Trophy Heads

So the plot line is that an obsessed movie fan kidnaps a series of 1980s "Scream Queens", and the proceeds to film himself killing them before doing bad taxidermy on their heads.

The sad lives of the former scream queens can't be any worse than their actual sad life that ANY of them thought this was a good idea. None of them have looks that have held up from their heydey.

It's not only torture porn, it's BAD torture porn. I just can't see who this film is made for. It demeans the Scream Queen actresses. It makes the fans look bad. None of the characters are likeable. Who are we supposed to be cheering for here?

Hard Pass... I wish I had.

Basement trash-horror fan teams up with his brownie-baking mother to ghoulishly preserve the magic of the passing generations of scream-queens.

Comedy horror mostly pisses me off, but this is a great idea. The genre is splashed all over the screen and, although a bit coy on the sex, this should hit the spot for experienced fans of US slasher movies. Myself, I can't ref the films or actresses.

Clunky production that gets into its stride, and I liked the performances as it went along. Dialogue and editing a bit slow, so the humour sometimes fails to spark and a lot of jokes are left at the table, but the pace is good. Favourite scene was at the audition, where the actors get to play it up. Plus the ending doesn't disappoint.

It also hits a good note on the nostalgia of a film fan - the first reaction to watching a movie recedes, the regret becomes overwhelming. Kill it before it dies. Mom!

Overall - low rent, dirty irony, but lack of sharps on the sleaze and humour.

Trophy Heads (2014)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Max (Adam Noble Roberts) is a loser of a man who has no job, lives in his mom's basement and all he wants to do is watch horror movies from the 80's. Frustrated that nothing stays the same and that his beloved Scream Queens are getting old, he decides to kidnap them with the help of his mother (Maria Olsen) and cut their heads off, which is what gives the film its title.

TROPHY HEADS actually has a very good idea in its head. The idea of a mentally messed up man, who lives for movies and finally cracks and begins to go after the people he sees in movies, is something that would have made for a terrific drama and I can only imagine what some top-tier directors could do with it. This film isn't that though as it's a Full Moon production and on that level the thing actually remains somewhat charming and at least is a great throwback to those, such as myself, who grew up watching these type of direct-to-video horror movies back in the 80s.

The real reason to watch this movie is because it features some of the biggest Scream Queens from this era. Brinke Stevens working as a massage therapist. Michelle Bauer is selling juice and signed posters to whoever knows her.Then there's Jessica Morris and Darcy DeMoss who are still out there trying to score auditions. Best of all is Linnea Quigley who finds herself selling the word of Jesus before she's kidnapped. It was great getting to see all of the actresses and another selling point of the movie is that it shows clips from their previous movies. Stuff like CREEPOZOIDS, SORORITY BABE IN THE SLIMEBALL BOWL-A-RAMA and HEAD OF THE FAMILY are seen and spoofed. We also have Stuart Gordon making a hilarious cameo.

The film was obviously shot on a very low-budget so most of the deaths are off screen, which is actually a good thing because the one that is on the screen looks horrible with its cheap CGI. The film's tone is quite charming in its own right as Charles Band is obviously winking at his fans and also showing off various Full Moon films. The pace of the movie is also quite good as it certainly manages to hold your attention throughout but you're enjoyable factor will depend on how old you are or what type of films you like. If you have no idea who these Scream Queens are or what Full Moon is then you're just going to find this boring as the same thing happens over and over.

However, if you're a fan of these Scream Queens then you're going to enjoy seeing them all together on the screen again. TROPHY HEADS isn't a masterpiece but I think it really does succeed at what it tried to do and that's be an 80's horror movie with these Scream Queens.

Living with his psychotic mother, a deranged movie fan decides to start leaving a different legacy than he has and kidnaps the scream queens he loved in his youth to recreate his favorite scenes with them against their will only to kill them at the end, forcing them to find a way to stop his plans.

Overall, this was a fairly fun genre effort. One of the stronger efforts with this is the generally impressive psychological character study here that gets this one involved in a chilling enough setup. Getting to know the main lead and the relationship dynamic he has with his mom gives everything its main focus, whether it be the deranged mindset that allowed the hunting and gathering to go on or the highly deranged obsession with the films that fostered his desire to take the movies literally. Seeing how the loser lifestyle has left him living like a pathetic antisocial virgin stuck in his mother's basement watching everything over and over again until he formulates this particular plan is a fine way to delve into his particular psyche to concoct and pull off the type of plot featured here. As they continue with the capture and recreations of the various films from their career, the taunting and tormenting the disembodied voices pull off with their quips and comebacks to how it's all taking place complete the picture incredibly well. This sets up the film's main focus where it focuses on a rather loose interpretation of famous sequences involving the main characters and their past movie careers. Featuring cheesy and somewhat silly abduction scenes that are silly enough for what they are, the main series of encounters that take place here involve the fateful recreations as best they can which allows for a solid series of scenes here. Starting with the initial sequence with the alien abduction, the chase through the woods, or the flashlight-driven search through the compound, the sequences in place here are quite intriguing with how they manage to bring about the idea of the whole thing being done as a cheap imitation of the original sequence if not being an outright recreation. That makes the brutality displayed during these segments quite nice as everything is changed around into a new outcome as the action takes place throughout here as the comedy of the situation helps to add another fine layer over everything, making for a really fun time here. There are a few minor drawbacks to be had with this one that hold it back. One of the main flaws here is the film's odd structure of how the various women get introduced into the storyline which comes off rather bizarrely. With the idea of the girls getting kidnapped at random and forced to stay chained in the basement until it's their time, interrupting everything to then go kidnap someone else and keep them locked up before going back to someone they had kidnapped before, there's a decidedly unconventional structure here that comes about with not having them together the whole time. Abducting the girls and forcing them to go through everything knowing what's going on from the very start is a much better use of time here instead of having to repeat the idea every time someone else comes into the equation. As well as some rather obvious low-budget limitations that are in place here, these are what bring the film down.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language, and Nudity.

Trophy Heads (2014) is a Full Moon Features movie I recently watched on Tubi. The storyline follows a serial killer and his mom on a mission to collect the heads and mount them on his wall of all the famous scream queens. Unfortunately for the killer, the queens won't stop talking to him even after being killed and mounted.

This movie is directed by Charles Brand (Puppetmaster) and stars Maria Olsen (Paranormal Activity 3), Adam Noble Roberts (Evil Bong 666), Brinke Stevens (The Slumber Party Massacre), Darcy DeMoss (Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives), Jacqueline Lovell (The Killer Eye), Linnea Quigley (Night of the Demons) and Carel Struycken (The Addams Family).

I liked the storyline and the concept, which definitely had potential. The main character and his mother could have been better written but they were fun to watch as the movie evolves. The acting overall is fairly mediocre but the film didn't take itself seriously and it felt that way. The kill scenes are just okay and the CGI blood was bad. The best part of the movie is a random topless character that sits in a jail cell the entire film.

Overall Brand had a good concept and cast for this movie but didn't seem to take the potential of the film serious enough. Unfortunately this is a mess that could have been good. I would score this a 4/10 but would still recommend seeing it once for horror genre enthusiasts.