In 1972, Richard Elfman formed The Mystic Knights of Oingo Boingo, a musical theater troupe that ran for several years. However, his passions turned towards filmmaking, and he made his brother Danny the leader, who formed the band Oingo Boingo. Meanwhile, Richard set off to make his first feature film, the musical comedy Forbidden Zone in 1980. Despite negative reviews and poor box office, the film gained a considerable cult following thanks to midnight showings. Years later, Zone‘s co-writer Matthew Bright got a job working for Full Moon Features, writing Dark Angel: The Ascent. Bright had another screenplay called The Call of Mr. Sumatra, and he convinced Charles Band to have Richard Elfman direct. Charles had huge plans for this film, even announcing this would be Full Moon’s first theatrical release. Retitled Shrunken Heads, the film had a brief theatrical run in May 1994 before going to video that October.
%
Rating
Synopsis
Tommy Larson (Aeryk Egan) is a good-natured kid who spends time hanging with his pal Bill Turner (Bo Sharon). They also make friends with the new kid Freddie Thompson (Darris Love), through their shared love of comic books. Unfortunately, the boys are the targets of a local gang called The Vipers, led by Vinnie Benedetti (A.J. Damato). It turns out that Vinnie is working for local mob boss Big Moe (Meg Foster) and wants to prove himself. However, Vinnie gets in trouble when the boys videotape his gang and try stealing money slips from Moe. Vinne kills the boys to prove his loyalty, but the local witch doctor Mr. Sumatra (Julius Harris) has his plans. Sumatra revives the boys as shrunken heads with unique abilities to exact revenge on their killers and destroy evil. But as Tommy, Bill, and Freddie follow Sumatra’s order, their humanity starts to fade.
Review
Reportedly, this was going to be Full Moon’s first theatrical release, and I can see it doing reasonably well. Compared to most other Full Moon projects around this time, Shrunken Heads is easily one of their most ambitious. It looks incredible for a film that cost $800,000, thanks to the production design and Richard Elfman’s direction. Elfman gives the movie a distinct comic book style mixed with some film noir elements circa the 1940s. There are also some impressive miniatures used to create cityscapes, and a motorized motion camera help bring them to life. Everyone from the kids to the veteran does a fantastic job, with Meg Foster and Julius Harris being the highlights. Foster is believable as an androgynous gangster who exhibits all the familiar traits while subverting them. This movie was Harris’ last film role before his death in 2004, and he made the most of it.
Egan, Sharon, and Love work as friends, just trying to have fun while dodging the bullies and navigating the streets. A.J. Damato has fun as the stereotypical greaser bully, though he has moments where he doubts what he’s doing. Rebecca Herbst also does a solid job as Tommy’s love interest Sally, and she has terrific chemistry with Egan. Once the boys become the shrunken heads, it becomes a free-for-all as they fly around and exact their revenge. Admittedly, this is where the film’s lack of budget shows, namely in the compositing shots of the heads flying. The sequences are about on par with the compositing in Dollman, and they add to the film’s campy charm. Adding to that charm is the appropriately haunting theme by Danny Elfman and the eerie score by Richard Band. Overall, Shrunken Heads is an underrated gem in Full Moon’s catalog worth checking out.
Buy Shrunken Heads on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3uw9VT2.
Disclosure: The above link is an affiliate link, which means that, at zero cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through the link and finalize a purchase.
