This is a poorly acted- and cheesy as all hell- yet fun, 90's cult horror-comedy. It's kind of odd, because it starts out like it's supposed to be a children's film....but quickly delves into content that is clearly inappropriate for young children. It seems to be made for the teenage market- a type of film that is a rare breed these days.We start by following a group of comic-loving teenage boys- Tommy, Billy & Freddy. The boys have become good friends with the local newspaper clerk, Mr. Sumatra- a former member of the Haitian Police who moonlights as a Voodoo witch doctor. They and the local community are victims of bullying stalked by a gang called The Vipers, who are led by a thug named Vinnie. Vinnie particularly has it out for the 3 youngsters, as he desires Sally- the local beauty who is in love with Tommy.To end the torment, Tommy decides to capture evidence of the gang's criminal activity, so that he can turn it over to the police. To achieve this, he uses his camcorder to covertly tape the gang stripping down a car, which leads to their arrest.But snitches get stitches...as his actions, inevitably, anger the local mafioso who controls the gang- Big Moe (played by Meg Foster).After a run-in with the 3 kids, Big Moe orders Vinnie to whack them, as she feels they've become a nuisance that requires elimination. Vinnie is tasked with the hit and guns down the 3 boys in the street. But this is witnessed by Mr. Sumatra, who plans to bring them back from the dead so that they can reap vengeance on the malefactors who have been preying on the local community.To do this, he holds a Voodoo ceremony during which he turns the boys into re-animated shrunken heads that are equipped with special powers and hardwired for revenge. Billy becomes a sort of vampire; Tommy is endowed with the ability to control electricity; while Freddy becomes quite adept with a switchblade...oh, and all 3 possess the ability to fly, of course.A year later (after receiving training from Mr. Sumatra) the 3 shrunken heads- now animated with the souls of the deceased boys- are deployed into the streets, so that they can embark on their quest to weed out and destroy all the malefactors who are plaguing society.Together, they go on a killing spree. Particularly keeping an eye out for Vinnie and The Vipers. Interestingly, the malefactors whom they attack and kill, return as zombies that are sort of vampirically attached to- and controlled by- the shrunken heads. In that they've become driven to assist the boys on their search and destroy mission.However, Tommy has not only returned from the dead for revenge...he has some plans of his own. Mainly, to prove the love that existed between Sally and himself did not die with his body. A phenomenon which Mr. Sumatra has never witnessed before...Like I mentioned before, there is a really weird mix of stuff going on here: seems like a children's film, but heavily reliant upon issues of sex and violence, and all framed through an occult lens. That being said...it has a really nice style. Reminds me of Sam Raimi's Crimewave, in this regard. The film also uses a nice diversity of special fx: miniatures/dioramas used for shots of the town, traditional makeup fx for the shrunken heads and zombies, and the use of early computer animation for the animated heads, and powers, and such.It's also worth noting that despite playing a virginous little Goddess, 17 year old Rebecca Herbst will certainly have you pondering very deviant thoughts...as she is quite the little babe. Can't help but laugh when she offers up her tits-as-pillows to Shrunken Head Tommy, in order to prove she still loves him- despite his gruesome, cranial, form.Shrunken Heads is one of those bad films that's fun to watch. If this is what you're into, you will likely enjoy it.5.5 out of 10.

Fans of Full Moon entertainment might lap up this insane comedy/horror offering by director Richard Elfman (The Forbidden Zone). After being violently gunned down for sticking their noses in unwanted business, three kids are brought back to life through voodoo by their elderly Haitian friend as floating shrunken heads to seek vengeance against the head mobster who has a real identity crisis (a beautifully smarmy Meg Foster who's loving every minute of it) and her dim-witted thugs who did them wrong, by turning the thugs into model citizen zombies.'Shrunken Heads' is exceptionally well done for what it is, however there's a childish charm to it all and you take it for face value. Even with such an outrageous and macabre concept, it never finds a surreal air. It's plain, but that's because of the routine plot about vengeful justice set within a crime-riddled urban backdrop (obviously on a studio back-lot). Some laughable moments are achieved. Like the scene when it shows the ritual process of the kids being resurrected as a shrunken head and of course when they hand out their magic punishment. One slices the throat of its victim with it's blade (I don't know where it came from, but hey it's voodoo magic), another chomps and lastly electricity fills the final head. The special effects are cheerfully crude, but workably achieved with puppets and digital animation. Richard Brand's flamboyant score is perfectly etched in and the performances (Aeryk Egan, Becky Herbst, A.J. Damato, and an amusingly campy Julius Harris) are enjoyably brought across. Also in support are Bodhi Elfman and Leigh Allyn Baker. Richard Elfman does a modest injecting some pulpy visuals, despite some bumpy pacing problems and Matthew Bright's script is brightly silly. Wait around to the end as there's still more to show after the credits have some stop rolling.An odd little film.

Nine out of nine people who watched this have declared themselves to be mentally scarred for life. No-one should ever have to see this abomination. The English Language is poorly equipped to express how utterly, dreadfully atrocious this "film" is. It's really not worth the plastic it's made of. No greater crime has been committed by the human race in the entire history of creation; never is there likely to be anything worse.It was agreed unanimously that the scene involving the shrunken head of Tommy and the young girl's blouse was unbelievably sick and twisted; in fact many of us have not yet recovered from the ordeal and are currently sitting in the corner of the room rocking, sucking our thumbs and whimpering.The fundamental question on everyone's lips, however, has to be "Why???". How is it possible for anyone to create such a monstrosity and then subject it to so many innocent people? After viewing the trailer we thought that this film might be a laugh: how wrong we were.Please sign the petition to rid the world of "Shrunken Heads" so that no other poor civilians be exposed to it. Please, for the good of humanity.

I will assume those reading already know the plot or do not want to know it before watching. This is one of the more imaginative B-movies around. Elfman does not color inside the lines. It starts off as so many movies do, with the little guy standing up to the big ones, but it veers drastically from the standard formula in a quite refreshing way. Instead of rehashing the plot of countless other stories, SH takes cookie-cutter characters out of the cookie-cutter story and finds an entirely different way for its heroes to triumph.I highly recommend SH for anyone who is tired of traditional 'underdog' movies and wants to see something truly imaginative. Skip it if you need high-budget special effects to assist your imagination or if you are too politically correct to think for yourself.