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THE HEAD
Believe me when I tell you this 1959 German shocker is the best talking-head-in-a-dish movie ever (at least until RE-ANIMATOR). The premise is a hopelessly goofy—and, needless to say, scientifically implausible—one, but the film is distinguished by stunning visuals and a superbly nightmarish atmosphere. The result is a one-of-a-kind mixture of art and schlock.
The Package
This film was originally released in its original language, German, under
the rather ungainly title DIE NACKTE UND DER SATAN, but is nowadays best known
in the English dubbed version retitled THE HEAD. If nothing else, it certainly
has an intriguing pedigree: writer/director Victor Trivas co-wrote the script
for the Orson Welles film THE STRANGER (1946) and set designer Herman Warm had
previously performed similar duties on THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI (1920) and
DESTINY (1921). THE HEAD isn’t in the same league as those classics, but
remains an entertaining curiosity that makes for a good companion piece to the
similarly themed (though far less artful) American production THE BRAIN THAT
WOULDN’T DIE, which arrived in 1962, a full three years later.
The Story
The demented Dr. Ood works as an
assistant to the distinguished Professor Abel, who has developed a serum that
can keep a dog’s head alive while severed from its body. Ood decides to do the
same with a human head, and gets his chance when the professor suffers a heart
attack; Ood wastes no time decapitating Abel so he can keep his head alive in a
laboratory. He’s got a much grander pan in mind: to cut the head off a
hunchbacked nurse Ood has his eye on and graft it onto a stripper’s body, an
operation he needs Abel’s help in carrying out.
In short order, Ood takes the desired stripper back to his apartment, drugs
and beheads her. Luring the nurse into his laboratory under false pretences, he
completes the procedure, turning her into a beautiful woman over whom he exerts
a near-hypnotic control. Things don’t go the way he plans, however, as his
“perfect” female specimen turns increasingly rebellious, the police grow
suspicious and Ood inevitably goes mad.
The Direction
The subject matter is the very
essence of camp, but Victor Trivas treats it with all the seriousness and
solemnity of a funeral march, which is a large part of what makes THE HEAD so
appealing. Unfortunately, this also makes for an oft-dull and monotonous film
with a narrative that peters out in the third act. The masterful black and
white photography makes up for many of the shortcomings with its stunning
mastery of light and shadow worthy of the legendary Greg Toland (who, for those
who don’t know, shot CITIZEN KANE and THE GRAPES OF WRATH, among other
classics). The film is also quite atmospheric. I don’t know that I agree with
the blurb on the back of the DVD cover that “descending into the world of THE
HEAD is a similar experience to that of a nightmare...silent, transfixed horror
is the only possible reaction”, but I do heartily recommend this vintage oddity.
Vital Statistics
THE HEAD (DIE NACKTE UND DER SATAN)
Rapid Film/Alpha Video
Director: Victor Trivas
Producer: Wolfgang Hartwig
Screenplay: Victor Trivas
Cinematography: Otto Reinwald
Editor: Friedel Buckow
Cast: Horst Frank, Karin Kernke, Helmut Schmid, Pal Dahlke, Dietter Eppler, Kurt
Muller Graf, Christiane Maybach, Michael Simon, Maria Stadler, Otto Storr