The Brain That Wouldn't Die

19621962
ApprovedApproved
1h 22m

4.5/10

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.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.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.

4.5/10

6.8K

Director
- Joseph Green
Writers
- Joseph Green(screenplay)
- Rex Carlton(original story)
Stars

Top credits

See production, box office & company info

See more at IMDbPro

Videos1

Trailer 2:07

Blu-ray Trailer

Eddie Carmel and Virginia Leith in The Brain That Wouldn't Die (1962)

Jason Evers in The Brain That Wouldn't Die (1962)

Eddie Carmel and Adele Lamont in The Brain That Wouldn't Die (1962)

Jason Evers and Adele Lamont in The Brain That Wouldn't Die (1962)

Jason Evers and Bonnie Sharie in The Brain That Wouldn't Die (1962)

Adele Lamont in The Brain That Wouldn't Die (1962)

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. —garykmcd

mad scientist surgeon laboratory car accident decapitation 56 more

Taglines
- Alive... without a body... fed by an unspeakable horror from hell!
Genres
- Horror
- Sci-Fi
Certificate
- Approved
Parents guide

Trivia
Reportedly, Virginia Leith hated the film so much she refused to return for post-production. At least a few of her lines were dubbed by Doris Brent, who played a nurse.

Goofs
Even were it possible to keep a severed head alive by ensuring enough oxygenated blood is circulated through the brain (as it appears to be, here), it would still be impossible for Jan to speak without lungs or vocal cords.

Quotes
Dr. Cortner: The Superintendent had it out with me. He thinks it's you who's been stealing those limbs from the amputee operations.
Dr. Bill Cortner: So what if it is?

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."

Alternate versions
Also released in shorter version that removes most of the violent footage.

Connections
Edited into Bride of Monster Mania (2000)

Soundtracks
The Web
Composed by Tony Restaino
Performed by Abe Baker
By Permission of Laurel Records
[Theme Music]

Top review

Well, it sorta did die, ya know!

Mystery Science Theater 3000 rescues another classic from the dust bin -- and with a new victim for the mind-melting film-watching experiments. Mr. Nelson must suffer through this movie, but we can enjoy his suffering.

Let's see -- where to begin. Slinky babes, sleezy music, severed heads, a closeted monster, a body-beautiful contest, a model who doesn't date men because she hates them all (just like the title character in KISS ME, KATE). And that's just for starters.

A man loses his wife -- well, actually he loses her body but keeps her head, see? Then, of course, since he's a mad scientist, he has to go cruising around looking for a new body so she will be a whole woman again -- 'cause he's not into anything kinky, see?

But guess what? Just like the Wolfman, this unappreciative head just wants to die. How ungrateful, huh?

The dialogue is so overly unintentionally hilarious, you must hear it to believe it, and even then it's hard to believe.

This is a surreal existential treatise that has the subtitle, "A celebration of betrayal." Throw in some sci-fi and morgue humor, and you have a classic! And the closeted monster and the drugged model live happily ever after. What other movie could give you all of this?

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