The Thing with Two Heads

source: The Thing with Two Heads

Trailer—The Thing with Two Heads

The Thing with Two Heads

Rosey Grier and Ray Milland are the most dynamic pairing in cinematic history. I used to think it couldn't get much better than Hepburn and Tracy but I was wrong. When I was enrolled in an anger management class, one of our exercises was to watch this film and then team up in groups of four to reflect on it and make macaroni drawings. I painted my macaroni red and glued it into a heart with "Love Thy Neighbor" etched underneath it in black crayon. My parole officer was so proud. Racism never pays and neither does beating your ex-wife over the head with a steel pipe. My favorite scene is the helicopter chase. It is in no way hokey or prolonged. TWO HEADS is the second greatest movie of the 1970s (I would say "the" greatest, but that title belongs to MITCHELL.)

Even as a kid, with very little taste, I though this had to be about as stupid as anything I've ever seen. First of all, the two men, Ray Milland and Rosey Grier, look like they are sleeping in the same bed and got stuck. Nobody knew what to do with their necks. Of course, the question is, "What would happen to a being with two heads?" This is an uncomfortable question when you think of everything. I won't criticize it too much because the campy idea of a black mand and an old white man stuck in the same body with their own thought processes is entertaining to a point. I just couldn't buy it.

I remember watching this movie with my parents when I was 10 years old. I also remember that we all laughed out loud during most of it. The primary reason for visiting this site today was to get the title of the movie to recommend it to a friend. In fact as I gave my friend the plot of the movie I began to laugh as I explained it. I only saw this movie once and for it to stick with me as being a riot for 33 years speaks volumes. I say too bad more movies that the whole family can watch together can't say as much. Rosie Grier and Ray Milland were a great team in this flick, check it out. This would be a great movie for a re-make. I could see a number of actors doing a great job with an update of this flick.

I must start off by saying I love "B" movies, but even if you aren't normally a "B" movie fan you will get a kick out of this 1972 American International Picture. This movie pairs Ray Milland as a bigoted doctor who is dying of cancer who has his head transplanted on to the body of wrongly confused death row inmate Rosey Grier. The whole movie is bizarre from start to finish. Watch the two head gorilla run amok in a grocery store! See Rosey and Ray on a motorcycle trying to outrun the fuzz! Whoever came up with the concept for this turkey must have been on crack cocaine or LSD. One has to wonder what made Academy Award winner Ray Milland to even consider doing this movie. He had to be drunk, completely broke or both to appear in this mess. This movie is so bad it's great! If you have never seen this movie I recommend that you rent it and then call over a group of friends, break out the beer and the popcorn and then sit back for a fun evening.

This movie took me on a roller coaster ride of emotions and left me entirely drained. There are some people who believe that art can change people's lives. "The Thing With Two Heads" has probably changed my life. After seeing the terrible ordeal endured by the title character, The Thing With Two Heads, I am now less worried by everyday, mundane problems and more focused on the true meaning of life. And, like every great work of art, "The Thing With Two Heads" helps us understand our human condition and question our role in the universe. How could The Academy have overlooked Rosey Grier's performance in this film? I can only assume Marlon Brando had done his share of brown nosing after the release of "The Godfather" to edge out superior performances by lesser-known talent, such as Grier's performance in "The Thing With Two Heads." An under-rated classic. 10/10

If you thought THE DEFIANT ONES was the ultimate in forced race relations, try watching this horror classic from "adults only" vets Lee Frost and Wes Bishop! Ray Milland (yes, the same Ray Milland who won a Best Actor Oscar for his excellent turn in 1945's THE LOST WEEKEND) is a brilliant-but-racist brain surgeon who is dying, but has perfected a way to live on through head-transplants. Someone out there decides to teach him a lesson by placing his bigoted noggin on the body of a black convict (former professional football star Rosey Grier). The heads fight, punch each other and go through many other genuinely (and unintentionally) hilarious slapstick scenes. Try not to laugh watching Grier running around or riding on a motorcycle with a ridiculous-looking fake dummy-head planted on his shoulders. Not to be confused with THE INCREDIBLE TWO HEADED TRANSPLANT (1971) or Andy Milligan's THE MAN WITH TWO HEADS (1972). Score: 5 out of 10 (Though a MUST for camp aficionados!)

Snowed in on an early December 2003 Sunday. Caught this one by accident on cable and couldn't stop watching. What a delightfully cheesy flick. The long chase scene was a howl. As the chase unfolded, you could tell most of the cars weren't even in running condition so they just pushed them off some steep hill to get them to roll and crash. The same car gets wrecked about 6 times again and again. The one liners are a riot. The acting, script and plot is too funny to even consider it legit. I'm surprised this didn't make the Rolling Stone 50 top cult film list. The music and score has that 70's wha-wha, bowchickabownow sound, right up until the end that is, when it suddenly turns Gospel, with Rosy, his old lady and the doctor driving off into the night singing "Oh Happy Days". What a wacky gem from 72! I recommend it if you're snowed in and you've got 90 mins. to kill. Enjoy!