Indie Scene: ‘Skull Heads’ Has the Right Amount of Absurdity
The latest from Full Moon proves to be their best in a while
written by August White
directed by Charles Band
When thinking of Full Moon Feature’s output since the brands resurgence some five years ago, the type of pictures that come to mind are typically schlocky B-movies featuring some strange little creatures. As of late, the company has been trying to bring back their glory days of the early nineties, with varying results. The efforts thus far have mostly been producing sequels to their popular titles, but their latest production, Skull Heads, feels a lot more like a Full Moon “classic.”
Naomi Arkoff (Robin Sydney, Evil Bong) is a typical teenage girl. She likes listening to her iPod and using her cell phone… that is, until her parents catch her. You see, if her insanely strict father finds his daughter doing anything of which he does not approve, he casts her down to the basement of their isolated, Roman castle where he punishes her on a torture rack. One day, a Hollywood director and a pair of producers show up at the castle, revealing that they would like to use the location for their upcoming film. The father doesn’t take kindly to strangers and kicks them off the property, but Naomi takes a liking to the crew, and it’s not the last she sees of them.
You may be wondering why the film is called Skull Heads. This is a valid question, as their inclusion in the film is quizzical. The product of witchcraft, the skull heads have inhabited the castle for hundreds of years, protecting those who dwell within it. It seems that the only reason the titular creatures are present is to give Full Moon another excuse to use weird little puppets, as they so often do. The film would work fine without them; they do nothing noteworthy until the last ten minutes of the film. In fact, no real action or horror occurs until that point. But the film still manages to work due to its interesting storyline driven by the dysfunctional characters.
Full Moon head Charles Band (Puppet Master) is back behind the lens with another script from collaborator August White. Their previous works together (The Gingerdead Man, Evil Bong) have gained cult success almost instantly based purely on the ludicrousness of their premises, but Skull Heads works because it has just the right amount of cheesy absurdity and balances it with horror elements rather than attempting to be humorous. It won’t likely become a cult hit like many of their other films, but I’d argue that Skull Heads is one of the most well-rounded Full Moon films in a while.
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