There's Always A Motorcycle: The Incredible 2-Headed Transplant

THE INCREDIBLE 2-HEADED TRANSPLANT (1971)

Run Time: 1:28:00
Producer: Mutual General
Director: Anthony M. Lanza
Writer: James Gordon,  Lawrence, Ross Massbaum
Key Cast: Bruce Dern, Pat Priest, Casey Kasem

FILM MAKERS

Last week we brought you the drive-in cult classic The Thing With Two Heads (1972). A film that snuck into the archive with one epic chase scene and fantastic poster art. But why a motorcycle reference at all? Well, it turns out that the film was a remake of one from a year earlier. The Incredible 2-Headed Transplant (1971) has a similar premise. Stick a bad guy’s head on a nice guy’s body and see what happens. Minus the racial commentary.

Also not a motorcycle movie, but one that’s dripping in biker cinema heritage. It was directed by Anthony M. Lanza, who directed the gritty trash classic The Glory Stompers (1967) four years earlier. A film known for giving Dennis hopper his first biker flick roll. The mad scientist obsessed with his secret two headed experiments is played by Bruce Dern, who has more Biker Flick credits to his name than just about anyone else. Even Casey Kasem (who plays Ken) once co-starred with Dern, as his brother in The Cycle Savages (1969).

With all this biker cinema pedigree, the film just HAD to have a motorcycle in the film, and it did not disappoint. While on their rampage, The 2-Headed Transplant encounters a biker gang who’s whips, chains and sweet choppers are no match for the terrifying monster. And so, The Incredible 2-Headed Transplant joins finds it’s own way into the Vintagent archive. 

During a 1978 interview on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, Bruce Dern revealed he was not paid for his role in the film. He was issued a check for $1,700 during filming, and when he went to the bank to cash his check, the check bounced. When he returned to the set on the next day scheduled for filming, the set had already been shut down. The film was shot in only six days and released shortly there after.

“Uproarious nonsense, looking very much like a piece of low budget Fifties horror and performed with very little finesse, but quite watchable none the less.” David McGillivray, The Monthly Film Bulletin