Trail of the Screaming Forehead

My friend Ari Halpern was the script supervisor for this movie, so when it opened at The Egyptian in Hollywood last night, he invited me (and a bunch of his other friends) to come out and see it. It was written and directed by Larry Blamire, the man responsible for The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra--and like that 2001 cult hit, it's a spoof of the 1950s sci-fi/horror B movie.

Trail of the Screaming Forehead has the same tongue in cheek sensibilities of its predecessor--complete with inane and redundant dialogue, stock characterizations, overwrought and melodramatic performances and cheesy special effects. Unlike Lost Skeleton which was shot in black and white, Screaming Forehead is filmed in color and makes use of the Craniascope technology--whatever the hell that is! Most likely it's just figment of Blamire's sick and twisted imagination. The color, however, is well-used and kudos go to Anuradha Mehta for the production design. Kudos are all Mehta is likely to get as I doubt Screaming Forehead will be nominated for any Oscars...

The cast features many people whose names you might not recognize, although their faces will have you thinking, "Hmmm, he looks familar..." Such as Dan Roebuck who plays Amos,the first victim of the alien forehead invasion and who you might recognize as Artz from Lost--the high school science teacher who ended up accidentally blowing himself with by dynamite. Andrew Parks, who plays Dr. Philip Latham, has a long list of credits to his name--but in addition he's the son of Betty Garrett (also featured in this movie) who you may remember as Irene Lorenzo from All in the Family or Edna Babish on Laverne and Shirley.

Brian Howe plays Big Dan Frater in this film but I recognized him from his role as the guy who gives Will Smith's character his shot as a broker in The Pursuit of Happyness. And another Pursuit cast member shows up in the movie--James Karen playing Reverend Beaks--who you are sure to remember from multiple TV and movie performances. Larry Blamire even shows up playing the sleazy Nick Vassidine.

The movie is silly, funny and family-friendly. If you're a fan of MST3K, this flick might be right up your alley. If it doesn't make it to a theater near you and you can't wait for the DVD release, Blamire and Co. have created a series of shorts which are running on YouTube called Tales from the Pub which feature the silly send-ups of Twilight Zone type TV shows.