moment of Xihu’s awakening, when a whole Karloffian dimen­ sion in Guillermo Cramer’s facial features becomes strikingly ap­ parent, and also the emergence of a large spider from behind Acatl’s Aztec mask. Clearly influ­ enced by Karl Freund’s THE MUMMY (1932) and also by Bava s CALTIKI THE IMMORTAL MONSTER (1959) and BLACK SUNDAY (1960), the movie also conveys a stronger sense of Paul Naschy’s future work than any­ thing else that came before, per­ haps because the severed head of Acati bears a strong resem­ blance to Naschy as he ap­ peared (similarly beheaded) in the memorable HORROR RISES FROM THE TOMB [El Espanto Surge sur le Tomba, 1973]. This disc was released sans
Guillermo Cramer lends surprisingly Karloffian presence to the role of Xihu, the murderous mummy of THE LIVING HEAD.
Ring of Death while unknowingly presiding over the heart-ripping sacrifices of her father’s col­ leagues, which are carried out by the blade-wielding slave Xihu (Guillermo Cramer). Becoming conscious of her crimes, Martha throws the ring away, but it is retrieved by her fiancé Robert (Mauricio Garcés) just as the head of Acati demands the blood of Prof. Mueller. Abel Salazar, the hapless star and co-producer of CJrueta’s surreal gem THE BRAINIAC (1961), is featured in the rather meaning­ less role of police Inspector Holiday. At one point in this lunacy,
Prof. Mueller says, “You see, at times our dreams make us wit­ ness things that are not only ter­ rifying, but completely absurd.”
Like THE BRAINIAC, THE LIVING HEAD is like that—a swoony mix­ ture of the risible, the absurd, and the sublime; the kind of movie that invites one to laugh along with its nonsense, while offset­ ting its half-intentional humor with some genuinely atmo­ spheric, eerie (and gruesome) epiphanies. Among the yocks: The 1525 opening scene illus­ trates the passing of time with an asymmetrical leap to 1661 and various other ’61 graphics recycled from THE BRAINIAC before ending up in... 1963! Also, one of the murder victims owns a photo of himself and his two fellow archaeologists exploring Acatl’s tomb, where no pictures were taken—and where no fourth member was along to chronicle the event! Among the chills: the
cover art, but its plain keepcase contains one of the cleanest transfers Beverly Wilshire ever released. The source print has some fleeting speckles, big and small, and it’s possible that some footage involving Martha was cut prior to her first appearance in this English version (there are references to important actions not shown, and the original run­ ning time was reportedly 79m), but it actually looks and sounds pretty good. There are six chap­ ter marks, nondescriptly titled. Trash Palace Video (
www.trashpalace.com) sells THE LIVING HEAD for only $9.98. Call 301- 681-4625, or e-mail Brian@
trashpalace.com, and tell him VW sent you! Incidentally, fans of the En­
glish-language Mexican horror films should check out Rob Craig’s new K. Gordon Murray website (
www.kgordonmurray. com), which contains some great graphics, synopses, memorable quotes, and a lot of fascinating new information about Murray’s many imports. —Tim Lucas
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