The Thing with Two Heads

David Whitman3.5

"They transplanted a white bigot's head onto a soul brother's body!" and "Man, they're really in deeeeep trouble!"—a poster tagline used to promote this film in the 70’s.A racist and decrepit white man (Ray Milland) transplants his head to the body of a Black death row convict (Rosie Greer) with the help of a scientist. Soon, they are on the run and chaos ensues.I was not expecting to find this movie as delightful as I did. I remember seeing a photo from this film many years ago as a kid. I thought this looked like a must see movie back then. Every time a hulking Rosie Greer showed up onscreen with the white old man mannequin head attached to his shoulder, I could feel my mouth being pulled into a smile. He runs through the woods, fights off his enemies, and has an epic chases. This movie is absolutely fucking ridiculous in the best way. The director scrunches the actor’s faces together cheek to cheek for close ups as they bicker with each other. They look so miserable that it constantly broke me to laughter. The dialogue is horrendous : “Slow down, you black bastard!”Ray Milland must have called his agent to complain every day after he got done shooting. I can only imagine how Rosie must have described making this film to his friends at the time. Our two headed hero gets chased on a motorcycle for about 25 minutes, the white man head jiggling as he speeds around—which either gets old immediately, or never gets old according to your viewpoint of the world. The close ups sure are hilarious. And, yes, the image on the poster is in the movie. How about those closing credits in which Rosie Greer lip syncs “oh happy day” with a choir and a huge victorious smile? That’s the way to go out after finally getting that white man head off your shoulders.Highly recommended. I honestly can’t think of a better so bad it’s good film at the moment. Some of you out there will really dig this. Some of you most definitely will not. Note:Rosie Grier, a former football player, was a bodyguard for Robert F. Kennedy on the night he was assassinated. Grier helped knock Sirhan Sirhan to the ground and was able to wrestle the gun from his hand. He then protected the assassin because people in the crowd wanted to beat him to death.

VIVE_le_FILTH

"Do you have two of anything else?"The movie that single-handedly set out to disprove the age old saying of 'two heads are better that one' ... but on a motorbike!

Digital Press2.0

“Is this some kind of a joke!?” - Ray MillandIs it me or was Ray Milland the most punchable face in Hollywood in his later years? Sure, he often played roles like this, pompous, arrogant, even racist, but even when he was the good guy his face is so, so punchable. Maybe it’s just lingering memories from films like this one where he’s just the worst human being.The situation is laughable, and I can only imagine everyone involved from the writer to the actors had to work hard to stifle their laughter while filming. I’d imagine both leading men wondered often “is this what’s become of my career?”. Both were once masters of their profession: Milland an Academy Award winner in 1945, Grier NFL Champion in 1956. By 1972 they’d both find their head squished up against another washed-up talent’s head - or worse, a prosthetic version thereof.Speaking of prosthetics, the special effects are by Rick Baker (An American Werewolf In London) who also performed in the two-headed gorilla suit. There are disembodied Ray Milland and Rosey Grier heads that look totally fake but are still wayyy better than you’d expect from a 1972 B-movie. This was very early in Baker’s illustrious career.It’s puzzling how this film wasn’t the only “two-headed man” film in just over a year! The Incredible Two-Headed Transplant (1971) with Bruce Dern was the other. The major difference is that here we have an exploited black man. In the other one it’s an exploited mentally disabled man. Neither are very good. I wonder what inspired two different production teams to dive into this silly premise?Might tickle your fancy for sheer comedic value but even that wears off fast.