FILM REVIEW: HEAD OF THE FAMILY (1996)
25/7/2022
Head of the Family (1996) Review by Yvonne Miller Director: Charles Band Writers: Charles Band & Neal Marshall Stevens Starring: Blake Adams, Jacqueline Lovell & Bob Schott Genre: Horror, Comedy Run Time: 1 hr 22 mins Synopsis The Stackpool family has been doing some freaky experiments in the bowels of their basement and the residents find that they are in it way over their heads. Howard is the meanest nastiest thug in town, a Harley-riding criminal with a hot wife Loretta. Loretta's problem is she's having an affair with Lance owner of the town diner and Howard's getting suspicious. Driving back from one of their nightly flings, Lance witnesses the local family of weirdos, the Stackpools, dragging a man from his truck and into their house. Seeing this as an opportunity, Lance discovers the Stackpool’s terrible secret. The whole family is run by the one who has super intelligence, meet… MYRON the 'Head of the family. REVIEW For the love of all that’s decent, this felt like a mash-up between The Munster’s and Megamind. I don’t say this for its childlike content…no, no, no. It’s a harmless movie and there’s a lot of horrific comedy to detract you from the honest for goodness awful imagery. It might just have my 2022 head-on instead of my 1996. (I was only nine at the time) There is nothing artistic or pleasure enhancing about the movie but it’s quite entertaining in its awfulness. The story looks at the relentless and batshittery qualities of the Stackpool quadruplets. Otis has the strength of ten men, and Wheeler’s sense is super sensitive, Ernestina, well she clearly uses her attractiveness to her advantage. The “Head” of the family, Myron is the intelligent one. He feels he is leagues above his siblings, if only it wasn’t for his extra-large bulbous head on a teeny-weeny body. His search for a body that can contain his superior intelligence continues and he tortures abducted residents to see if just one body can house his psyche. If they provide entertainment in the meantime, then so be it. Howard appreciates the good wholesome value of fidelity, whilst also being an obnoxious prick who verges into the boundaries of being an abusive asshole. He talks down to his wife, Loretta, who has to put up with the grabbing, the name-calling, and the humiliation from Howard in nearly every scene. You can understand to a degree why she is cheating on him with Diner owner, Lance (Blake Adams). Now I’m no prude, I like a good sex scene as much as the next person but, I felt like the excessive amount of nudity took away from the absurdity and abominable nature of the plot. Loretta (Jacqueline Lovell) is just as idiotic as her knucklehead husband and maybe she’s intoxicated with the amount of passion she is parking in but she’s convinced that Howard will find out about their affair so she convinces Lance to kill off her husband so they can live happily ever after…yeah. During one of their romp fests, they witness the kidnapping of one such unlucky resident, Lance and Loretta quickly come up with a solution that will answer all their prayers. Head of the Family doesn’t pretend to be an Oscar nomination, it’s finesse and dialogue highlight this point. It’s never going to be a cult classic or a film you look back fondly for its brilliant narrative. It’s a film that is mildly entertaining if you like a film that parades its nudity and its human experimentation in your face. YVONNE 🐛 THE COYCATERPILLAR READS![]() Hi there, I’m Yvonne.Book Reviewer/ General all-round Nerd Well, what can i say about me? I’m a 32 year old married woman and mum to 3 crazy boys, aged 12,5 and 3. My eldest has a genetic condition that causes a visual impairment so as you can imagine life can be very chaotic and provides many challenges along the way but I would 100% never change any of them. They fulfil my life beyond measure. I Adore Books – I adore shouting about books! I’m a reviewer of all genres, whether that be Epic Fantasy, Gothic Horror, a historical romance or a race-to-the-end thriller. I will read them all. CHECK OUT TODAY'S OTHER ARTICLES BELOW THE HEART OF HORROR REVIEW WEBSITESRepression (2020) Director: Elbert Van Strien Writer: Ben Hopkins & Elbert Van Strien Stars: Thekla Reuten, Elijah Wolf, Emun Elliot & Peter Mullan Running Time: 1 Hr 54 mins. Genres: Mystery, Thriller Release Date: September 28 2020 Synopsis Repression tells the story of a therapist, who loses her grip on reality when a ten-year-old boy claims he can control her future. Review Repression largely reminds me of the narrative developed within The Sixth Sense. Just like in that movie we have a new therapist, in this case, Marianne Winter (Thekla Reuten) examines the case of her acquired patient, Manny (Elijah Wolf.) it is an intense relationship that will reveal much darker connotations later in the movie. A narrative that delves into the recesses of a damaged psyche. A child in his formative years that has been inevitably damaged through no fault of his own. A story so cerebral that will leave you scratching your head when it’s all said and done. The opening scene of Dr. McVittie (Peter Mullan) in psychological distress is the shock moment, a fisherman reeling the viewer in. Why would the character do this to himself? What’s lurking within the halls of the hospital to have a psychiatrist trying to kill himself? Is it a case of one too many patients and like a mirror effect, he too becomes too ill to fight the demons crawling for dominance within him? From there on we cut to Dr. Marianne Winters arriving in Scotland to settle into her new life. The scenes are what you come to expect from horror movies set in Scotland. It’s atmospheric, with its moody dark tones being at the forefront of the cinematography. It’s a big change for Marianne, leaving America for Scotland after the death of her husband in a devastating car accident, it could be the change she needs to leave it all behind. What if though, it’s a bigger nightmare than the one she left behind. Meeting her young patients gives her a sense of calm, if she can help them with their troubles then it would make the move a successful one. She meets a new patient, Manny. He’s an enigma certainly, but he puts her on edge. He knows things he shouldn’t, knows about a gun in her desk drawer, his drawings seeming to depict the future. She struggles to make sense of what he knows and how he knows it. They both struggle for control, the boy becoming more malevolent the more sessions they have together. As time goes on you can see just how unwell Marianne is. She is still grieving and hurting from the loss of her husband. Her drinking habits are getting out of control. She’s actually in the right place where that’s concerned – she could drink any hardened Scotsman under the table. She develops a romantic relationship with Kieran (Emun Elliot), it however, feels underdeveloped and disingenuous. She’s still in emotional turmoil over her husband and yet can delve into this dalliance with Kieran, I just wasn’t feeling it. I’m quite torn over the ending – we have a couple of alternate endings included in the running, all confusing the shit out of me. So much time is spent trying to build up the story, but the pinnacle points end up feeling rushed and undoes a lot of the leg work. YVONNE 🐛 THE COYCATERPILLAR READS![]() Hi there, I’m Yvonne.Book Reviewer/ General all-round Nerd Well, what can i say about me? I’m a 32 year old married woman and mum to 3 crazy boys, aged 12,5 and 3. My eldest has a genetic condition that causes a visual impairment so as you can imagine life can be very chaotic and provides many challenges along the way but I would 100% never change any of them. They fulfil my life beyond measure. I Adore Books – I adore shouting about books! I’m a reviewer of all genres, whether that be Epic Fantasy, Gothic Horror, a historical romance or a race-to-the-end thriller. I will read them all. CHECK OUT TODAY'S OTHER ARTICLES BELOW THE HEART OF HORROR REVIEW WEBSITES |
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