The Brain That Wouldn't Die (1962)

User Rating:

3.4/10   

Director:

Joseph Green

Writers:

Rex Carlton (story)
Joseph Green (screenplay)

Release Date:

10 August 1962 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Alive... without a body... fed by an unspeakable horror from hell!

Plot:

A doctor experimenting with transplant techniques keeps his girlfriend's head alive when she is decapitated in a car crash, then goes hunting for a new body.

Plot Keywords:

Feminism | Cult Favorite | Cult | Doctor | Nurse

Cast

Jason Evers	...	Dr. Bill Cortner (as Herb Evers)
Virginia Leith	...	Jan Compton / Jan in the Pan
Leslie Daniels	...	Kurt
Adele Lamont	...	Doris Powell
Bonnie Sharie	...	Blonde Stripper
Paula Maurice	...	Brunet Stripper
Marilyn Hanold	...	Peggy Howard (as Marlyn Hanold)
Bruce Brighton	...	Dr. Cortner
Arny Freeman	...	Photographer
Fred Martin	...	Medical Assistant
Lola Mason	...	Donna Williams
Doris Brent	...	Nurse
Bruce Kerr	...	Beauty Contest M.C.
Audrey Devereal	...	Jeannie Reynolds
Eddie Carmel	...	Monster

Also Known As:

The Head That Wouldn't Die

Runtime:

USA:70 min (TCM print) | 82 min (uncut version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Canada:PG (Ontario) | Australia:R | UK:R | USA:Unrated | Canada:G (Quebec)

Filming Locations:

Tarrytown, New York, USA

Company:

Rex Carlton Productions

Trivia:

The last title shot reads "The Head That Wouldn't Die".

Goofs:

Continuity: When Dr. Cortner goes to see Doris, she is finishing up a photo shoot. He sits down on the right side of the sofa. A customer comes up to her to ask about a private photo shoot. The camera is centered on them but you can see Dr. Cortner in the background. In three shots the Dr. switches from the right side of the sofa to the left and then back again to the right.

Quotes:

Kurt: The paths of experimentation twist and turn through mountains of miscalculations and often lose themselves in error and darkness!

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Gotha - kult, kitsch og b-film: (#1.7)" (1996)

'60s Schlockfest

The opening credits bear the title THE BRAIN THAT WOULDN'T DIE. Some 80 minutes later, the same film is strangely billed as THE HEAD THAT WOULDN'T DIE in the end credits. That gives you an idea of how much effort went into this '60s schlockfest.

But that doesn't mean it's not worth watching if you're in the right mood. Jason Evers (who would later lend his considerable talents to such memorable efforts as A PIECE OF THE ACTION and A MAN CALLED GANNON) stars as a wacky doc who thinks it'd be just super to keep his fiancée's head alive in his laboratory after her untimely decapitation in a car accident. He's understandably not content marrying a head, so he seeks out an appropriate (though not necessarily willing!) body donor.

Much of the "action" takes place in the mad doc's basement lab (likely marking one of the final times the traditionally cheesy horror film lab set was put to use). Jan Compton (Virginia Leith), or Jan in the Pan as she's called, spends an awful lot of time yapping and whining. Another IMDb reviewer wasn't far off when he likened her to THE HEAD THAT WOULDN'T SHUT UP! Can you blame her? She's understandably not content to live this sort of life. But what's really holding her interest (and mine... there, I admitted it) is the doctor's other monstrous creation, which keeps trying to pound its from behind its single-doored prison. Will our hero find a body for his woman? Are the authorities on to him? Why am I enjoying this so much? Those are just some of the questions you'll find yourself asking.

THE BRAIN THAT WOULDN'T DIE comes to us in the tradition of PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE and THE BEAST OF YUCCA FLATS, though it's not quite on par with those films in terms of "so bad it's good" appeal. As incredible as it sounds, the picture is legitimately able to hold the viewer's interest with its outrageous plot and suspense built up over the creature behind the door. Sure it goes on a bit too long and sure there are dull moments, but what did you expect?

Admit it. If you haven't seen this one, at least part of you wants to. It's probably that part that yearns for pure, unadulterated stupidity from grown men and women from time to time. So indulge that inner glutton with THE BRAIN THAT WOULD'T DIE.