"Head" Case

The Head (1959)

Director- Victor Trivas

Starring- Horst Frank, Karin Kernke, Michel Simon

Doctor Abel (Simon) discovers a serum to keep the head alive after the body dies, but finds he needs a heart transplant before being able to put it to use. His mad assistant, Dr. Ood (Frank) decapitates him when he learns the transplant isn't taking and reanimates the doctor's head in hopes that he can obtain the formula for the serum. He then lures a beautiful exotic dancer away from her unhappy life, kills her, and uses her body as Frankensteinien replacement for a hunchbacked woman who had been seeing Dr. Abel when he was alive.

Dr. Ood, infatuated with the woman, tries to rape her after being confronted with what he had done, is tracked by police, and jumps out a window.

The sets were designed by Herman Warm (who did the sets for Dr. Caligari), which explains the dark and forboding atmosphere of the movie (even in the doctor's office). The effort put into the story far surpasses the acting ability, but overall the movie wasn't half bad.

The "Serum Z" concept was pretty silly. It's understandable to want to make head reanimation explainable, but honestly Shelly explained it better in a 19th Century Victorian novel. They may have done better to keep with the "Frankenstein" concept.

Rating: 3.5/5 Bonedadies.