This muthah is the Citizen Kane of two-headed monster movies...

The Film: The Manster (Lopert Pictures Corporation, 1959? 1962? The date varies. Internet Movie Database lists it as 1959; Rotten Tomatoes also has a '59 release date; Wikipedia insists it was '62; AllMovie claims it was 1961. My DVD copy says '59; so far, '59 seems to be winning.) Directed by George P. Breakston and Kenneth G. Crane. Screenplay by William J. Sheldon, George P. Breakston. Starring Peter Dyneley, Jane Hylton, Tetsu Nakamura, Terri Zimmern. Running time: 72 minutes.

When I first saw it: Late 1970s, probably 1978 or 1979. 

A few words about it: The Manster kicks some major-league, jiggling booty. And you can take that to the bank, mister. An American foreign news correspondent in Tokyo named Larry Stanford (Peter Dyneley) interviews a reclusive Japanese scientist, Dr. Robert Suzuki (Tetsu Nakamura). Suzuki is a total nut. He has a big Mad Doctor Lab and he keeps his mutant wife in a cage (she's totally cool -- sort of like a female Japanese Hunchback of Notre Dame, and she drools and grunts... in short, this lady rules). The reclusive scientist injects correspondent with strange potion (after drugging his drink and knocking him out). Reclusive scientist instructs sultry babe (Terri Zimmern) to wine and dine Stanford. Sultry babe monitors correspondent as he becomes grouchier and grouchier. Soon, an eye appears on Stanford's shoulder, and eventually he sprouts a cocoanut-like head from his shoulder. Stanford also grows facial hair and looks like a two headed werewolf. He goes on a murderous rampage all over Tokyo. At a certain point, Larry splits into two people. Cocoanut Head gets his own body. Larry and Cocoanut Head battle it out. Cocoanut Head grabs the sultry babe and jumps in a nearby, conveniently located volcano. Larry knocks off Suzuki (unfortunately, he does this after Suzuki knocks off his caged mutant wife, the coolest character in the whole damn film). Larry's estranged wife arrives to pick up her hubby. In other words, it's a tired old plot that has been rehashed in movies a thousand times (not!). 

Why I dug it: I was about 10 or 11 when I saw The Manster. It was the movie of the week on Saturday night Creature Features. This movie had everything: Monsters, mutants, volcanoes, a mad scientist, a babe, a suave reporter. I watched it with my Aunt and Uncle and cousins (The Manster was my reward for enduring The Love Boat and Fantasy Island). The film came on TV late, around 11 or 11:30 p.m. By the time it was over, I was the only one awake! Everybody else had gone to bed. I was on the edge of the couch. I loved this movie! I spent the next twenty years searching for this sucker on VHS. Now, I own not one, not two, but three DVD copies of it!

Parting Shot: While it's the Citizen Kane of two-headed monster movies, that doesn't necessarily mean you'll like it. It's not a movie for everybody. It's a joint Japanese-American production, and you can tell it was filmed for about a thousand bucks and a bucket of chicken. The film is still loads of fun to watch and you really should see it, if you get a chance. It was the beginning of my love of low-budget schlock films. It's actually pretty well acted and the screenplay isn't half bad. I still watch it whenever I want to take a wonderful trip down Memory Lane... Grade: B.