SHRUNKEN HEADS is one of the most bizarre films to have been put out by Charles Band's Full Moon Pictures studio, which is perhaps why I found it one of their most entertaining. It's a really oddball picture with the bad taste premise of having a trio of child protagonists murdered by gangster thugs and brought back as floating severed heads to get revenge. The film has a quirky, offbeat look which mixes in various influences and feels a bit film noir style in places. Director Richard Elfman (brother of composed Danny) does a good job with his available resources here.

The special effects aren't fantastic but they're serviceable enough. The cast boasts two veteran performers, both of whom give solid turns. Julius Harris, of LIVE AND LET DIE fame, is a delight as the scheming old witch-doctor, while Meg Foster (THEY LIVE) is unrecognisable as the big bad of the piece. The film has lots of bizarre little touches and generally entertains, even if it can hardly be described as highbrow entertainment.

A trio of young boys love comic books, but their reading is interrupted when a gang moves into the neighborhood. Showing no mercy, the gang slaughters the boys. Lucky for them, the comic book dealer is a former shaman from Haiti and can resurrect the dead...

What brought this film to my attention was the fact it's directed by Richard Elfman, the creator of "Forbidden Zone" and brother to the notorious Danny Elfman. If he could replicate the sheer awesomeness of "Forbidden Zone", it was to be a film worth owning. To cut a long story short, he did not match that film's intensity.

While the film is fun in a low-budget, cult horror sort of way, and has some very pedophilic romance elements I found entrancing, if a bit disturbing, it doesn't have much to offer. Cheesy floating heads. If you like this, that's your bag, not mine. It's nice to see Charles Band endorses a film that doesn't have dolls... just shrunken heads. That's a big departure for him. (But if you see his newer films, such as "Dangerous Worry Dolls", you see he hasn't strayed too far from the well.) If you want to get drunk and see a bad movie, this is a good one. If you think it's a lost classic, you're wrong. I'm sorry, I respect your opinion, but no. This one is clearly a few notches below "awesome".

This is a poorly acted- and cheesy as all hell- yet fun, 90's cult horror-comedy. It's kind of odd, because it starts out like it's supposed to be a children's film....but quickly delves into content that is clearly inappropriate for young children. It seems to be made for the teenage market- a type of film that is a rare breed these days.

We start by following a group of comic-loving teenage boys- Tommy, Billy & Freddy. The boys have become good friends with the local newspaper clerk, Mr. Sumatra- a former member of the Haitian Police who moonlights as a Voodoo witch doctor. They and the local community are victims of bullying stalked by a gang called The Vipers, who are led by a thug named Vinnie. Vinnie particularly has it out for the 3 youngsters, as he desires Sally- the local beauty who is in love with Tommy.

To end the torment, Tommy decides to capture evidence of the gang's criminal activity, so that he can turn it over to the police. To achieve this, he uses his camcorder to covertly tape the gang stripping down a car, which leads to their arrest.

But snitches get stitches...as his actions, inevitably, anger the local mafioso who controls the gang- Big Moe (played by Meg Foster).

After a run-in with the 3 kids, Big Moe orders Vinnie to whack them, as she feels they've become a nuisance that requires elimination. Vinnie is tasked with the hit and guns down the 3 boys in the street. But this is witnessed by Mr. Sumatra, who plans to bring them back from the dead so that they can reap vengeance on the malefactors who have been preying on the local community.

To do this, he holds a Voodoo ceremony during which he turns the boys into re-animated shrunken heads that are equipped with special powers and hardwired for revenge. Billy becomes a sort of vampire; Tommy is endowed with the ability to control electricity; while Freddy becomes quite adept with a switchblade...oh, and all 3 possess the ability to fly, of course.

A year later (after receiving training from Mr. Sumatra) the 3 shrunken heads- now animated with the souls of the deceased boys- are deployed into the streets, so that they can embark on their quest to weed out and destroy all the malefactors who are plaguing society.

Together, they go on a killing spree. Particularly keeping an eye out for Vinnie and The Vipers. Interestingly, the malefactors whom they attack and kill, return as zombies that are sort of vampirically attached to- and controlled by- the shrunken heads. In that they've become driven to assist the boys on their search and destroy mission.

However, Tommy has not only returned from the dead for revenge...he has some plans of his own. Mainly, to prove the love that existed between Sally and himself did not die with his body. A phenomenon which Mr. Sumatra has never witnessed before...

Like I mentioned before, there is a really weird mix of stuff going on here: seems like a children's film, but heavily reliant upon issues of sex and violence, and all framed through an occult lens. That being said...it has a really nice style. Reminds me of Sam Raimi's Crimewave, in this regard. The film also uses a nice diversity of special fx: miniatures/dioramas used for shots of the town, traditional makeup fx for the shrunken heads and zombies, and the use of early computer animation for the animated heads, and powers, and such.

It's also worth noting that despite playing a virginous little Goddess, 17 year old Rebecca Herbst will certainly have you pondering very deviant thoughts...as she is quite the little babe. Can't help but laugh when she offers up her tits-as-pillows to Shrunken Head Tommy, in order to prove she still loves him- despite his gruesome, cranial, form.

Shrunken Heads is one of those bad films that's fun to watch. If this is what you're into, you will likely enjoy it.

5.5 out of 10.