Not to be confused with 1972’s The Thing with Two Heads or 1971’s The Incredible 2-Headed Transplant (or even 1983’s The Man with Two Brains), The Man with 2 Heads is actually Andy Milligan’s take on the old story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. After making movies about vampires, Sweeney Todd, and werewolves, it was only natural that Milligan would set his sights on Robert Louis Stevenson’s (although they misspell his name as “Stephenson” in the opening credits) classic tale of horror. He even throws a bit of Frankenstein imagery in there as this Dr. Jekyll (played by Dennis DeMarne) opens up a corpse's skull and pokes around in their brain.
Dr. Jekyll has performed a procedure that allows him to isolate the evil in someone’s brain. The old guard of physicians scoff at his ideas, and to prove them all wrong, he tries his new formula on himself. Naturally, it turns him into the evil Mr. Hyde… err… “Danny Blood”.
The acting is surprisingly strong for a Milligan movie, which makes the dialogue scenes seem downright Oscar-worthy next to something like The Ghastly Ones or The Rats are Coming-The Werewolves are Here. I’m not exactly saying they are great or anything, but it was nice to see some actual talent on screen for a change. DeMarne is quite good as the straightlaced Jekyll and has fun chewing the scenery as Danny Blood. The make-up and transformations for Blood are subtle, but effective. He basically just has big eyebags and bushy eyebrows, but DeMarne plays the role with intensity. Gay Feld (in curiously her only role) is excellent as Jekyll’s long-suffering fiancée and Julia Stratton (in her second and final role) is equally memorable as the comely barmaid, April.
Yes, there are still sluggish passages in between the gore (which is limited to a couple of decapitations and a brain surgery scene). Yes, the movie goes on about fifteen minutes longer than it really needed. Yes, there’s probably too many supporting characters. However, the highlights more than outshine the draggy sections. The sequence in which Blood smacks April around and forces her to bark like a dog packs an unexpected punch, and it ranks as some of the most effective work Milligan has done. If anything, The Man with 2 Heads shows what Milligan could do with a strong cast and a sturdy script.
As far as Milligan’s motifs go, this was the final film he made in England. Like many of his movies, it’s a 19th century costume drama/gore flick with lots of canned library music. The Milligan stock players include the reliable Berwick Kaler, Gerald Jacuzzo from Torture Dungeon, and William Barrel (from numerous Milligan productions) appearing in this one.
AKA: The Man with Two Faces.
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