Head of the Family

Director - Charles Band (Gingerdead Man)
Starring - Blake Adams (Justified), Jacqueline Lovell (The Killer Eye), and J.W. Perra (Mystery Monsters)
Release Date - 1996
Genre - Horror
Tagline - "Upset the head...and your dead"

Rating (out of 5):

     Being a long time fan of Full Moon flicks it was only a matter of time before I watched this one.  I had knew about it for a few years but never really had a desire to watch it.  It looked cheesy but in a 90's fashion.  I love cheese but only if it was made in the 80's.  Movies in the 90's are typically good if they're the serious kind of flick.  Don't get me wrong, there is still good films made in the 90's that are able to provide some quality cheese, but for the most part the 80's is the greatest era for cheese.  This is why I avoided this flick out of all the other Full Moon flicks.  I love Full Moon movies, in the 80's they were able to balance the scare with cheese, in the 90's they typically provided more screams instead of cheese and within the passed few years they have went back to that campy, cheesy, fun.  So I finally gave in and gave this film a view and was pleasantly surprised.

     This flick follows an owner of a dinner as he is being forced to partner with a biker.  The biker is squeezing his way in to be a silent partner like he has multiple businesses around town.  Meanwhile, while he is shaking down the other businesses he has "partnered" with his wife is shacking up with the dinner owner.  One night while driving the biker's wife home they come across a road block and spot one of the local freaks kidnapping someone.  In order to have the biker removed from his dinner and to be with his wife, he visits the freaks home to blackmail them to abduct the biker and do what they wish with him.  The freaks consists of a man who is abnormally strong, his brother who has a strong sense of vision and hearing, their sister who is extremely attractive, and the leader of the clan, their brother who just happens to be a giant head in a wheelchair.  The head has a telepathic power and is able to take control of his siblings to complete various tasks.  They have been abducting people and performing lab experiments on them in order to take over the world.  He succeeds at blackmailing the family and they abduct the biker and keep him in their underground dungeon.  However, the head of the family is a very prideful man and does not like being blackmailed and sets out to put the dinner owner in his place.
     I actually enjoyed this film.  It did have some  cheese like I figured it would but it was pulled off nicely.  The story was more than a straight forward flick, which is not typical of a Full Moon flick, but it does happen.  The acting is very well done and at times, when the mutant family is not in the scene, you forget your watching a Full Moon flick.  The effects is decent but I was really impressed by the head of the family.  He has that camp seen in the classic age of monster movies from the 50's and 60's.  The whole split screen effect just makes the film fun.  Overall, this flick is above average and should be watched at least once in your life.  Unless you like Twilight then avoid it like the plaque because you clearly have shitty taste in film.