The Thing With Two Heads (1972)

A cheesy good time

From prolific exploitation director Lee Frost, The Thing With Two Heads, is a cheesy but effective low budget AIP thriller that tries to make a statement on racism. How well it achieves that is up to the viewer, but it’s a fun ride. The effects are cheesy, the performances are over the top, and that’s exactly what I expected and wanted.

A dying racist surgeon played by Ray Milland has figured out that he can extend his life by having his head grafted onto another living body. They put forth the idea that criminals on death row can elect to be part of the procedure rather than being executed, and at the last moment a black inmate who swears he’s innocent (Rosey Grier) volunteers in the hopes that he can use the extended time he’ll be alive to find the man who committed the crime he was convicted of committing. Milland doesn’t have a lot of time left, so the doctors in his charge transplant his head onto Grier’s body with no regard for his racist sentiments. When Milland wakes up, he is unhappy to learn that his head is stuck to Grier’s body, and Grier’s brain still has some control over it. They escape the lab so Grier can prove his innocence.

The effect is terrible and cheesy, and that makes all the difference here because the premise is too ridiculous to be taken seriously. The shots that aren’t tight closeups are obviously Grier with a fake looking Ray Milland head attached to his shoulders, and the closeup scenes are no better as it’s obvious that Milland is just standing really closely behind Grier in a position that looks like it isn’t comfortable at all. They both give it their all, though, especially the Academy Award winning (for The Lost Weekend, not this mess) Milland. Director Lee Frost obviously didn’t have a huge budget so he stretched it wisely, having most of the action sequences take place out in fields. It’s a cheesy good time, and worth a watch if you want a sci-fi movie that doesn’t take itself too seriously.