Borrower : Le Voleur de têtes

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 John McNaughton, the mastermind behind Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, comes...The Borrower. Whereas Henry is disturbingly realistic, this is the exact opposite. The Borrower is completely absurd. An alien criminal and outcast is de-evolved to human form and exiled to earth. The de-evolution process, however, has made his body unstable and he must "borrow" other people's heads to survive. The story sounds good, but is obviously hard to execute. Tom Towles, also from Henry and numerous other genre classics, is hilarious as one of the borrowed heads. It's too bad that he has the least amount of screen time. The other cast members include Rae Dawn Chong as a detective investigating the murders and Antonio Fargas as a bum that befriends the Borrower. The music is awful and annoying but Kevin Yagher's make-up effects are sufficiently gross. Yagher's gore effects and Towle's performance are the main reasons to watch the movie. The box reads "more animated than Re-Animator" which is a lie but it should please the majority of horror fans.

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!

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!

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.