Terrifying Tuesday: Head (a.k.a. Premonition) (1972)

The director of tonight’s film got his start in horror in the most unlikely of places, The Brady Bunch. Well, OK, maybe it’s not exactly horror, but I would have to imagine that living in a house with six kids would be pretty horrific. In fairness, the Brady Clan, for which Alan Rudolph served as Assistant Director on eleven episodes, was not his first job. He served in the same capacity on the Jim Brown/Gene Hackman film Riot and the Ryan O’Neal version of Elmore Leonard’s The Big Bounce. What we’re here to talk about tonight is his very first film. Produced, directed, and written by Rudolph, Head (a.k.a Premonition a.k.a The Impure) is a different kind of horror film. In fact, it may not even be one at all.

A few days back, I wrote about Fulci’s Lizard in a Woman’s Skin in which the leading lady is menaced by nightmarish hippies. In Head (1972), it is the hippies being menaced by their own nightmares. It all begins when Neil (Carl Crow) takes a job with anthropology professor Kilrenny (Victor Izay), and they find an Indian skeleton in the Mexican desert. Kinrenny and Neil load it into the truck. As soon as Neil touches the skeleton he is troubled by strange visions, but he’s not sure if they are real or hallucinations from the local “devil’s weed“. Driving blind through the desert, Neal crashes the truck off a side of a cliff, and while the two men escape, the skeleton is lost forever. Three years later, Neal has cleaned himself up, and now he’s devoting his time to his new band with Baker (Winfrey Hester Hill) and Andy (Tim Ray). When they movie to a Southern California farm to practice, Neil and Andy both start having nightmares, similar to the visions Neil had on that night in the desert. What starts off as an attempt to live the rock and roll dream ends up plunging the group into a nightmare from which they might not return.

While Rudolph’s hippie horror fest fails to produce any real scares, it does succeed in building a very tense, trippy atmosphere throughout. By 1972, the hippie movement was beginning to fade, and the thought that drug use had warped many young minds was on the national consciousness. Neil comes off like a dippy acid casualty with his troubled, pained expressions and fearful worry over something he may or may not have seen. Andy on the other hand is in the thick of it, constantly smoking the “devil’s weed”. The film devotes most of its time to character development, and Andy goes from a happy, well adjusted fellow to a dissociative loner.

For all the faults the film has; a disjointed narrative, an unclear theme, and a lack of any climatic moment, where it does succeed is in the acting department. Carl Crow had been acting for over ten year, mostly in television, but his biggest film role previously was in Elvis Presley’s G.I. Blues. Crow’s character seems pensive and a bit whiney at times, but I think this is what you’re supposed to get from him. I rather enjoyed watching him, but both the title song, written by Crow, and the moments that he spoke directly to the audience I could have done without. Tim Ray, who played Andy, also was very effective as the sensitive, classically trained musician that retreats into his own mind. Ray had only a bit part in a film prior to Head, and the only other role credited to him came some nineteen year with 1991’s Julia Has Two Lovers starring David Duchovny.

Winfrey Hester Hill, who played Baker, never appeared in any other films, and that’s really too bad. Not only did he exhibit a fair amount of charisma on camera, he also had a very good comic timing which lightened the mood in the heavily atmospheric film. The only other actor with any credits to his name was Victor Izzy, the anthropologist. Izzy has worked steadily in film and television since 1960 with roles in 1968’s The Astro-Zombies, 1971’s Billy Jack, and 1988’s Young Guns. He’s still going at it today and has appeared in 2006’s Employee of the Month and 2007’s Wild Hogs.

The most successful person to come out of this movie was director Alan Rudolph. He followed up Head with another horror film, 1974’s Nightmare Circus. His love of music and musicians lead him to work with Alice Cooper on his 1975 Welcome to My Nightmare film. Alice returned the favor by appearing in Rudolph’s 1980 film Roadie starring Art Carney, Meat Loaf, Asleep at the Wheel, and Blondie. I’ve seen it a couple of times myself, and I’m sure I’ll get around to reviewing it sometime because it’s a fabulous film. Rudolph wasn’t done with musicians yet, and in 1984 and 1985 he directed a pair of films starring Kris Kristofferson. The first was a broad comedy called Songwriter co-starring Willie Nelson (another great film) and the second a film noir inspired effort, Trouble in Mind, with Keith Carradine and Divine in his only non-drag role. Rudolph has continued to work over the years with the highest profile film being the 1999 Kurt Vonnegut adaptation Breakfast of Champions.

For a first film, Head is not that bad. I’ve seen far worse efforts from more experienced film makers. It will not please anyone looking for jump scares, horrific imagery, or gore, but, if you enjoy an atmospheric film or a glimpse into the roots of indie horror, then give this rarity a shot. You can get this flick over at Cinema de Bizarre, and when I say this is rare, I mean it is pretty dang rare. So be warned that the picture quality, though very good for what it is, is not going to be perfect. The sound quality is excellent though, and the few moments where the picture detracts from the film are brief and negligible. So check this one out, folks, and remember stay away from that “devil’s weed”.

Bugg Rating

The Lair's good pal Rev. Phantom recently made a hell of a great trailer for Head recently. So credit where credit is very much due. Check it out and enjoy!