User Reviews

while this is something of a rarity and a find on DVD it's too bad it appears to be just an old TV print which unfortunately has been cut to ribbons and would seem to be missing any "sexy" scenes or nudity (it's hard to imagine there was nudity in a film in 1959 but the stripper never strips and the hunchback loses her sheet in a very censored for TV like cut) also the print is very poor filled with flaws like almost every public domain title put out by this DVD label this is an atmospheric well made thriller that was ahead of its time like night of the living dead (another title this label puts out) the movie really needs to be restored and put out in the original language with subtitles by a class label in Europe or japan so it can be truly appreciated

Eerie little thriller regarding the deranged antics of a mad scientist who keeps a renowned professor's brain alive even after having to decapitate his head once the weak heart stopped beating. His plans include removing the head of a hunchbacked woman(..a crippled spine, but beautiful face), reapplying it to the luscious body of a stripper. Horst Frank is the cold-blooded scientist, Dr. Ood, who perfects the serum of Professor Abel(Michel Simon)and uses it to keep his head alive while disposing of colleague Dr. Burke(Kurt Müller-Graf)who threatened to stop him. Ood's a brilliant plastic surgeon having performed on the face of Lily(Christiane Maybach)who poisoned her husband and needed an escape. Lily's sexy figure is perfect for a crippled patient, Irene(Karin Kernke), who has been waiting for delicate surgery on her spine for some time, and Ood is only happy to oblige. Ood was once a guinea pig himself, his brain experimented on, his intelligence increased along with an accompanied madness that is starting to cause him to become more dangerous to anyone that threatens his happiness with Irene. Meanwhile, a paralyzed and mortified(..and tired)Professor Abel attempts to talk some sense into Ood, discovering that he's beyond reason. Dieter Eppler is a sculptor, Paul Lerner, who becomes involved with Irene as she attempts to leave Ood(..Lily was a model for Paul and a birthmark exposes Ood's crime to Irene's dismay). Helmut Schmid, as Bert, is a loyal assistant to Abel(..and eventually, albeit reluctantly, with Ood)who becomes an adversary of Ood's when he uncovers his secrets involving the professor's unfortunate situation.

As other user comments have elaborated, and rightfully so, it's hard not to think of THE BRAIN THAT WOULDN'T DIE when watching THE HEAD because both films deal with a victim's severed head left alive, their demands for death gone unanswered as the ones responsible have other disturbing plans in store...and both share the link of an attractive model being chosen to as a host body for the titular head. What separates the films is mood and tone. Director(..and writer)Victor Trivas is able to create an unsettling atmosphere that is ever present and Frank's reserved approach(..until the end where Ood is finally overwhelmed by his insanity) to his obviously cuckoo scientist add a quality woefully missing in THE BRAIN THAT WOULDN'T DIE. Plus, THE HEAD is more focused and far less corny, clearly exploring implications from a series of devious, coordinated procedures by Ood whose sole purpose, it seems, is benefiting his own twisted agenda, obtaining the prize that is Irene, his creation. Kernke, once operated on, has quite an alluring sex appeal(..her figure finally revealed after wearing a robe covering her body, bent and hunched as she walked) which calls to our attention just why Ood desires her to the point of violent obsession. The visual effect of Abel's head, absent a body, is impressive considering when the film was made..I mean, you have an idea of how it was pulled off, but still, I've seen far worse effects in the past(..even regarding the use of CGI). Effective score also adds much to the macabre behavior of the film's protagonist. A bonafide sleeper I think is worth a look.

No, this isn't the psychedelic Monkees movie from 1968; that one's just called "Head." Rather, "The Head" is a West German horror production from 1959--and a very good one, as it turns out--that tells a freaky story of a wholly different kind. As "The Psychotronic Encyclopedia of Film" so astutely reminds us, the film was released in the same year as the similarly themed American film "The Brain That Wouldn't Die," and is just as way-out an experience. In it, Michel Simon--French star of such classic '30s films as "La Chienne," "Boudu Saved From Drowning" and "L'Atalante"--plays a scientist, Dr. Abel, who has devised something called Serum Z, which will allow human and animal tissue to survive independently of their donors' bodies, thus making possible organ transplants and other innovations (this, eight years before the first actual successful heart transplant on Louis Washkansky in 1967). When his new assistant, Dr. Ood, attempts to transplant the healthy heart of a recently deceased hobo into Abel's failing body, the operation goes badly. Good thing that Ood can then decapitate Abel's titular noggin and keep it alive and healthy with the new wonder serum! And as if that weren't enough for one film, Ood--wonderfully played by Horst Frank--soon decides to operate on his pretty hunchbacked nurse, and attach her head onto the hottie body of a local stripper! Holy mix and match!

