The Brain That Wouldn't Die (1962)

Wow! Such a good movie.

This is How Movies Should Be Made

It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

A scientist gives his lover's disembodied head consciousness after a freak car accident. She then seeks revenge on the scientists who resurrected her as they plan to lure another victim to fulfil their scientific experiment.While having a silly b-movie premise and low production, this is a surprisingly gruesome and disturbing tale of science gone wrong. It's long and meandering in parts for sure, but it's eerie and unsettling story in addition to a highlight performance of Virginia Leith as Jan (known as Jan in the Pan) make it a worthwhile watch.You've got to give Virginia credit, it mustn't be easy playing a disembodied head and while there are some hammy moments, I generally liked her performance throughout. The most meandering parts of the film are when the scientist is trying to find a woman host, they are slow but for a b-movie from this era I guess that's what you generally expect.Interestingly, the film had such severe censorship and legal issues that it had to wait three years to get released! It has a surprisingly grisly climax and the overall reanimating the dead storyline gets under your skin a little. This is actually for the most part an entertaining horror movie that I'll recommend.

Yet another Dr. Frankenstein type attempts to play God in this memorable schlock picture. Dr. Bill Cortner (Jason Evers) is an unbalanced genius with radical ideas about body part transplants. One day, he's in a mad rush to get to the family country home. His reckless driving causes an accident that decapitates his girlfriend Jan (Virginia Leith). Acting quickly, Bill scoops up her head and takes it back to the lab that's in the country home. He's able to keep Jans' head alive in a pan, and although she would have preferred that he let her die, he's determined to find a perfect donor body.Despite its reputation, "The Brain That Wouldn't Die" might not be all that satisfying to some viewers, because it doesn't play out the way that one might think. It's rather slow and VERY talky, and there's a fair bit of padding as Bill spends time in a strip club ogling the bodies of the lovely ladies present. What the movie does have, however, is a script full of deliciously stupid lines. Written by director Joseph Green, based on the story by him and producer Rex Carlton, it gives Jans' severed head plenty to say. (I've heard some Internet wits refer to this movie as "The Head That Wouldn't Shut Up.") This also gives us a cool monster (played by Eddie Carmel) that remains hidden in a closet for most of the running time, only to emerge minutes from the end. There's a surprisingly high amount of satisfying gore in the full length American version. The scene where Bills' associate Kurt (Anthony La Penna, credited as Leslie Daniel) gets his arm ripped off by the monster and staggers around the house & lab is a real corker. The movie also benefits from a groovy jazz score.Evers gives a decent performance in the lead role. Leith is both a good sport and a real hoot as she rants from her place in the pan. La Penna is great fun, especially when his character undergoes an inexplicable personality change and exchanges words with Jan. Adele Lamont is tantalizingly sexy as Doris, the model who won't leave her house.Some bad B movie enthusiasts are sure to have a good time with this one. One might say that its head is in the right place.Five out of 10.

I forgot just how good this film was until I watched it again recently - it really is a good work of science fiction horror. A very creepy and highly underrated movie.The movie was due to be released in 1959 but there was some legal and censoring issues. The movie was finally released in 1962. What is interesting is in the beginning of the film where Dr. Bill Cortner stated that "one day there will be limb and organ transplants". The first real life successful organ transplant was a kidney transplant in 1954 and the second successful was also a kidney transplant in 1962.In real life: The world's first full face transplant took place in Spain 2010.One can also look up "Head Transplant" and find out there were successful head transplants in real life successfully performed using dogs, monkeys and rats but NO human head (that is known) - all this during the 1950s.LOOK UP the 2015 CNN article: "Are human head transplants coming soon?" and the Wall Street Journal's 2015 article: "Surgery's Far Frontier: Head Transplants" -- then you will see just how realistic this film is - it was ahead of it's time like "Frankenstein". With all this said, the film "The Brain That Wouldn't Die (1962)" is a bit more realistic! To me, Dr. Bill Cortner is "mad" because he was more than willing to kill a woman for her body just to put the head of his fianceé on another woman's body. He has no care at all for life of his fellow humans - he only cares about his scientific experiments no matter how sinister they become.This is a great late night film! A great film to watch for horror and science fiction fans alike! 9/10

A doctor (Jason Evers) experimenting with transplant techniques keeps his girlfriend (Virginia Leith)'s head alive when she is decapitated in a car crash, then goes hunting for a new body.This film was made in 1959, but floated around a bit until picked up (and re-cut) by American International and Sam Arkoff. Over the years, and due largely to its falling into public domain, it has become a late-night staple. Many people -- and all horror fans -- have probably seen this film in some form.Worth pointing out is that the monster in the closet is played by Eddie Carmel in his first "cinematic role". Carmel was a well-known Israeli-born circus performer who worked under the name "The Jewish Giant". Those who want to see him in action again ought to track down a copy of "50,000 B.C. (Before Clothing)" (1963). Interestingly, author Tony Sasso believes the monster in the closet is symbolic of repressed homosexuality. It is an interesting interpretation, and one he makes a big deal out of, but I certainly have my doubts on its veracity: the "closet" metaphor did not really take root until the 1960s, so there is no way the writers could have referenced it.On the whole, this film is pretty decent, with some great ideas and concepts. In an age when transplants were still in their infancy, it makes sense to use them for a horror or science fiction jumping off point. And it is clear to see how this might have influenced other pictures. Some have said "Jan in the Pan" is a precursor to the head in "Re-Animator". Whether or not this has been confirmed, the resemblance is there.What the film lacks is some realism. Early on a brain is exposed inside a head, apparently without a skull. Huh? And later, a woman's head is lifted from a car crash without being cut or forcibly removed. It was just lying there. Maybe that is possible, but it seems rather silly.The film also drags a bit because it is weighted down by dialogue. Dialogue can be a very good thing, and create exposition or add character depth. Here, however, it just seems repetitive. Jan says variations of the same line multiple times. And even in the opening scene, the elder doctor makes a point of arguing against "playing God" multiple times. We get it. The film would be much stronger at 60 minutes than it currently is in the longer form.For those who prefer longer, however, Synapse Films has graciously released an uncut edition running closer to 85 minutes with more cat-fight goodness, and a picture that is vastly improved from the awful public domain prints floating around. Whether or not you want to pay more when you can get a cheap version for free is up to you.Still not good enough? Scream Factory has jumped into the game. They say their 1080p uncut edition, scanned from the negative, is "new" (suggesting it is even better than the Synapse print. That may or may not be true. But regardless, they have definitely brought out the superior disc because they have added commentary from film historian (and king of the commentary) Steve Haberman and Tony Sasso, who literally wrote the book on this movie. What really makes the Scream disc the must-have version is that it also includes the full episode of "Mystery Science Theater 3000" where the film is riffed. Well done, Scream. They previously released "Squirm" in two versions: the MST3K version and a new collector's edition. All features should have been on one disc. So perhaps they are learning...