[center][left]During the period between this past Christmas and New Year's Eve, FullMoonDirect.com featured a 50% sale on its box-sets and I decided to pick up a couple sets that I've been meaning to. While shopping through the site, I came across Shrunken Heads, a Full Moon feature I had never seen or heard of before.
Reading the synopsis, the film seemed too weird to pass up on, so I added it to my order and awaited its arrival in the mail.The film is directed by Richard Elfman (brother of composer Danny Elfman), who also directed the bizarre little cult gem Forbidden Zone. Shrunken Heads is by far one of the weirdest Full Moon movies I have ever seen. And Richard Elfman's keen eye for the macabre went hand and hand with the film, and made Shrunken Heads one of the more enjoyable films from this legendary studio.I guess since the movie featured kids as its main characters, I was expecting something tame. Something along the lines of Full Moon's kid friendly Moonbeam line of films. But Shrunken Heads is anything but tame. The trio of heroes aren't in the film too long before they are senselessly gunned down. But don't fear, they are brought back to life by a Haitian voodoo priest... in the form of shrunken heads that is. Kind of a cruel thing to do to them, even if he felt they should seek revenge. From their, the film continued to surprise me. I guess I still expected the film to remain in a kid friendly zone, but it didn't. Instead, the shrunken head versions of the kids kill their murderers, in some grisly fashions. And their were even some zombies in the film for good measure, which is always a plus for me! The two standout performances from the film were Julius Harris as the Haitian voodoo priest Mr. Sumatra, and Meg Foster as gangster leader Big Moe (love that name). Both were over the top characters, but both actors slipped into their roles rather nicely. Both of them have earned places among my favorite Full Moon characters of all time.I was surprised with Shrunken Heads. I expected it to be another disappointment from Full Moon, but I was happy to see that it wasn't. It has great music (with a theme provided by Danny Elfman), an interesting mix of different decades (the characters seem like they were a mix from the 80's, 60's and the 20's) and a truly strange story that works for me. Shrunken Heads is one of Full Moon's best.[/left][/center]
January 9, 2009
