Shrunken Heads

I loved this dark, funny, strange little film. The plot was brilliant, and held me and my friends through all the twists and turns. We laughed our heads off at all the hilarious, dead panned lines of Lt. Col. Aristide Pierre Lafite Sumatra, of the Ton Ton Macoute - the friendly neighborhood news vender and witch doctor. This was a real treat!

This is a poorly acted- and cheesy as all hell- yet fun, 90's cult horror-comedy. It's kind of odd, because it starts out like it's supposed to be a children's film....but quickly delves into content that is clearly inappropriate for young children. It seems to be made for the teenage market- a type of film that is a rare breed these days.

We start by following a group of comic-loving teenage boys- Tommy, Billy & Freddy. The boys have become good friends with the local newspaper clerk, Mr. Sumatra- a former member of the Haitian Police who moonlights as a Voodoo witch doctor. They and the local community are victims of bullying stalked by a gang called The Vipers, who are led by a thug named Vinnie. Vinnie particularly has it out for the 3 youngsters, as he desires Sally- the local beauty who is in love with Tommy.

To end the torment, Tommy decides to capture evidence of the gang's criminal activity, so that he can turn it over to the police. To achieve this, he uses his camcorder to covertly tape the gang stripping down a car, which leads to their arrest.

But snitches get stitches...as his actions, inevitably, anger the local mafioso who controls the gang- Big Moe (played by Meg Foster).

After a run-in with the 3 kids, Big Moe orders Vinnie to whack them, as she feels they've become a nuisance that requires elimination. Vinnie is tasked with the hit and guns down the 3 boys in the street. But this is witnessed by Mr. Sumatra, who plans to bring them back from the dead so that they can reap vengeance on the malefactors who have been preying on the local community.

To do this, he holds a Voodoo ceremony during which he turns the boys into re-animated shrunken heads that are equipped with special powers and hardwired for revenge. Billy becomes a sort of vampire; Tommy is endowed with the ability to control electricity; while Freddy becomes quite adept with a switchblade...oh, and all 3 possess the ability to fly, of course.

A year later (after receiving training from Mr. Sumatra) the 3 shrunken heads- now animated with the souls of the deceased boys- are deployed into the streets, so that they can embark on their quest to weed out and destroy all the malefactors who are plaguing society.

Together, they go on a killing spree. Particularly keeping an eye out for Vinnie and The Vipers. Interestingly, the malefactors whom they attack and kill, return as zombies that are sort of vampirically attached to- and controlled by- the shrunken heads. In that they've become driven to assist the boys on their search and destroy mission.

However, Tommy has not only returned from the dead for revenge...he has some plans of his own. Mainly, to prove the love that existed between Sally and himself did not die with his body. A phenomenon which Mr. Sumatra has never witnessed before...

Like I mentioned before, there is a really weird mix of stuff going on here: seems like a children's film, but heavily reliant upon issues of sex and violence, and all framed through an occult lens. That being said...it has a really nice style. Reminds me of Sam Raimi's Crimewave, in this regard. The film also uses a nice diversity of special fx: miniatures/dioramas used for shots of the town, traditional makeup fx for the shrunken heads and zombies, and the use of early computer animation for the animated heads, and powers, and such.

It's also worth noting that despite playing a virginous little Goddess, 17 year old Rebecca Herbst will certainly have you pondering very deviant thoughts...as she is quite the little babe. Can't help but laugh when she offers up her tits-as-pillows to Shrunken Head Tommy, in order to prove she still loves him- despite his gruesome, cranial, form.

Shrunken Heads is one of those bad films that's fun to watch. If this is what you're into, you will likely enjoy it.

5.5 out of 10.

I picked up a copy of this at a boot sale last sunday for a pound. It's a quality low budget comedy/horror about 3 kids who are gunned down by Vinnie and the Viper Gang. Luckily Mr Sumatra the local newsagent and witch doctor revives them as 3 nasty little shrunken heads. If you are a fan of films like 'idle hands', 'Ghoulies' or 'Critters' you will love this film. It has an excellent Danny Elfman score great special effects and a tongue firmly lodged in it's cheek! It also comes from producer Charles Band who produced 'Dolls' & 'Puppet Master'. This is definitely one of the better full-moon horror movies. If you see this film - grab it! This movie has only been released in the UK once- on rental video. Time for a DVD!!!!

Well, I wasn't expecting much from "Shrunken heads", but I still had a little hope, as it's a Full Moon production from 1994. Everyone knows by now their movies pretty much went downhill during the second half of the 90's. And looking at their credits as a production company, I feel that "Shrunken Heads" just might be the last Full Moon film that really captured their specific mix of craziness & entertainment and their special brand of B-movie magic. "Shrunken Heads" mixes horror, comedy and crime, but in such a cartoonish way, it does become a fun little film. The crime elements are a spoof on the criminal environment of the 50's, but the film itself is set in a modern-day (90's) urban setting. Sure, it's nonsensical silliness with a touch of madness on a small scale. But the production values are still pretty decent (as with most of the older Full Moon flicks, compared to the newer ones) and the story moves along at a decent pace. Plus, the film's seasoned with fun special effects (and great miniatures of a city by night), another thing you could always count on in their older films.

A friend of mine on here mentioned something appropriate on the plot: "I had read that the movie was amazingly bizarre because the ones with the shrunken head problem were like dead kids or something, brought back to life by a voodoo man to get revenge". That's exactly what it's about. It also stars Meg Foster in - without a doubt - the most oddball role I've ever seen her play: Gangster Big Moe. And then there's Rebecca Herbst. Such a lovely, sexy peach. I had never heard of her before, but she's still acting now (TV's "General Hospital", though I've seen some horrible soapy clips of it) and still quite the beauty. Yummie! At one point she even opens up the top of her blouse, to let a shrunken head (her boyfriend, before he died) in. A shrunken head getting that lucky, can only happen in a Full Moon flick.

I'm trying too hard to praise this silly little horror comedy, really. But honestly, if you like the old school Full Moon flicks much more than Charles Band's more recent efforts, than you should have a fun watch with "Shrunken Heads".

This turned out to be a lot more of a comedy than a horror film. Seeing shrunken heads flying around was pretty unique and cool-looking but a lot more funny than scary. That's okay; I enjoyed it as a comedy.

There really wasn't much to this Grade B-horror flick expect a lot of voodoo nonsense, which was taken quite seriously in here. What a croc! I actually believe would take this stuff seriously.

Nevertheless, it's always satisfying to see a bunch of hoods get what's coming to them as our headless heroes did in here, seeking revenge on those responsible for their odd condition.

Talk about an original story! Fun stuff.