Head (1968)
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75% of critics liked it
(20 reviews) -
70% of users liked it
(5,549 ratings)
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,… More 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, Rovi
- Directed By
- Bob Rafelson
- Written By
- Bob Rafelson, Jack Nicholson
- Genres
- Documentary, Comedy
- In Theaters
- Nov 20, 1968 Wide
- On DVD
- Jul 21, 1998
- Studio
- Columbia Pictures
Critic Reviews
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Variety Staff, Variety
The clean-cut kids and the created kinetics work up a 'so-what' reaction too soon in the 85-minute stretch seques from war to westerns to desert chases to mad scientist brushes in the Columbia lot.
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Derek Adams, Time Out
Despite obviously dated aspects like clumsy psychedelic effects and some turgid slapstick sequences, the film is still remarkably vital and entertaining.
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Renata Adler, New York Times
The movie is, nonetheless, of a certain fascination in its joining of two styles: pot and advertising.
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Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
Sometimes it succeeds.
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J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader
It's uneven but mostly a blast.
See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)
Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)
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Cast
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Peter Tork
as Himself
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Davy Jones
as Himself
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Micky Dolenz
as Himself
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Michael Nesmith
as Himself
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Annette Funicello
as Minnie
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Abraham Sofaer
as Swami
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Vito Scotti
as I. Vitteloni
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Charles Macaulay
as Inspector Shrink
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T.C. Jones
as Mr. And Mrs. Ace
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Charles Irving
as Mayor Feedback
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William Bagdad
as Black Sheik
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Percy Helton
as Heraldic Messenger
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Sonny Liston
as Extra
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Ray Nitschke
as Private One
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Carol Doda
as Sally Silicone
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Frank Zappa
as The Critic
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June Fairchild
as The Jumper
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Teri Garr
as Testy True
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I.J. Jefferson
as Lady Pleasure
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Timothy Carey
as Lord High `n' Low
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Victor Mature
as Big Victor
- The Monkees
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Logan Ramsey
as Officer Faye Lapid
- Dennis Hopper
- Jack Nicholson
- Bob Rafelson
- Davey Jones
