Head of the Family

Lance, the owner of a local diner, is having an affair with Loretta, the wife of a local thug. Lance discovers that a local family, the Stackpools, are a family of mutants, each with a special physical attribute. The family is controlled by Myron, so intelligent he is little more than a head. Lance uses their secret to blackmail the Stackpools with unforeseen consequences.

A B-grade horror that is reasonably good fun. Unlike many B-grade horror movies it doesn't take itself too seriously, making for a light feel to proceedings. It does get quite dark on occasion but even then it's still more a comedy than a drama.

At the end of the day this is still a mediocre schlock-horror but it is better than most horror movies (not that this says much).

Head of the Family is cheesy B-movie trash at its best, the plot if there is one revolves around mutant quadruplets that are control by their brother who just happens to be a giant disembodied head. The plot good as it sounds really takes second stage to a number of cheap special effects and several sexy scenes. The star of the film is ex-porn star Jacqueline Lovell better known as Sara St James who plays a cheating wife looking to have her husband killed. Lovell gives a performance worthy of better source material and she gives the you the impression that a name change and a career move could prove very worthwhile for her. The film works because it doesn't take itself seriusly, the plot is crazy, the characters are shallow, the effects will make you laugh and the girls are sexy while losing their clothes at every chance they get. Despite of all of this you laugh with the film, its a bad film and it doesn't pretend to be anything else. The film while never rising above its B-movie roots does entertain for 82 minutes and if you want a Friday night popcorn movie you could do much worse than this.

That's a line from the movie, and that's what it is. This movie was wacked out from the start. The Stackpool quadruplets each have an odd abnormality. There's Wheeler, whose sense of smell, sound, and sight are incredibly enhanced. Otis has the strength of ten men, Ernestina (?) has, well, some special physical talents, and Myron is a giant head with a tiny body. Myron has cleverly dubbed himself "head of the family" because his special talent is an infinite intellect and he has the power to telepathically control the other 3. What a privilege. This is most definitely one of the oddest films I have ever seen. The southern one-liners are all over the place, and there isn't enough horror to classify this as a horror movie. However, the scene where Myron's big nasty 3 foot tongue slobbers all over Jacqueline Lovell's breast was rather horrifying. While this film was definitely , well, different, I must admit I got some enjoyment out of it.

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!

C'mon folks. Do you really think the producer, director and cast intended this to be serious? A tongue-in-cheek parody of all those cheesy horror flicks I used to enjoy as a kid -- that's what I think this is supposed to be. Belly laughs? No. But I did find myself chuckling on occasion at the subtle touches and I was continually amused by and pleased with the thing. In this day of bloated, anything-goes, lowest common denominator comedy, this is a pleasant departure because it's serving up all those types of films (hence the over-the-top family of misfits, the gratuitous sex, etc.) and it's right on target. And personally, I think the acting is way above average here --they're making fun of all the bad acting that goes on in these films. It's too bad some of my fellow reviewers here tried to take this film as serious scary stuff. It's not intended to be that. I think it's poking fun at an entire genre. It's a well crafted little movie that dares to be different. I appreciated -- and enjoyed -- it.