Head of the Family

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.

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

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.

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.