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Released by: Kino Lorber
Released on: November 24th, 2015.
Director: Anthony M. Lanza
Cast: Bruce Dern, Pat Priest, Casey Kasem, Albert Cole, John Bloom
Year: 1971
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The Movie:
“This brain wants to love… this brain wants to KILL!â€
In this notoriously goofy AIP production from 1971, Bruce Dern plays a scientist named Dr. Roger Girard who carries out his experiments away from the hubbub and prying eyes of the big city with some help from his partner in crime Dr. Max (Barry Kroeger) and foxy wife/assistant Linda (Pat Priest). And there's a good reason that Roger carries out his experiments where he's unlikely to be spotted - he's really into head transplants. As odd as that may sound, however, Roger is pretty good at it and has been able to mix and match the heads and bodies of all manner of animals with reasonably good success.
Of course, the next step in Roger's experimentation is to try his methods on a human subject. This is where Manuel Cass (Albert Cole), a murderer on the run, comes into the equation. He is, of course, on the run in the very area that Roger and his team are doing their thing and after finding their base of operations, he kidnaps Linda. Roger and Max take justice into their own hands to save Linda and in the ensuing chaos, Cass is shot dead. What do to with the body? Attach the head to Danny (John Bloom), the mentally handicapped son of their caretaker, one of Cass' victims, of course!
And so they do, but as you would expect, this experiment is not without its own set of problems…
Featuring some pretty awkward looking effects work and a gratuitous cameo from Casey Kasem, this low budget cheapie has rightly earned itself a reputation as a fairly terrible film - and it is - but so too is it a lot of fun if you're in the right mood for it. The cast are a big part of the draw here (though Kasem's cameo is really just that, as he plays one of Roger's pals in the later part of the film), with a young Bruce Dern doing as well as he can with what he has to work with and Barry Kroeger playing the quirky assistant doctor with some amusing oddball charm. Pat Priest isn't given as much to do, but she sure does look good doing it and she fills out her bikini rather nicely. Albert Cole is pretty great in his own over the top way as the murderous Cass and John Bloom as the slow but massive son of Roger's caretaker is… fine. He looks the part at least.
Really though, it's the last half of the movie that matters here. What viewers want out of a movie like this is a two-headed man-monster rampaging around town, and that's pretty much what we get. Cole's head is the psychotic one, Bloom's the calm, quiet, simple one and of course by attaching the two together there's a power struggle of sorts that ensues. It's actually all in fairly bad taste, but how can you not love seeing the titular beast go up against a gang of bikers?
Video/Audio/Extras:
The Incredible Two-Headed Transplant looks excellent in this AVC encoded 1080p high definition framed at 1.85.1 widescreen. Colors are rendered nicely, detail is pretty strong throughout and there are no problems with compression artifacts or with noise reduction and as such, we have some nice, organic looking film grain present throughout. Good black levels and skin tones here too.
The English language DTS-HD 2.0 Mono track is also quite good. Dialogue is clean, clear and properly balanced to ensure that it's never buried under the score or the effects. Hiss and distortion are never problematic. There are no alternate language or subtitle options provided here.
The main extra on the disc is an optional RiffTrax commentary by Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbett. If you're into MST3K style humor, you'll enjoy this and if you're not, well, you won't. They make some pretty well aimed shots at the movie and, as those familiar with their routine will already know, shred it up pretty effectively. Say what you will about RiffTrax/MST3K style humor but there's definitely
Additionally, the disc includes an interview with screenwriter James Gordon White that runs just over nine minutes. He speaks about his time working at American International Pictures where he churned out quite a few low budget quickies for the production house. He also discusses his work on this particular feature and goes into a bit of detail here. Aside from that we get a radio spot, a couple of trailers, static menus and chapter selection.
The Final Word:
The Incredible Two-Headed Transplant is a definite cinematic turkey but it's still a damn fun way to kill ninety minutes in front of your TV. Kino's Blu-ray presents the movie in a really impressive transfer, with fine audio and a few fun supplements as the icing on the cake. This is quite a nice upgrade over the old DVD release, easily recommended to fans of the film.
Click on the images below for full sized Blu-ray screen caps!
