Friday, February 20, 2009

Disembodied Heads of Cinema (Part 2)

6. The Amazing Screw-On Head: Leave it to Mike Mignola to create a superhero like this! An inventor has survived with just his head, which he attaches to different bodies depending on what the mission entails. He works for President Lincoln and battles an interesting duo: his former butler and his vampire ex-girlfriend. While only a pilot for an unsold TV series, it is still great. Easily worth a viewing by fans of the absurd.

5. Dead Alive: Peter Jackson knows two things: hobbits and dismemberment. In this film, people are torn or cut to shreds like crazy! The zombies here do not let decapitation or the like slow down their desire to kill. He actually ups the ante by having an evil set of disembodied organs! It desperately chokes are hero with some of the entrails in an absurd act of attrition. Like all of Jackson's early works, this demands a sequel!

4. Evil Dead II: You just know that this had to be here somewhere. After blowing away a Deadite, Ash is attacked by her flying head in a vicious attack. It latches on like a dog to it's favorite chew toy. This makes a lasting impact, because it infects his hand which, in turn, has to be removed. You know what that made room for- the chainsaw! Without the work of this evil head, we would not truly have the Ash that we know and love.
3. The Thing: When John Carpenter remakes a movie, he goes for all the gusto! The new monster is an alien that takes over human bodies. After the famous 'who is the monster' scene, it emerges and gets mutilated to all to hell. It shows tenacity by sprouting little legs on the disembodied head and begins to flee. Unfortunately, the monster has the same weakness as White Martians- fire. What's next- an alien being that is killed by water? How dumb would that be.

2. Duel to the Death: If you are lucky enough to have seen this movie, you will know why it is here. One of our two heroes is battling his enemy and making short work of him. Off goes an arm! Off goes the side of his body! Bam! His head is cut off and flies onto a tree branch. Unfazed by this, the head delivers a monologue of vengeance before exploding! Holy crap, how did that happen?!? Don't question it- just go with it.

1. Re-Animator: How do you top all of that? By making a disembodied head with staying power. Dr. West's boss/rival is dismembered by a zombie, but his head is saved. Brought back to life with the mysterious goo, he plans a revenge scheme. Like in "TBTWD," he can psychically communicate with the other undead. He does this in the first AND second film, outlasting any other head on this list. Not even mentioning his love of sex as just a head, this man is a freaking winner!

More crazy lists to come.

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