The Brain That Wouldn't Die (1962)

The Brain That Wouldn't Die is one of the first American movies to feature gory violence. A decapitated head, severed arm, a throat is ripped out...It's one of those movies that contributed to the fall of American horror movies, along with Blood Feast and the idiotic zombie genre. Something tells me the director originally wanted to make a porn movie, but at the last minute changed his mind and decided to give horror a try instead. The main character/villain of the movie spends most his time looking at strippers, underwear models etc. It's incredibly perverted, and a waste of time.This is one of the worst movies in the Horror Classics (50 Movie Pack) DVD from Treeline Films. Skip this disgusting trash and read a good book instead.

This is a cheap and cheerful horror entry from 1962 that could easily have been made twenty years earlier, where huge swathes of conversational plot contrivances are passed between static characters in virtually blank sets. With echoes of Frankenstein, this story alerts us to the experiments of accomplished Doctor Bill Cortner (Jason Evers) who may or may not have been stealing amputated limbs from the hospital in which he works, to further his mysterious efforts. When his fiancé appears and pours herself all over him (still in the same scant hospital set) and says "There is nothing that can keep us apart," you hope against hope that nothing disastrous will befall the young couple.Yet, the plot is cruel, and pretty soon an appalling and awkwardly (cheaply) staged car crash occurs that tragically separates Jan's head from the rest of her. Worry not, for love conquers all and soon, her bandage wrapped head, fully made-up you understand, is brought back to life while Doctor Bill finds her another body.My tone is glib, of course. And while I am a nobody who will never amount to anything, the people behind this film have recorded something that will live on on celluloid – however, the tone here is never entirely serious. Although it is played straight – possibly too straight – and the imagery is occasionally gruesome (indeed, this was completed in 1959 but claims of its 'tastelessness' delayed its release for three years), there is a drive-in Saturday afternoon, tongue-in-cheek quality to this designed, it seems to me, to make teenagers groan and roll their eyes whilst enjoying every earnest moment.

Okay, so this movie has all the hallmarks of "B" scifi from the 1960s and 1950s. Cheap sets, bad acting, utterly laughable dialog ("I'll handle the brain area").In spite of all these things, the movie is underpinned by a great story line, no matter how poorly executed. So just like the classic 1960s Star Trek TV series (also plagued by cheap sets and bad acting), remember... STORY FIRST.And that saves it.The moral conundrum of when it is okay to tamper, experiment or try to save human life. The inner struggle that a doctor or surgeon must wrestle with between only doing what *should* be done to save people, vs veering over the line and trying to "improve" or "reconstruct" them. The clash between trying everything possible to save a person's life vs deciding that it is in their best interests to let them die (Is it ever? Can they make that decision if they are dying?) I'm the first to admit that I enjoy this film largely for its laughability, its sleazy dialog and background music, the tawdry story line of a surgeon trying to save his fiancée's head by not just saving her, but trying to "trade up" and graft her head onto a stripper's body. But unlike a lot of other schlocky horror/scifi movies, this one has a nugget of something better.

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...