Rating: G
Genre:
Comedy
Release Date: 07/21/1998
Sound: 1
Run Time: 96 Minutes
Distributor/Studio: Rhino Home Video
The Monkees --
Micky Dolenz,
Mike Nesmith,
Davy Jones and
Peter Tork -- didn't really
enjoy being labelled the Prefab Four back when their TV series was all the rage in 1966. With the help and support of
Bob Rafaelson (co-producer, co-writer and director) and
Jack Nicholson (co-producer, co-writer, and, if you look closely, bit player), the
Monkees expressed their displeasure over being packaged for popular consumption in the non sequitur masterpiece
Head. At least, it
seems that the film is an indictment of the merchandising of pop stars. It's hard to tell at times, because
Head literally has no plot; it is instead a patchwork of loopy sight gags, instant parodies, "camp" cutups, musical numbers and wry inside jokes. Clips of such old movies as the 1934
Karloff-
Lugosi epic
The Black Cat pop up every so often, as does an impressive lineup of pop-culture icons:
Victor Mature,
Annette Funicello,
Sonny Liston,
Frank Zappa (he's the one leading a cow) and
Ray Nitschke, as well as such movie-trivia "answers" as
Timothy Carey,
Vito Scotti,
Teri Garr,
Percy Helton,
Logan Ramsey,
Carol Doda, and pre-
Divine cross-dresser
T.C. Jones. The best bits include a lengthy
Golden Boy parody which does double duty as a lampoon of the network's efforts to create "personalities" for the individual
Monkees, and a psychedelic buck-and-wing performed by
Davy Jones. One gag, in which
Micky Dolenz blows up a Coca Cola machine, is usually excised from TV showings.
Head did zero business when it first came out thanks to poor distribution, but it has since become a fixture of midnight-movie showings and campus cinema classes.
~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
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