A Quick Look: THE BRAIN THAT WOULDN'T DIE (1959/62)

    THE BRAIN THAT WOULDN'T DIE is legend in "bad" movie circles, though even those critics will usually grant that the picture has more going for it than one might casually observe. Bill is a surgeon who challenges the established medical laws by experimenting on whatever tissues he can get ahold of. Though he saves a patient's life after the rest of the staff has declared him dead, Bill is reprimanded. All isn't frustration, however, as he's also dating his lovely nurse, Jan. The happy couple is planning their wedding, but that has to be put off when Bill crashes his car not far from his isolated home/laboratory. Jan's head has been completely detached in the crack-up, but Bill manages to get it back to the lab in time to use his experimental serum on her. Jan lives, though reduced to a head confined to a tray fed by wires and pumps. Bill vows that his bride will have a new body, a perfect body, and begins the hunt for one. Jan, horrified at her own position as well as Bill's murderous mania in keeping her alive, wishes only to die. Bill thinks he has a good subject on hand when he runs across a former patient -a camera club model with a scarred face. Meanwhile, Jan strikes up a bargain with the unseen monster confined to that secret room over there in the corner... A bizarre melding of science fiction, early gore, and peepshow sleaze, the film was considered too hot when filmed in 1959. It finally saw release in 1962, when American International Pictures scooped it up and paired it with it's listless comedy spoof INVASION OF THE STAR CREATURES. BRAIN's moody photography gives it a certain edge it probably shouldn't have. The film's rather abrupt ending is so berserk as to be almost arty. Reportedly, there was supposed to be more to the climax, which was to be shot in color. Budget concerns probably nixed that idea. Original title, which can be glimpsed in the end credits, was THE HEAD THAT WOULDN'T DIE. Interestingly enough, the German film THE HEAD is basically a European version of THE BRAIN THAT WOULDN'T DIE. Emblematic of black and white schlock, THE BRAIN THAT WOULDN'T DIE eventually became something of an icon. It's been parodied as a stage musical in recent decades (though one could easily ask what property hasn't been given that treatment), and supposedly a remake (!) is slated for release next year. The film eventually found itself a subject of Mystery Science Theater 3000, and in fact it was the movie for the first episode in which Mike Nelson was host. Be warned that there are multiple cuts of the film. Sinister Cinema has a nice, supposedly complete, version in their catalog. A newer DVD release reportedly restores some brief nudie footage of the camera club model.