Shrunken Heads (1994) Review with RiffTrax.

Little Girls

Shrunken Heads (1994): 5 out of 10: Shrunken Heads is a horror-comedy film directed by Richard Elfman. The story is set a back lot meant to be an unnamed urban neighborhood and follows three teenage boys: Tommy, Bill, and Freddie. They are comic book nerds who spend their days trying to stay out of trouble while navigating the dangers of their neighborhood, which is plagued with a gang from the 1950s. Their lives take a tragic turn when they film a crime committed by a local gang led by a ruthless criminal named Big Moe. (Played in drag by Meg Foster)

Determined to silence the boys, Big Moe orders their murders. The gang carries out the vicious on camera hit, leaving the boys dead. However, their story doesn’t end there. A mysterious Haitian Vodou priest named Mr. Sumatra (Julius Harris), who had taken a liking to the boys, retrieves their bodies and performs a ritual to reanimate their severed heads. (Liking might be a strong word). The boys return as floating, shrunken heads, each endowed with a unique supernatural ability.

Now, as vengeful spirits, Tommy, Bill, and Freddie set out to exact revenge on the gang members who killed them. Their quest for justice is both grotesque and darkly humorous as they use their newfound powers to terrorize their killers. As the boys pick off the gang one by one, they eventually confront Big Moe in a final showdown.

Oh, and there is a love story about the adult gang leader’s 14-year-old girlfriend and one of the severed heads, which I cover more below.

The Good

The Good: Let’s start with a couple of performances. We have the late Julius Harris (Live and Let Die) as a newsstand operator and Voodoo priest. We also have Rebecca Herbst (General Hospital) as the love interest of both the local bad guy and one of the shrunken heads.

Both are excellent and deserve a better or at least more sane movie.

The Bad

The Bad: You know it is Predator 2 all over again. Haitian Vodou does not have shrunken heads people. Shrunken heads are the work of the Jivaroan peoples of Ecuador and Peru and decent canoe ride from Haiti.

You know what Haiti has, though? A history of horrifying oppression. None more vicious than the Tonton Macoute. They used to drain thier victims of blood and sell that blood to US labs. They also used Vodou leaders to suppress the locals. Guess what Julius Harris’ Vodou priest is a proud member of?

I mean, this is the equivalent of having Doc Brown being a former a Nazi concentration camp doctor before he hooks up with Marty in Back to the Future.

Shrunken Heads has so many wild decisions. Why is the gang clearly from the fifties? Why is it being led by a woman in drag? Why is the clearly underaged girl dating the gang leader?

The Ugly

The Ugly: Speaking of clearly underage girls… The music video for “Little Girls by Oingo Boingo was directed by Richard Elfman, depicts his brother Danny Elfman in an empty house dancing with girls and people with dwarfism, followed by on-lookers (portrayed by other members of Oingo Boingo) staring vacantly as he walks down a street with an apparent underage girl. It was originally banned in Canada and was named “the creepiest music video of all time” by The Independent.

I bring this up because there is a scene between two actors that may have just hit puberty that well… Remember that scene from “Re-Animator” where the severed head gave head? It is not quite that bad. (Or good. I mean, who am I to judge?) But considering the actor involved seriously does not look old enough to shave. Uncomfortable does not begin to cover it.

Normally I would give such a thing a pass. But with Oingo Boingo’s history, I have to admit I am a little suspicious. Kind of the same raised eyebrow I give the gratuitous shirtless teenage boys in Victor Salva’s Jeepers Creepers, or half of Woody Allen’s movies.

Plus, for a movie with two Elfmans working on it, Shrunken Heads’ soundtrack is pretty bad. It is wildly out of touch with the tone of the scenes it is in and the soundtrack sounds like it is going to break out the slide whistle at any moment.

In Conclusion

In Conclusion: The seventies, eighties and nineties are filled with “Kids Movies” that are outrageously inappropriate. From David Bowie’s pants in Labyrinth causing girls to spontaneously enter puberty to pretty much any scene in Return to Oz, causing depression and nightmares in any of the youth foolish enough to watch it.

Shrunken Heads has issues beyond the creepy underage love story, an attempted rape, extreme violence, Vodou, and the hero being a member of the Tonton Macoute.

For one thing, it has no idea what decade Shrunken Heads is supposed to be taking place in. I realise they were going for a similar out of time effect that Tim Burton achieved in 1989’s Batman. Shrunken Heads is alas more Dick Tracy than Batman. The fifties gang simply takes one out of the movie every time they are on screen. And hell, the fifties gang does a thirties gang style gunning down as if 1932’s Scarface wandered on the set.

There are some good things in Shrunken Heads. If they had aged up the main leads a few years, I think it would have worked a lot better. Male lead Aeryk Egan might have been fifteen when they filmed this, but he looks twelve. His love interest Rebecca Herbst, who was only a year older than he was, looked like she could be his babysitter.

RiffTrax Review

RiffTrax Review: 7 out of 10: There are few controversies that will get a RiffTrax fan’s ire up than the question if RiffTrax should edit the films they riff. the RiffTrax version of Shrunken Heads is missing about nine minutes when one of the lads in the comment section points this out RiffTrax responds “Like we did in the MST days, we review all of our riff movie subjects, and sometimes find the need to edit them somewhat in order to optimize their comedic value. With SHRUNKEN HEADS, we removed a scene of a sexual assault, trimmed some scenes of child endangerment, and toned down some generally “creepy” moments that we felt detracted from being able to enjoy this movie in a comedic setting, while leaving plenty of creepiness and “plot” intact. That’s just what we do, in the interest of making the movie enjoyable as opposed to a negative viewing experience.
We’re sorry if this policy doesn’t sit well with you, but we thank you for your feedback.”

Now it says something about Shrunken Heads as a kid’s movie that RiffTrax had to trim nine minutes of inappropriate scenes. In my review of the recent RiffTrax release Cannibal World, I stated, “I hate it when RiffTrax edits their full-length films. Now I have to sit through a horrible film twice to write a review.” and this is true. But I then go on to state that at least in Cannibal World the cuts of weird violence inserts made sense. (And made for a better movie).

I am at a loss why they cut a single minute of Shrunken Heads. I assume it was to make it funnier. And that is a perfectly fine reason. I have zero issue with RiffTrax editing a movie I am watching on a streaming service including thier own. Yes, I will now have to watch a horrible film twice to review it, but there are worse fates.

Where my dander gets up is when they sell the VOD for the same film and only offer the edited version. If I am spending ten to twelve bucks for a downloaded movie, I want the full deal. I think if RiffTrax offered the full uncut movie as an option with purchase, it would go a long way to solving the issue.

Also, if there was more rhyme and reason to what they consider objectionable, that would help. I mean Cannibal World, that I mention above, the lead actress is topless throughout the entire film (Not that there is anything wrong with that. I mean, who am I to judge?) and there is plenty of gore and cannibalism to boot. RiffTrax pick a lane.

Oh, and the Riffing is perfectly fine with the boys focusing on the weirdness described above and with some fine observations. Sorry lost the plot there for a minute.