Bob Laney (Tom Towles) and his son, Kip (Bentley Mitchum) are out in the woods poaching deer when they see a bright light in the sky. The light turns out to be a spaceship. On board are an alien pilot (Richard Wharton) and his prisoner (Robert Dryer). The prisoner, also referred to as the Borrower, was a violent criminal classified as too horrible to execute. Instead, the aliens put him into a human host “suit” and deposit him in game preserve on Earth.
Bob and Kip see the alien and what they think is a human. They shoot at the alien who runs off and flies away. The Borrower’s body tries to change back into its alien form. Its hands begin to push through the human skin and its head blows up. Bob and Kip think that whatever it is, it’s dead. Bob sends Kip to get a van to take the alien/human away. After Kip leaves the Borrower kills Bob and takes his head placing it on his own body and walks away. Kip comes back with the cops. Seeing a dead body with no head, they arrest Kip.
The Borrower, now with Bob’s head on its shoulders, wanders into the roadway and is hit by a car. The driver is a spunky airhead who puts him in her car and takes him into the city to the hospital, where she drops him off out front. The Borrower wanders away and ends up on skid row. He meets up with a homeless man named Julius (Antonio Fargas). The Borrower is shown the ropes around the mission district by Julius and his fellow homeless friend, Ruben Whitefeather (Tom Allard). The guys are sharing a pint of booze when the Borrower’s body begins to transform again so he “borrows” Julius’ head and puts it on his own body. Whitefeather freaks out and runs away. The Borrower continues his wanderings, borrowing a new head from time to time.
Meanwhile, police detectives Diana Pierce (Rae Dawn Chong) and Charlie Krieger (Don Gordon) are tasked with investigating the murders. At first, they believe they are hunting a sadistic serial killer. The more they investigate and the more headless bodies they find, and the more they begin to realize that they are on the hunt for something otherworldly.
“The Borrower” was released in 1991 and was directed by John McNaughton. It is an American science fiction horror film with comedy undertones and a little bit of splatter here and there. The film had a small theatrical release and a subsequent video release. The film is somewhat known, but it didn’t have enough strength to garner much of a cult following. It’s worth a quick look but I wouldn’t go out of my way to seek it out.
The best part of the movie is probably the music score. There is also a subplot about a violent murderer/rapist that does little more than get in the way. The two plots don’t join up until the end of the film. It’s not a great film, but it was interesting enough to keep me engaged. The movie also sported some questionable editing. The special effects were OK. There is one bizarre scene where the Borrower sports a dog head but it’s a quick couple of cuts and it’s gone before you realize what is happening.
The move was completed in 1988 but for some reason, most likely bankruptcy, it sat on a shelf for three years and wasn’t released until 1991.