Trophy Heads (2014)

   

Produced, Story & Directed by: Charles Band

Written by: Roger Barron

Starring:

Adam Noble Roberts .... Max
Maria Olsen .... Mom
Brinke Stevens .... Herself
Linnea Quigley .... Herself
Michelle Bauer .... Herself
Jacqueline Lovell .... Herself
Denice Duff .... Herself
Irena Murphy .... Julia

Special Appearances:

Darcy DeMoss .... Herself
Stuart Gordon .... Himself
Carel Struycken .... Brother Humprey
Jessica Morris .... Herself
David DeCoteau .... Juicy Stand Customer

Release Date: Direct-to-DVD: June 4, 2014

 

 

Rating:

 

Max (Adam Noble Roberts) is a horror crazed b-film fanatic and tracks down the washed up actresses with his Mom (Maria Olsen) to kidnap them and to reenact their famous film roles...with deadly results.
He decapitates them and uses their heads as trophies of his own.

 

The beginning looked terribly trashy with Darcy Demoss running away terrified as well as both Max and his Mom cornering her in which I could tell that this was a film not meant to be taken seriously. This scene is campy fun but had a feeling it was a comedy as well as a horror by what I spotted here.
Also Max starts to make a trophy head out of her as we hear her talking to him which seemed awfully silly to watch. This was done in a real tongue in cheek sort of fashion with this actress showing an attitude towards him by what he did to her.
Then there's a prologue which seemed like alot of fun to watch when we have Max watching movies and looking at his VHS and DVD cover boxes of the cheesy 80s horror and other b-movies like
Creepozoids, Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl O Rama, Slave Girls from Beyond Infinity and fun stuff like that as well as him talking to his Mom about the actresses involved are washed up and stuff like that. It was nicely written in paying a tribute to that type of genre of a b movie fanatic and him losing his sanity about it all.
Then more fun happens when he tracks these women down like kidnapping Brinke Stevens whom is a massage therapist or a real trashy moment with Linnea Quigley now a bible thumper as I rolled my eyes big time as this looked pretty lame spotting all of this. Yet when they wake up realising they're trapped they realise they have outfits on them from the movies Max enjoyed them in as well as them spotting on a TV screen in the room they're locked in showing clips on Creepozoids and Slave Girls from Beyond Infinity with their discussions on them as well as a trapped customer of Brinke saying how bad those movies looked which I had to agree fully on.
Nice intense moment with Max forcing Brinke to run for her life like she did in Slave Girls as this made me cringe wondering if he will kill her or not and her being pitted against stuff she doesn't want to do. This scene was nicely put in but that flick was by no means a horror. I just wondered as to why the writers out this moment in. Yet it looked good with him doing a shoot on her while he plans to do something looking like a snuff flick.

More interesting moments when Max makes her head into a trophy and puts her next to Darcy with her interactions offering more silliness of course.
I got a kick out of seeing Michelle Bauer selling drinks at her own stand in which we spot a poster of Sorority Babes hung behind her as well as briefly spotting autpgraphed pics on the table. Plus we see Max approaching her as we all get the feeling on what he's going to do next.
Perfect dark moments with Max wearing a creepy mask towards Linnea and telling her on what to do and timing her on finding someone else acid will fall on her which was intensely done and left me the chills by wondering if she will survive this. Almost seemed to pay a tribute to the Saw franchise as it seemed psycholigical by what goes on here. Also a great moment when we think she found Max and trying to kill him which looked perfectly vengeful.
Hokey moments with both Jacqueline Lovell and Denice Duff in a room preparing for an audition for Stuart Gordon with annoying moments on the other cast members around them. Plus nice tension with the people doing a read for Stuart along with his attitude towards them along with a casting director falling asleep which offered a decent sense of humor. Plus we have some flaky people reading too which shows off how idiotic they are.
Perfect argumentive interactions with Jacqueline and Denice barred up with Michelle along with Denice arguing that she isn't just a scream queen and has done prime time work which was a nice add into the story. Plus good moments on them spotting the horror films they were in on a TV screen they spot there.
Nice takes in a dark room with Max filming and his Mom throwing bowling balls towards Michelle as well as one hitting her leg and getting injured. This was sharply shot on how everything was done.
Perfect suspenseful moments with both Jacqueline and Denice finding a way on escaping the room and going up in a vent only to discover it's a dead end which leaves perfect tension. Also great moments on them struggling against Max when they are forced to do a scene from one of their films which involves a coffin as this was nicely set out along with one of them trying to escape which kept me watching as to what will happen next.
Bottom line is that it's a film not meant to be taken seriously and a fun tribute to 80's exploited 80's scream queens although some of them haven't done alot of horror flicks to be crowned as one such as Demoss but still are remembered for the odd one regardless. It's nice to have a film out there to remember the old trashy bfilms that aren't talked about so much. They defentely need to be remembered and a clever moment on horror fanatics such as myself collecting these movies when VHS was big.
The film is a bit silly and at times a drag but can be a fun party flick if you're in the mood for it.

