The Thing That Couldn't Die (1958)

A psychically gifted young woman discovers a centuries-old crate buried on her aunt's ranch. Opening it, her family discovers the living head of Gideon Drew, a 16th century devil worshiper ... See full summary »

Director:

Will Cowan

Writer:

David Duncan

Stars:

William Reynolds, Andra Martin, Jeffrey Stone

Cast

Cast overview:
William Reynolds	...	Gordon Hawthorne
Andra Martin	...	Linda Madison
Jeffrey Stone	...	Hank Huston
Carolyn Kearney	...	Jessica Burns
Peggy Converse	...	Flavia McIntyre
Robin Hughes	...	Gideon Drew
James Anderson	...	Boyd Abercrombie
Charles Horvath	...	Mike
Forrest Lewis	...	Julian Ash

Storyline

A psychically gifted young woman discovers a centuries-old crate buried on her aunt's ranch. Opening it, her family discovers the living head of Gideon Drew, a 16th century devil worshiper who was beheaded by Sir Francis Drake.

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Plot Keywords:

ranch | chest | recapitation | disembodied head | psychic | 

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Taglines:

It rose from the crypt to slake its monstrous thirst for beauty ... and the power to rule the earth!

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Genres:

Horror

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1959 (Turkey)

Also Known As:

The Water Witch

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal International Pictures (UI)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

69 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Of the 101 films made by director Will Cowan, this was the only feature - all of the rest were shorts. This was also the last film he directed.

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Connections

Referenced in The Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror VIII (1997)

User Reviews

Atmospheric B thriller

On a California farm, folks uncover the served head of an evil colonial man which begins to possess people.

A rather inventive story makes this old B film a stand out from the other monster flicks of its day. Director Will Cowan gives this film some compact direction, making a nicely dark atmosphere for the movie, even creating some occasional eeriness and a few good shocks along the way. The music score for this film is the same spooky score used for the sci-fi classic This Island Earth (1955). The cast is pretty good, Hughes is especially good as the films non-deceased villain. Not a bad watch for those looking for a B flick that's a little different from the average rubber-monster movie.

** 1/2 out of ****