Shrunken Heads (film)

Shrunken Heads
Shrunken Heads
	VHS artwork
Directed by	Richard Elfman
Written by	Matthew Bright
Produced by	Charles Band
Starring	Julius Harris; Meg Foster;
Cinematography	Stephen McNutt
Edited by	Charles Simmons
Music by	Richard Band; Danny Elfman;
Production; company	Full Moon Entertainment
Distributed by	Paramount Home Video (United States); The Kushner-Locke Company (all other areas);
Release date	May 1, 1994;
Running time	86 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$800,000

Shrunken Heads is a 1994 American independent comedy horror film directed by Richard Elfman and written by Matthew Bright. The film follows three preteen boys who, after being murdered by a vicious gang, are resurrected via voodoo as shrunken heads.

Produced by Full Moon Entertainment and released by Paramount Home Video, this was the last film in which Julius Harris appeared. Director Elfman's brother, Danny Elfman, provided the main theme music, while the rest of the score was composed by Richard Band. Richard's son, Bodhi Elfman, appears in a supporting role.

Premise[]

When a New York City street gang murders three teenagers, a Haitian voodoo priest re-animates them based on their shrunken heads. The youths subsequently exact revenge on their killers.

Cast[]

Julius Harris as Aristide Sumatra, a voodoo priest.
Meg Foster as Maureen "Big Moe", a tough lesbian mob boss.
Aeryk Egan as Tommy Larson
Rebecca Herbst as Sally
Bo Sharon as Bill Turner
Bodhi Elfman as Booger Martin
A.J. Damato as Vinnie Benedetti
Darris Love as Freddie Thompson
Troy Fromin as Podowski
Leigh-Allyn Baker as Mitzi
Paul Linke as Mr. Larson
Billye Ree Wallace as Mrs. Wilson
R.J. Frost as The Vipers
Randy Vahan as The Plumber

Reception[]

Emanuel Levy of Variety called it "only mildly entertaining".^[1] J. R. Taylor of Entertainment Weekly rated it B and wrote, "Elfman's fun-loving touches manage to get this new series up and running with twisted enthusiasm".^[2] Writing in The Zombie Movie Encyclopedia, academic Peter Dendle said that the characters "lovingly exaggerate every preposterous line with relish, yielding some outrageous dialogue in an otherwise treadmill production."^[3]

Legacy[]

In 2021, the film received a comedic commentary by Michael J. Nelson, Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbett of RiffTrax, an offshoot of movie-mocking cult TV series Mystery Science Theater 3000.

References[]

^ Levy, Emanuel (November 27, 1994). "Review: 'Shrunken Heads'". Variety. Retrieved February 13, 2015.
^ Taylor, J. R. (October 21, 1994). "Shrunken Heads". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved February 13, 2015.
^ Dendle, Peter (2001). The Zombie Movie Encyclopedia. McFarland & Company. pp. 160–161. ISBN 978-0-7864-9288-6.

External links[]

Shrunken Heads at IMDb
Shrunken Heads at Rotten Tomatoes

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[1] Levy, Emanuel (November 27, 1994). "Review: 'Shrunken Heads'". Variety. Retrieved February 13, 2015.

[2] Taylor, J. R. (October 21, 1994). "Shrunken Heads". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved February 13, 2015.

[3] Dendle, Peter (2001). The Zombie Movie Encyclopedia. McFarland & Company. pp. 160–161. ISBN 978-0-7864-9288-6.

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