DOOMSDAY

“Be Kind, Rewind” is a relatively new feature here at DoomsdayDVD. Although the site is enthusiastic about the ever-developing format of digital video, there is also a great deal of nostalgia for the pioneering format in home video rentals, the videocassette.

“Be Kind, Rewind” revisits the horror VHS titles of yesteryear and their strong presence on the shelf at your local video store. You may notice that certain video labels will resurface several times since they specialized in genre films. Labels such as Thorn Emi, Wizard Video, Midnight Video (Select-A-Tape), Vestron Video (the old “V” logo), Continental/Comet Video, Paragon and Gorgon Video are among the few.

So read on, enjoy and experience the videotapes that were surrounded by posters, neon signs and were accompanied by high sale prices and high membership fees!

An odd company that stands out amongst the early independent distributors of home videos is Select-A-Tape, better known as Midnight Video. In the early 80s, this label seems to have only distributed eight movies on Beta and VHS, all of them “gore” gems from the 60s and 70s. Seven of their releases were either Herschell Gordon Lewis films or Andy Milligan gore efforts. Between 1982 and 1983, Midnight released Microwave Massacre (the only film that is unique in that it wasn’t a Milligan or Lewis film), The Wizard of Gore, The Gore Gore Girls, The Gruesome Twosome, The Rats Are Coming - The Werewolves Are Here!, Torture Dungeon, Bloodthirsty Butchers, and the title at hand - The Man With Two Heads (1972).

The Man With Two Heads is an offbeat Jekyll and Hyde story. Jekyll is working on a serum to isolate the presence of “evil” in the brains of the mentally ill in order to destroy it, thus eradicating crime. When he learns that his shipment of animals for experimentation is delayed, the impatient doctor decides to take the serum himself. When the serum turns out to not only isolate the evil personality within the brain, but amplify it, Jekyll desperately drinks the antidote. Unbeknownst to Jekyll, his assistant accidentally destroyed the original formula for his antidote and inaccurately re-copied the formula. A sadistic madman by night, Jekyll roams the streets of London as Mr. Blood, looking for torture victims.

Much like other Milligan gore films, The Man With Two Heads contains bad makeup and special effects, over-the-top acting, badly recorded sound (most likely live from an omni-directional microphone) and terrible camera work. Any scene transitions that consist of a fade-out were done by simply dimming the lights on-set. Wavy camera movements and choppy, confusing editing add to the bewildering “action” scenes - along with some out-of-place heavy fog. Some of these sequences border on bizarre, with Hyde torturing victims and audience alike. Some of the stock music used in The Man With Two Heads can also be found in the North American version of Ghidrah: The Three Headed Monster.

The packaging for Midnight Video’s The Man With Two Heads is presented in the standard fashion. Midnight’s logo consists of a skeleton dressed in a top hat and tux, all contained in a circle over the logotype. On the front of the package, the entire logo is over a black band at the top, separated from a theatrical poster reproduction at the bottom by two horizontal yellow lines. The poster reproduction is very colorful, with crude illustration from top-to-bottom.

The spine is nearly identical to the rest of Midnight’s releases, with the Midnight logo at the top (or left, depending on your point of view) of the spine (over the same black “band” that the logo is over on the front panel), the title, an inset from the poster, the VHS logo and the catalogue number at the bottom (or right).

The rear panel displays the logo and title at the top of the case. Three action stills and an interesting synopsis are printed underneath. A large Selecta-A-Tape and Vistar logo appear at the bottom of the case above the copyright disclaimer. A numbered sticker is affixed to the case (500, 948); it is unclear whether or not this is a manufacturer sticker (perhaps it was limited to a million coopies).

The Man With Two Heads has since been released to VHS and DVD by Something Weird Video; yet it is the Midnight Video version that is so collectible due to its oversized box and glossy artwork. Whichever version is obtained, this film is quite possibly the strangest version of the Jekyll and Hyde story ever put on film (with the major exception being The Edge of Sanity (1988) starring Anthony Perkins).

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