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.
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Title: The Brain That Wouldn't Die (1962)
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Cast
| Complete credited cast: | |||
| Jason Evers | ... | Dr. Bill Cortner (as Herb Evers) | |
| Virginia Leith | ... | Jan Compton / Jan in the Pan | |
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Anthony La Penna | ... | Kurt (as Leslie Daniel) |
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Adele Lamont | ... | Doris Powell |
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Bonnie Sharie | ... | Blonde Stripper |
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Paula Morris | ... | Brunet Stripper |
| Marilyn Hanold | ... | Peggy Howard (as Marlyn Hanold) | |
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Bruce Brighton | ... | Dr. Cortner |
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Arny Freeman | ... | Photographer |
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Fred Martin | ... | Medical Assistant |
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Lola Mason | ... | Donna Williams |
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Doris Brent | ... | Nurse |
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Bruce Kerr | ... | Beauty Contest M.C. |
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Audrey Devereal | ... | Jeannie Reynolds (as Audrey Devereau) |
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Eddie Carmel | ... | Monster |
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Plot Summary
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Plot Synopsis
Storyline
Dr. Bill Cortner has been performing experimental surgery on human guinea pigs without authorization and against the advice of his father, also a surgeon. When Bill's fiancée Jan Compton is decapitated in an automobile accident, he manages to keep her brain alive. He now needs to find a new body for his bride-to-be and settles on Doris Powell, a glamor model with a facial disfigurement. Jan meanwhile doesn't want to continue her body-less existence and calls upon the creature hidden in the basement, one of Bill Cortner's unsuccessful experiments, to break loose. Written by garykmcd
Taglines:
It's madness, not science! See more »Parents Guide:
View content advisory »
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See more on IMDbPro »
See full technical specs »
Details
Country:
USALanguage:
EnglishRelease Date:
10 August 1962 (USA) See more »Also Known As:
The Black Door See more »Edit
Box Office
Budget:
$62,000 (estimated)Company Credits
Show more on
IMDbPro »
Technical Specs
Runtime:
(uncut) | (TCM print)Sound Mix:
MonoColor:
Black and WhiteAspect Ratio:
1.66 : 1
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See more »
Theme Music
by Abe Baker and Tony Restaino
Composed by Tony Restaino (uncredited)
Performed by Abe Baker (uncredited)
By Permission of Laurel Records
See more »
Did You Know?
Trivia
The film opened in Seattle in September of 1962, as the theatrical co-feature with Roger Corman's TALES OF TERROR. The newspaper ad simply listed the BRAIN THAT WOULDN'T DIE title, followed by "Horrifying! Weird! Shocking!" This double-bill played at Seattle's Paramount Theater, a prestigious downtown movie palace. See more »Goofs
Before the brunette stripper is slapped, she is seen taking off her white glove, yet when she is slapped and she puts her hand to her face her glove is clearly back on as if she never took it off. See more »Quotes
Jan Compton: I'm only a head, and you're whatever you are. Together we're strong. More powerful than any of them.See more »
Crazy Credits
At the beginning, the title is given as "The Brain That Wouldn't Die." The end title card lists the title as "The Head That Wouldn't Die." See more »Soundtracks
The WebTheme Music
by Abe Baker and Tony Restaino
Composed by Tony Restaino (uncredited)
Performed by Abe Baker (uncredited)
By Permission of Laurel Records
See more »
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.