Anyway, "The Head" is a surprisingly interesting and involving film. It features better than adequate acting (Karen Kernke as Irene the hunchback and Christiane Maybach as the obnoxious stripper are both memorable), especially by Frank as the insane, ultimately pathetic and moon-raving Ood (Dr. Odd would be more like it!). Writer/director Victor Trivas brings in his film with a good deal of seedy style, and the look of the picture, with its Expressionistic sets, is often startling. Indeed, I was not surprised to learn that the set decorator here was Hermann Warm, who had earlier worked on such classic films as "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari," "The Passion of Joan of Arc" and "Vampyr." Although my "Psychotronic" bible maintains that the FX are "pathetic" here, I must respectfully disagree. Actually, the sight of Simon's homely noggin, resting in a dish and connected to wires and bubbling chemical tanks, is most impressive. Throw in some moody B&W photography and a musical score by Willy Mattes and Jacque Lasry that sounds like the "Space" segment of a Grateful Dead concert and you've got quite a striking little film indeed. Even this typically crummy-looking DVD from those indolent underachievers at Alpha Video cannot ruin this experience.

I found the Head to be a very good film, for a low budget horror film. The film starts with a Dr. Abel working on an experiment to keep dead tissue alive for transplants. He succeeds in keeping a dogs head alive for a few months. Abel is then visited by a Dr. Ood, who works with Abel on some experiments. After Abel dies of a heart attack, and Ood takes over cutting off Abel's head and keeping it alive. Ood proceeds to go against Abel's wishes using the experiments for his own desires. Later in the film Ood meets up with an old acquaintance, a stripper named Lily and kills her. He then transplants his beautiful assistant's head(who has a deformed body) on Lily's body. The assistant befriends a young sculptor, who helps her escape the clutches of Dr. Ood. At the conclusion of the film Ood driven with insanity throws himself from the roof of the house. The film is very similar to the movie The Brain that wouldn't die. How ever the Head manages to deliver. It's a bit dull in some parts, but for the most part is very entertaining to watch. The film quality is a bit grainy. The acting is very good for a low budget movie. Horst Frank dose a fantastic job of playing, the raving mad scientist and the other actors are not too bad either. If you are looking for a unique b movie this is right up your ally. I give the Head a 5 out of 10.

The Head was a much more enjoyable movie than I would have thought, given the other user comments I have seen. I found it to be a very entertaining film, with some atmospheric photography and a fairly engaging storyline.

It kind of reminded me of a cross between The Brain That Wouldn't Die and Atom Age Vampire ... though just an idea from the former, coupled with the stylishness of the other film.

The film is a little disjointed in the beginning, as it takes a bit to decide whether its a Gothic horror film or a modern sci-fi mystery, but once things get going, the movie is fairly engrossing until the end.

A rather interesting b-movie Euro 50s entry from Germany , that relies somewhat successfully on atmosphere and music to create interest .Horst Frank is good as Dr. Ood the mad scientist with bushy eyebrows ,Dieter Eppler is amusing as the rich kid would be sculptor who spends most of his time chasing strippers .I don't know where this was shot , I believe it was some privately owned studio , but the atmosphere is bleak and dark and forbodding , it has a lot to do with any interest this film has , and the music is also dark and a good companion to the Gothic style that director Victor Trivas was apparently going for , if you've got an hour to kill there are worse ways .

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.

Professor Abel (a sturdy portrayal by Michel Simon) creates a serum that enables human heads to stay alive after the body dies. After Abel suffers a heart attack, his crazed assistant Dr. Brandt (expertly essayed with sinister aplomb by Horst Frank) uses the serum to keep Abel's head alive and plans to transplant the head of beautiful, but hunchbacked nurse Irene Sander (a sound and sympathetic performance by the lovely Karin Kernke) onto the sumptuous body of exotic dancer Stella (sexy blonde Christiane Maybach). Writer/director Victor Travis relates the compelling story at a steady pace and treats the potentially lurid subject matter with admirable taste and restraint. Moreover, this film is acted with praiseworthy conviction and sincerity by the able cast, with Kernke a touching stand-out throughout. While there isn't much in the way of action, this picture is nonetheless still worth seeing for several nifty visual flourishes, the brooding somber mood, and the complex relationships between the unusually well-etched characters.

In the opening scene a man hides behind a bush. It is winter time. It has no leaves, but it works anyway. Professor Dr. Abel (he uses both titles) experiments transplanting organs. He can keep organs alive with his "Z serum" and has kept a dog's ahead alive. He has a bad heart. When he dies undergoing a transplant,the evil Dr. Ood, removes his head and keeps it alive in the serum (see cover). But Ood doesn't stop there...(see cover).

This is an interesting German sci-fi horror. For camp value I prefer "They Saved Hitler's Brain," which was actually his whole head that they tote around in the film.

It is black and white even though all the cover photos are in color. A decent oldie if you are into old cheese.