Le cerveau de la famille

This is one of those movies where the point is to embrace the campiness. Yes, this is a B-movie; what were you expecting, Shakespeare? Not all of the acting holds up, it is true, but the leads do a fair job of selling their characters, and there is full awareness they are doing parody. To be honest, the plot holds together a lot better than a lot of wide-release horror movies with "name" talent. And yes, if you don't get distracted by her lovely form, Jacqueline Lovell is doing some honest-to-gosh acting here. If anything, the flaw with this movie (despite the premise of the title villain), is that it's not quite bad enough to be truly campy.

In an effort to steal one man's wife, the protagonist Lance has a family of freaks kidnap the man and he then blackmails them to keep the whole affair silent.

Many and perhaps most people would write this film off as being incredibly stupid and a horrible movie. And maybe they're right. But I think there are some things in this movie that should not be overlooked.

First, the sheer excess of nudity and sexual activity. While in most films it would be completely unnecessary, this film seems to realize how silly the whole thing is and continues pushing the nudity to become even more outrageous. Half the plot develops while the main female lead is nude.

Second, the plot is more intricate than many might assume. The plot, as outlined in my first sentence, is nothing spectacular. But they made the plot deeper and more serious when they put in a series of "what if" moments that arise when we hear about he hiring of multiple lawyers for use in the blackmail plot. What could have been a simple device is now a battle of the wits.

Third, the film seems stupid because the ideas are silly and the nudity overshadows the rest of the film. But actually pay attention to the dialogue and you'll see the writer is a clever wordsmith. Such phrases as "foul play of the permanent variety" suggest this man would have had a good contract working for "Buffy the Vapire Slayer".

If you like cheesy horror films, this is one you shouldn't pass up on. And you know it's cheesy because it's Full Moon Entertainment (makers of the "Puppet Master" series). While the gore is at a minimum, the b-movie schlock is at an all-time high!

Don't get me wrong. I've got a considerable soft spot for the works of Charles Band, both as producer and director. But you've got to raise an eyebrow when the man who was willing to put his name to "Dollman Vs The Demonic Toys" sticks a pseudonym on anything. As a bit of bad-movie fun, "Head Of The Family" is rather lacking, although it is better acted than you might expect. Jacqueline Lovell is a definite talent who deserves better than these kinds of movies. J.W. Perra is also quite funny as the titular monster, though for such a superintelligent being he does get hoodwinked quite easily. Y'know, I'm nitpicking because the rest of the movie is so sharp and witty of course....

And having a lead character called Lance Bogan? Nice one guys. We didn't know you Americans knew that piece of slang!

I was suprised at all the negative reviews, this is actually a darn good film from Mr. Band. "Benjamin Carr" coughs up a decent enough screenplay full of quirky characters and clever one liners. The head is genuinely creepy and the other characters are completely sleazy. Highly recommended, one of full moons better films.

A muscle man, a trollop, a big head brain, and a sensitive guy, make up the ultra-weird Stackpole family. They get their chuckles by waylaying strangers, giving them a lobotomy, then caging the victims in the basement for their amusement. Enter a diner owner, who's fooling around with a psycho biker's wife. Blackmailing the Stackpoles into getting rid of the brutish biker, he then puts the bite on them for money, which forces the plan to quickly spiral out of control. "Head of the Family" is outrageous and has enough dark humor to satisfy the "black comedy" crowd. There is very little gore, but be prepared for at least a bunch of nudity, including full frontal. Recommended of it's type. - MERK