The acting is very tongue in cheek. Some of it is okay and alot of it looked pretty bad so I will go through some of the people here.... Adam Noble Roberts (Max) played the horror fanatic collector in which he drew well onto the camera by his obsessions with scream queens and does it with fair taste. Plus seemed to do okay acting crazy about stuff as well as coming across as a complete goofball too. Had the right looks and appeal for his role so I give him nice credit for all of this.
Maria Olsen (Mom) was a bit of a rough choice as his parent but seemed to try her best to pull her role off by acting loving and spoiled towards him. She seemed to come across as a bit of an airhead which looked well done. Also does an okay job while doing some demented deeds. Had some creepy looks to her which was okay.
Brinke Stevens (Herself) was plain as usual in her performance but yet adds a different type of reactions later on in her performance by freaking out when she's forced to do something in a film role that she's done before in which she showed off great emotional and freaked out intensity with her scared aggressions as this was one of her best performances that I've seen her in.
Linnea Quigley
(Herself) has lost her touch in performing lately and boy does she ever show that in this one by making out that she's a bible thumper in which she's too hyped up and not relating to her role at all. Terrible wasn't the word for her. Man oh man what happened???? I've seen her do rough performances before but this wasn't even funny at all. Yet she knew on how to act emotionally scared when she's pitted to doing something that she doesn't want to do.
Michelle Bauer (Herself) never was a great actress at all but seemed to do better than most of the cast members in which she shows off nice aggressions when she is trapped in a cell. Also reacts well to being in pain when pitted against some bowling balls. Offered decent energy into what she did in her part of the story but wasn't fantastic since she was always a mediocre performer.
Jacqueline Lovell
(Herself) was probably the best out of the whole cast in which she seemed to have a good level headed and brainy attitude along with being clear with her words. Seemed to really bring out alot into her part of the story. Offered some nice intense aggressions whenever necessary.
Irena Murphy (Julia) has an effective supporting role as a kidnapped customer at a massage therapy in which she shows off a nice stuck up type of behavior. Plus showed off a good sarcastic behavior too. She can be well remembered into her role to anyone who saw this flick.
Darcy Demoss (Herself) was humiliating in he rpart of the story which she appears in the very beginning by screaming and freaking out which looked over the top terrible and trashy. Yet when we hear her voice overs later on showing attitude she isn't too shabby by behaving like that.
Stuart Gordon (Himself) was a natural ham as someone auditioning others in which he does well being blunt and short with others while reading for their parts. He gave me the odd chuckle with his somewhat cocky type of behavior. I really liked his part in the story. A real effective cameo he had in this one.
David DeCoteau (Juicy Stand Customer) I got a real kick out of seeing him as a customer in which he hams it up with what he had to discuss in his brief role. Watching this was quite amusing.

Breast shots are revealed on a TV screen of a film
A topless customer from a massage therapy is behind bars being held as hostage

Many heads are decapitated as well as a headless body revealed yet the effects looked phony

Alot of strong classical deep violin music for the dark moments as well as it rising to a high pitched sliding screeching sounds whenever the terrors start to occur. We've heard this many times before during the suspenseful moments and works every time. Plus there's some string plucking here and there. Also alot of great hissing and metal sliding sounding great. Also some odd comedic music for the spots that were needed which showed nice timing too. All of this was nicely put together by Richard Band.