- The Brain That Wouldn't Die
Infobox Film
name = The Brain That Wouldn't Die
caption =film poster byReynold Brown
director = Joseph Green
producer =Rex Carlton Mort Landberg
writer = Rex Carlton
Joseph Green
starring =Jason Evers Virginia Leith Leslie Daniels Adele Lamont Bonnie Sharie Paula Maurice Eddie Carmel
music =Abe Baker Tony Restaino
cinematography =Stephen Hajnal
editing =Leonard Anderson Marc Anderson
distributor =American International Pictures
released =10 August 1962
runtime = 82 min
country = USA
awards =
language = English
budget = $62,000 (estimated)
preceded_by =
followed_by =
amg_id = 1:6923
imdb_id = 0052646"The Brain That Wouldn't Die", also known as "The Head That Wouldn't Die", is a 1962 science-fiction/
horror film directed by Joseph Green and written by Green and Rex Carlton. A scientist develops a means to keep human body parts alive. When he unexpectedly must use his discovery on someone close to him, events do not go as planned.This film has fallen into the
public domain and can be freely downloaded from theInternet Archive .Plot outline
Dr. Bill Cortner is a successful scientist with a beautiful fiancée named Jan Compton. After a horrible car accident decapitates Jan, Dr. Cortner collects her severed head and rushes it to his laboratory, where he revives it and manages to keep it alive in a liquid-filled tray.
Dr. Cortner now decides to commit murder in order to obtain an attractive new body to attach to his fiancée's head. As he hunts for a suitable specimen, Jan begins to hatch some murder plans of her own. Filled with hatred for Cortner because he won't let her die, she communicates telepathically with a hideous mutant in the laboratory cell, telling it to kill the scientist.
In popular culture
The monster in the closet is played by
Eddie Carmel in his first "cinematic role". Carmel was a well-known Palestine-born circus attraction who worked under the name "The Jewish Giant". He is the subject of a photograph byDiane Arbus entitled "The Jewish Giant at Home with His Parents in the Bronx, NY, 1970".cite web
url = http://www.soundportraits.org/on-air/the_jewish_giant/
title = "The Jewish Giant"
work = SoundPortraits.org
accessdate = 2007-10-26]The film was featured in the
Steve Martin comedy "The Man with Two Brains ", along with "Donovan's Brain".In the video game "", two guards turned into "man crates" are having a conversation. One of them quotes the movie's most famous line ("Like all quantities, horror has its ultimate, and I am that!"), and the other recognizes it and adds "I never thought I would ever relate to Jan in the Pan." "The Brain that Woudn't Die" was the first movie watched by Mike Nelson in "
Mystery Science Theater 3000 " (episode 513). Jan in the Pan is the irreverent nickname given to the female lead post-accident by the characters on the show. Jan in the Pan appears in the out-of-theater segments of the episode (portrayed byMary Jo Pehl ).In 2006, the movie was adapted into a live stage production by Last Rites Productions, a Portland, Oregon theatre company. The company had previously adapted "
"Manos" The Hands of Fate ", a subject of another "Mystery Science Theater 3000" episode.In the third issue of the comic book
Madman "The Brain That Wouldn't Die" is seen on a double billing with "Carnival of Souls " at a shut down drive-in theatre.DVD releases
*The film has been released by multiple studios as a 'bargain bin' disc.
** The "MST3K" version of the film (along with the uncut version, included as a bonus feature) was released by Rhino Home Video.References
External links
*
* [http://www.archive.org/details/brain_that_wouldnt_die Free Download] from Internet Archive
* http://www.heavy.com/video/9300 Sarcastic mockucommentary by Sasha Tane from Accent On Film.
*
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
