The Amazing Screw-On Head (2006)

The Age of Commercialism

It's complicated... I really like the directing, acting and writing but, there are issues with the way it's shot that I just can't deny. As much as I love the storytelling and the fantastic performance but, there are also certain scenes that didn't need to exist.

There are better movies of two hours length. I loved the actress'performance.

Blistering performances.

This is the story of the Amazing Screw-On Head, a robot that works for Abraham Lincoln and the United States of America circa 1862. He is capable of attaching himself (a head) into various robotic bodies, some humanoid and others far more powerful. He is called to service when his arch-nemesis, Emperor Zombie, has decided to unleash the power of a demi-god.This short, roughly 24 minutes, cartoon was a pitch for a series for the SyFy network. For reasons unknown to me, it was not picked up and all that exists today is this one episode. Like another series that never took off, "Heat Vision and Jack", I think this was a great mistake on SyFy's part.Besides a nice limb-beating scene, the cartoon had original and quirky characters with a unique artwork style. Then you add Abraham Lincoln. I think one could compare the style of this roughly to "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog" or "The Venture Brothers", both of which were or are quite successful. Compared to the other original crud SyFy pumps out, this would have likely gathered them a respectable audience.There isn't much point in watching this cartoon with no others to go with it (the story is really minimal), but if you can get your hands on a copy, maybe give it a try. You'll see what might have been...

I don't recall how i stumbled across this as I am not a rabid comic geek - but I am glad I did. It may be I was searching for other examples of "steampunk" (as I am a China Mieville fan) - of which this is to me a perfect example.If you ever complained about overly predictable movies - this animation is not one. It is a wild ride from start to end with bizarre characters and story that you won't enjoy if you try too hard to analyze. So don't try too hard - just open your mind and enjoy the ride.I loved the poncy voicing style which fit the characters and the dry humor perfectly ("permit me to say poppycock" "you may" "poppycock.."). I also loved the silly but very original little touches like the "remote control flapping lips" on the Lincoln picture when he "telephoned" SOH - the first avatar.

I was not so excited to watch The Amazing Screw-On Head because I was visiting a friend from out of town and he insisted that I sit at the computer and watch this online rather than other things we were planning to do. But I was fascinated by it. The animation, firstly, seemed like it would not draw me in, however it is perfect for the noncomformist comic tone of the cartoon. There are so many pitch-black shades of definition in the images and at times, it's as if over two thirds of the screen consists of shadows. The creatures are watered- down Gothic with a coating of the physical presence of sci-fi and anime-loving, computer- savvy quasi-Goth-dressing teenagers. The colors are never bright or positive, always swampy, antiquated, and moody. Mike Mignola's visual style is carried through motion by director Chris Prynoski, who creates a grungy little onslaught.It begins as if it were a serious cartoon, violence preparing to break out, but then there is a hilarious German accent, played very incidentally. The show progresses into a very offbeat farce with a witty, creative sense of humor that grows elementally out of the material.The material is founded by terrific comic book concept, a robotic head that screws onto compatible bodies who works as a secret agent serving under Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War, and fighting battles that lead to points in history in completely different ways than how the nation believes. America having two histories is not something so far-fetched, and it latently satirizes the self-secrecy of this country's history.It's very troubling to think that network heads (no pun intended) didn't find this pilot worthy of a series, because there are many less intelligent and imaginative cartoon shows that have been turned into successful series, and that actually may be the reason why this show was turned down. However, in a sense, it may not be so bad that The Amazing Screw-On Head never grew beyond this twenty-two-minute passage. Perhaps the impact of such ideas that seem so fresh coming straight out of left field is greater and will stay as great rather than becoming old hat after awhile as the creators scramble to concoct more premises and build on the show's substance. The animation, like with many cartoon shows, might have scaled up the ladder to smooth, state-of-the-art, computer-assisted animation, and with a style like Mike Mignola's, it must be preserved in the grungy sketchiness that is present forever in this maintained little cartoon.

If you missed Amazing Screw-On Head from Sci-Fi channel, then rent, buy or download it now! This short animated film is brilliant, hilarious, and perfectly employs the visual textures and grimy, baroque aesthetic of Mike Mignola's world. It uses elements of Lovecraft, Universal Monsters, steampunk mecha, and Wild Wild West to plunge the viewer into a completely absorbing adventure.Amazing Screw-On Head is stylistically superior to both the 2004 live-action Hellboy and the 2006 Hellboy Animated: Sword of Storms. This production has more in common with Mignola's concept work on Bram Stoker's Dracula, Blade II, and Disney's Atlantis. His monsters are both horrific and lovable, his hero is upright (when attached to his body), and his villains are truly sinister.Attn Cartoon Network and Sci-Fi: Screw-On Head should be a template for future Hellboy and BPRD animated specials.