The Brain That Wouldn't Die (1962)

User Rating:

3.3/10   

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:

Head | Laboratory | Transplantation | Doctor | Car Accident

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:

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

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:

Factual errors: When they are operating in the first scene it is really obvious they not really cutting anything.

Quotes:

Blonde Stripper: [hands on hips] You lousy tramp! Once in a blue moon I liken to a guy with class and *you* mess it up!
Brunet Stripper: Eh! What makes you think you had him? He wouldn't have you on a bet!
Blonde Stripper: [hands still on hips] Says who?
Brunet Stripper: Says me! What's a guy like that want with *leftovers* for?
Blonde Stripper: *Leftovers*?
[blonde stripper goes to slap the brunette stripper and a man's hand appears on screen slapping the brunette stripper]
Brunet Stripper: [puts hand to face in shock] Why you cheap third grade stripper!
[catfight ensues between the two strippers]
Brunet Stripper: Ow! Let go!
Blonde Stripper: Don't you ever call me that again! Oooh!
[...]

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Brain That Wouldn't Die (#6.13)" (1993)

A 1950s Mens Magazine version of a movie

With all the "teasecake" in Brain (shot in 1959 but released in 1963), the locations (a loner wandering through strip clubs, swimsuit contests, a model's studio, in a convertible following and picking up women on the street) and the wolfish emphasis on full-length shots of near-naked stacked women, the movie has the sensibility and style of the men's magazines of that time (with symbolic titles like Rogue, Knave, Dude, Bachelor, Caper, etc.). It's surprising that it hasn't been remade and updated, even if only for the cable or home video market, like Not of This Earth, Little Shop of Horrors, How To Make A Monster and other B programmers. Sure it's a cheap little film but that's the fun of it.