Trophy Heads

TROPHY HEADS is a cheapo Full Moon production that pays homage to the classic scream queens of the 1980s and 1990s, throwing them together in a self-referential production that acknowledges their heyday. The loose plot involves a serial killer who captures and imprisons said actresses before brutalising them in various cheesy death games. The highlight here is seeing the likes of Michelle Bauer, Brinke Stevens, Linnea Quigley and Denise Duff teaming up to revisit their careers, but the script is pretty poor which renders the whole thing something of a talky bore, and of course the endless old movie clips don't help much.

So the plot line is that an obsessed movie fan kidnaps a series of 1980s "Scream Queens", and the proceeds to film himself killing them before doing bad taxidermy on their heads.

The sad lives of the former scream queens can't be any worse than their actual sad life that ANY of them thought this was a good idea. None of them have looks that have held up from their heydey.

It's not only torture porn, it's BAD torture porn. I just can't see who this film is made for. It demeans the Scream Queen actresses. It makes the fans look bad. None of the characters are likeable. Who are we supposed to be cheering for here?

Hard Pass... I wish I had.

Trophy Heads (2014)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Max (Adam Noble Roberts) is a loser of a man who has no job, lives in his mom's basement and all he wants to do is watch horror movies from the 80's. Frustrated that nothing stays the same and that his beloved Scream Queens are getting old, he decides to kidnap them with the help of his mother (Maria Olsen) and cut their heads off, which is what gives the film its title.

TROPHY HEADS actually has a very good idea in its head. The idea of a mentally messed up man, who lives for movies and finally cracks and begins to go after the people he sees in movies, is something that would have made for a terrific drama and I can only imagine what some top-tier directors could do with it. This film isn't that though as it's a Full Moon production and on that level the thing actually remains somewhat charming and at least is a great throwback to those, such as myself, who grew up watching these type of direct-to-video horror movies back in the 80s.

The real reason to watch this movie is because it features some of the biggest Scream Queens from this era. Brinke Stevens working as a massage therapist. Michelle Bauer is selling juice and signed posters to whoever knows her.Then there's Jessica Morris and Darcy DeMoss who are still out there trying to score auditions. Best of all is Linnea Quigley who finds herself selling the word of Jesus before she's kidnapped. It was great getting to see all of the actresses and another selling point of the movie is that it shows clips from their previous movies. Stuff like CREEPOZOIDS, SORORITY BABE IN THE SLIMEBALL BOWL-A-RAMA and HEAD OF THE FAMILY are seen and spoofed. We also have Stuart Gordon making a hilarious cameo.

The film was obviously shot on a very low-budget so most of the deaths are off screen, which is actually a good thing because the one that is on the screen looks horrible with its cheap CGI. The film's tone is quite charming in its own right as Charles Band is obviously winking at his fans and also showing off various Full Moon films. The pace of the movie is also quite good as it certainly manages to hold your attention throughout but you're enjoyable factor will depend on how old you are or what type of films you like. If you have no idea who these Scream Queens are or what Full Moon is then you're just going to find this boring as the same thing happens over and over.

However, if you're a fan of these Scream Queens then you're going to enjoy seeing them all together on the screen again. TROPHY HEADS isn't a masterpiece but I think it really does succeed at what it tried to do and that's be an 80's horror movie with these Scream Queens.

Basement trash-horror fan teams up with his brownie-baking mother to ghoulishly preserve the magic of the passing generations of scream-queens.

Comedy horror mostly pisses me off, but this is a great idea. The genre is splashed all over the screen and, although a bit coy on the sex, this should hit the spot for experienced fans of US slasher movies. Myself, I can't ref the films or actresses.

Clunky production that gets into its stride, and I liked the performances as it went along. Dialogue and editing a bit slow, so the humour sometimes fails to spark and a lot of jokes are left at the table, but the pace is good. Favourite scene was at the audition, where the actors get to play it up. Plus the ending doesn't disappoint.

It also hits a good note on the nostalgia of a film fan - the first reaction to watching a movie recedes, the regret becomes overwhelming. Kill it before it dies. Mom!

Overall - low rent, dirty irony, but lack of sharps on the sleaze and humour.

I am fan of Charles Band watching his movie for past some time. Unlike his other movies in the past, this movie has focus on killing screaming B queens in a different passion. The story is known to everyone at the beginning. No complaints on Charles Band as there is nothing in the story. Unlike other Charles Band movies, this movie has no surprising start and no surprising end. But all the characters in the movie done a good job.**** worth to watch scene in this movie is actress Irena Murphy topless gag scene! (yes she did nude finally, no fake or body double). The Full moon productions website has additional scenes of Irena Murphy topless bondage scenes.