Head of the Family

Director - Charles Band (Ooga Booga, Unlucky Charms)
Starring - Blake Adams (Lurking Fear, The Killer Eye), Jacqueline Lovell (The Exotic House of Wax, Hideous!), and Bob Schott (Knight Rider, Bloodfist III: Forced to Fight)
Release Date - 1996
Genre - Horror
Tagline - "Upset the head...and you're dead"
Format - Bluray (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     After watching Fairy Tales from Full Moon I wanted to venture back into the Full Moon catalogue for more cheesy goodness from my childhood when I remembered I still have Head of the Family on blu to review.  HotF is one of the Full Moon flicks that I had seen several times when I was younger and watched a few more times in college but never really revisited in recent years so when I heard that the film was getting the blu treatment I knew it was the perfect time to revisit this classic.  Thanks Full Moon for sending this one my way.

     The film follows diner owner Lance (Adams) who has been sleeping with a local biker's wife.  The biker has his hand in many different illegal affairs and is now pushing Lance for his business.  One night when Lance and the biker's wife is driving down a road they come across a road block.  Lance goes to investigate and witness the Stackpoole abducting a man.  He blackmails them into killing the biker but is then thrust in the middle of the Stackpoole's sinister plans to take over the world.

   



     I'm one of the few Full Moon fans among my friends that actually enjoys this movie.  I love how cheesy, cliched, and over the top the film is.  If I had to pick one film that perfectly described Full Moon I would have a hard time picking between this film and Sideshow.  The acting in this one is typical Full Moon flare.  The cast really gets into their roles and tries to give their characters quirky accents which doesn't work very well.  It comes off as cheap and not cheesy.  The story for this one is solid creature feature fun.  I always enjoyed how there was a paranormal aspect to the quadruplets. This was different in terms of horror films about disfigured people.  The story does get a little bland at times but makes up for it in coming scenes.  Finally, the film isn't that gory but has tons of great practical effects.  The film does shy away from on screen kills but more than makes up for it with medical experiments gone wrong and some great practical effects.  I also enjoyed the "Head of the family" as well.  I loved his look and how they used classic horror production techniques to pull off the look.  Overall, Head of the Family is a classic Full Moon feature with extra cheese.  Don't take my word for it and grab a copy.  You will not be disappointed.