The Swiss-born star of many great French films (such as "L'Atalante", "Drole de Drame" and "Boudu Saved From Drowning") is inexplicably in this low-budget German horror film. Apparently he was really desperate for work (see the note on IMDb's trivia for this film) and so he was willing to be THE head mentioned in the film's title! What a sad thing to see such a highly esteemed actor in such an odd vehicle!
As for the film, it's available from Alpha Video--a company that only gives you the barest material on the DVD. There are never captions or alternate audio tracks, so this film is only available in the English-dubbed version. I have no idea if there is even a German language version available anywhere--though at least the dubbing is pretty good. Also, being an Alpha product the video quality is poor--quite grainy and appearing as if it was transferred from an old videotape. But, considering that many of their films are available no where else, you'll just have to bear with it.
An aging scientist, Simon, has done some amazing but nasty experiments in which he was able to keep a dog's head alive! When he is dying, his assistants plan on giving him a heart transplant to keep him alive. However, things don't go as they should and his ultra-creepy assistant (Horst Frank) decides to do the dog operation on his mentor--keeping his disembodied head alive. Oddly, the old doctor is able to speak (despite not having lungs) but apart from that the head effect is actually pretty impressive to see in a low-budget film.
The crazy and highly unethical doctor turns out to be an incredibly sick dirt-bag. His next experiment is to transplant the head of a disfigured woman on the body of a stripper! Apparently the stripper was an evil woman (having murdered someone) and the crazy Frank felt justified to take her body in the name of science--even though she was quite alive at the time! The newly transformed lady is happy with her new body but oddly she has some of the memories of the dead lady (how?!). When she poses for an artist, however, the origin of her body seems clear--she has the same birth marks as a dead woman...and the doctor did NOT transform your old twisted body but gave her a new one!! Ewww! Despite there being lots of cheesy disembodied head films (such as "Donovan's Brain", "The Incredible Two-Headed Transplant", "The Brain That Wouldn't Die" and many others), this one actually is a bit better and more watchable than most. Now I am NOT saying it's a candidate for The Criterion Collection or will be featured in a retrospective of the great horror films of all time. But, for what it is, it's well done and the somber tone of the film works well. While not a great film, it's very effective and worth seeing if you like such films.
As for the film, it's available from Alpha Video--a company that only gives you the barest material on the DVD. There are never captions or alternate audio tracks, so this film is only available in the English-dubbed version. I have no idea if there is even a German language version available anywhere--though at least the dubbing is pretty good. Also, being an Alpha product the video quality is poor--quite grainy and appearing as if it was transferred from an old videotape. But, considering that many of their films are available no where else, you'll just have to bear with it.
An aging scientist, Simon, has done some amazing but nasty experiments in which he was able to keep a dog's head alive! When he is dying, his assistants plan on giving him a heart transplant to keep him alive. However, things don't go as they should and his ultra-creepy assistant (Horst Frank) decides to do the dog operation on his mentor--keeping his disembodied head alive. Oddly, the old doctor is able to speak (despite not having lungs) but apart from that the head effect is actually pretty impressive to see in a low-budget film.
The crazy and highly unethical doctor turns out to be an incredibly sick dirt-bag. His next experiment is to transplant the head of a disfigured woman on the body of a stripper! Apparently the stripper was an evil woman (having murdered someone) and the crazy Frank felt justified to take her body in the name of science--even though she was quite alive at the time! The newly transformed lady is happy with her new body but oddly she has some of the memories of the dead lady (how?!). When she poses for an artist, however, the origin of her body seems clear--she has the same birth marks as a dead woman...and the doctor did NOT transform your old twisted body but gave her a new one!! Ewww! Despite there being lots of cheesy disembodied head films (such as "Donovan's Brain", "The Incredible Two-Headed Transplant", "The Brain That Wouldn't Die" and many others), this one actually is a bit better and more watchable than most. Now I am NOT saying it's a candidate for The Criterion Collection or will be featured in a retrospective of the great horror films of all time. But, for what it is, it's well done and the somber tone of the film works well. While not a great film, it's very effective and worth seeing if you like such films.
