Nage and Richard Fire. A fair amount of the running time is devoted to watching a succession of actors (including Antonio Fargas of 'Starsky & Hutch' fame) take turns playing the monster after it has dispatched their human incarnations. And the monster is a hoot as it experiences a number of aspects of human life.

Kevin Yagher does the excellent gore & creature effects, and "The Borrower" builds up a decent (if not spectacular) body count. It's paced pretty well, but it ultimately becomes rather disappointing in its final quarter hour. The conclusion is definitely not as strong as the opening.

A solid cast of familiar faces helps: unlikely pair Chong & Gordon work fairly well together, and are well supported by Towles, Fargas, Larry Pennell ("Superstition"), F. Murray Abraham lookalike Tony Amendola ("Annabelle"), Madchen Amick ('Twin Peaks'), Neil Giuntoli (who went on to play the title role in the sequel to "Henry"), Bentley Mitchum ("Demonic Toys"), and Tamara Clatterbuck ('The Young and the Restless'). "Henry" co-star Tracy Arnold has a bit as a nurse.

Good fun most of the way, "The Borrower" can definitely boast some memorable scenes, including one hysterical gag in the final third.

Seven out of 10.

Five years after John McNaughton made Henry Portrait Of a Serial Killer he made this supposed gory SF horror. It made me think a bit of The Terminator. I mean, somebody coming to earth and start to learn earth. the film opens with an alien punishing another alien by giving him a human face and exile him to earth. Still being an alien he wants to change his identity by ripping of heads and replacing his former head with it. It's all shown with the typical effects of that time, I mean the bladder effects. It's all done by Kevin Yagher, still in the business and known for MI 2 and Friday the 13th final chapter and some Nightmare on Elm Street episodes. So the effects are really good but the movie lacks in storyline, they involved another killer Scully, nothing to do with the alien and nothing to do with the storyline. He's in the movie for no reason and just got shot. I gave it a 5 just for the effects, it's weird that with the actors known in that era and the director and effects that this isn't out on DVD, you can find it still on VHS only in NTSC. Weird, I surely could BORROW a copy.