The Head

The Head (1959)

Die Nackte und der Satan

The Body is Gone... But The Head Lives On!

A scientist invents a serum that keeps a dog's head alive after its body dies. When the scientist dies of a heart attack, his crazed assistant cuts off his head and, using the serum, keeps the doctor's head alive and forces it to help him on an experiment to give his hunchbacked nurse assistant a new body.

Date of release
1959-07-24
TMDB
5.1 / 10 (32)
Runtime
1h 31m
Genres
Science Fiction, Horror
Director
Victor Trivas

Casting

Interesting facts

The Head is a 1959 West German horror film written and directed by Victor Trivas, and produced by Wolf C. Hartwig. It starred Horst Frank, Dieter Eppler and Michel Simon.

Production

The Head was one of the 15 films from producer Wolf C. Hartwig and Rapid-Film GmbH produced between 1957 and 1962. Academic Tim Bergfelder described Hartwig's productions as "difficult to define" with the only common denominator being gratuitous amounts of female nudity, often provided by Barbara Valentin.

Prior to 1962, Hartwig would produce films with the financial backing of a major distributor, leading him to take cost-cutting measures in terms of production values involving film sets, costumes and shooting schedules. All 15 films Rapid films produced between 1957 and 1962 were based on original scripts, which Bergfelder described as "clearly derivative" to avoid expensive copyright acquisitions.

Hartwig had offered director Veit Harlan to direct The Head, which he turned down. The film was ultimately directed by Victor Trivas. Blaschitz wrote that the film was a low-budget production and was likely a economic necessity for director and screenwriter Victor Trivas than an artistic ambition. Kai Fischer was originally cast as the night club dancer Lilli in The Head.

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