Amok, l'homme à deux têtes

Call me demented but I loved this absolutely silly piece of 1970s Drive-In schlock! Director Anthony M. Lanza only made one other movie as far as I know, one I've been wanting to see for years, a 60s biker flick starring Dennis Hopper and Casey Kasem called 'The Glory Stompers'. Kasem returns in this one to play the concerned best friend of "mad" scientist Dr. Roger Girard played by cult favourite Bruce Dern (Kasem and Dern had previously played brothers in another 60s biker movie 'The Cycle Savages', a trash classic I highly recommend.) Dern, just like those scientists in 'Donovan's Brain', has his own lab in his home which he conducts his own private research, assisted by his crippled mentor Dr. Max ('Demon Seed'). Research, by the way, involving head transplants. So when a psychopath (Albert Cole) escapes on a rampage and kidnaps Dern's pretty blonde wife (Pat Priest of 'The Munsters'), it doesn't take long to figure out that the Doc is going to be operating on him soon. Especially when there is a handy mental defective (John Bloom, from 'The Hills Have Eyes 2') available (his caretaker's son). Now Bruce Dern is one of my favourite 1970s actors ('Bloody Mama', 'Silent Running', 'The King Of Marvin Gardens'), and I'd watch him in just about anything, but this must be the stupidest movie he has ever been involved in! Disinterested viewers who don't enjoy 60s and 70s exploitation and monster movies may find it just TOO stupid to get into, but I thought it was an absolute hoot, and loved every minute of it!

It seems funny that for all the well-deserved plaudits this grade-Z gem attracts, nobody mentioned the great performance by the actor playing Danny's father, Larry Vincent! That's right, none other than "Sinister Seymour" himself doing the honors as good old Andrew Norton, the doc's faithful gardener in one of his too-few appearances on the big screen. All I can say is, if you were too young to remember the early 70's, you definitely missed one the best things about watching late-night TV in Los Angeles. Long before MST3K or Elvira, Seymour's "Fright Night" on Saturday nights was THE thing to watch. Nowadays, if I see "-Transplant-" in the local listings, I turn it on in the first fifteen minutes (before the killer gives him a messy send-off with a garden hoe) just to watch his rare talent. Ah, Larry, you left us too soon...

Okay, I'm in a big minority, but in my view the cheap horror flick is very shrewdly done. Except for a hammy Albert Cole as Cass, the acting is pretty good, with Dern refusing temptation to go over the top. Also, the hulking John Bloom amounts to a casting inspiration. His massive frame dominates every frame he's in. Plus he manages the difficult role of the slow-witted in convincing fashion.

Staging takes place in the boondocks where there's more bang for the buck, and while the massive monster may be too slow to be scary, the shrewd camera angles make the two-headed effect more credible than expected. Oh sure, the movie's title is a tip-off to the target audience. Still, I wouldn't put it in the same league as the rubber monsters of Roger Corman yore.

Good to see an elderly Berry Kroeger picking up a payday. Was there ever a better shyster lawyer in a slew of 40's noirs than the moon-faced actor. And speaking of cast, blonde leading lady Pat Priest could double for Doris Day in her bouffant heyday. Anyway, I found the flick mildly entertaining and not as hokey as I expected. And before I forget—is there ever a menaced girl in these movies who isn't scantily clad and sexy. Certainly not here

There's no doubting this is a very bad film by anyone's standards, but it isn't without some entertainment value. Bruce Dern – clearly on his uppers back in '71 – takes on the mad scientist role with such laid-back indifference to the part that his performance alone is worth the cost of the rental or purchase or ninety minutes of your life. Never will you see an actor so clearly embarrassed by the rubbish he has somehow found himself saddled with or trying so hard to appear invisible. Dern speaks each of his lines with a kind of preternatural calmness that leaves you wondering whether some underhand producer hasn't drugged him so that he believes he's floating through a dream. His character is assisted by Max (Berry Kroeger) who, quite frankly, is the creepiest thing in the film – like a strange uncle whose lap your mum warns you not to sit on when you're a kid…

The plot follows the typical monster-movie template. Once again our monster is stitched together from people's body parts in a fortress-like laboratory to which access is denied to the good doctor's long-suffering wife (Pat Priest). But, unlike Frankenstein, this is no meditation on the dangers of man playing God, rather than a frank attempt to titillate undemanding teens. Of course, wifey can't resist having a peek in the lab and before you can say 'don't open the door!' she's opened the door and – well, I'm sure you can get the rest.

The poor simpleton who has a maniacal killer's head grafted onto his neck (don't you hate it when that happens?) is something of a giant, and he's filmed from a low angle so that no money has to be spent on special effects. I'm sure Messrs Bloom and Cole must have been pretty close friends by the end of the shoot. Of course the killer quickly becomes the dominant partner and forces his neck-mate to embark on a killing spree. He lumbers around the countryside, chancing upon necking teenagers and wasted bikers who, for some reason, find it impossible to outrun him and, cackling wildly, summarily dispatches them for no apparent reason other than he's completely bonkers.

The single moment of any worth in the film is the point at which director Anthony Lanza cuts away from the murder of the female biker, just as those brainless cackles are beginning to rise. It's a moment of restraint totally at odds with the rest of the movie.

The Incredible 2-Headed Transplant (1971)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Roger (Bruce Dern) is a doctor doing experiments on animals. He is putting two heads on a single body and he finally gets his chance to do it with humans when a large but mentally challenged man becomes available as a subject but he puts the head of a killer on him and soon the monster is running loose.

THE INCREDIBLE 2-HEADED TRANSPLANT was the type of film that AIP was turning out to drive-ins back in the day when this type of exploitation was grand. As with a lot of drive-in films, the most important thing was a great title and there's no question that this film has that. With that said, there really isn't too much exploitation here and it's a tad bit too dry for its own good.

Apparently the mad scientist role was originally meant for someone like Vincent Price but the role went to Dern instead. Dern is certainly a very good actor and he gives a good performance here but he plays it so serious and straight that it just doesn't added enough entertainment value for the type of film it is. The performance was more for a serious medical drama than a drive-in "B" picture. Casey Kasem was fun to see in his role and we also got Gary Kent, Pat Priest and Albert Cole.

The film is certainly mildly entertaining and the two-headed monster has an interesting look to it. The film is worth watching but at the same time there's no question that it falls well short of being a good movie. It also got outdone by the following year's THE THING WITH TWO HEADS.