The Brain That Wouldn't Die

Who would have thought that a disembodied head would end up being the star of so many horror films but it's true. From The Man Without a Body (1957) where scientists revive the talking head of Nostradamus to Re-Animator (1985) featuring the infamous severed head/oral sex sequence, there are countless movies about trunkless noggins bent on ruling the world or being subjected to cruel and unusual experiments. But, probably the looniest and most entertaining one in the bunch is The Brain That Wouldn't Die (1962), now available on DVD from Synapse Films. Shot in 1959 on a threadbare production budget of $62,000 and not picked up for theatrical distribution until 1962, The Brain That Wouldn't Die defies easy categorization because while it follows the conventions of a traditional mad scientist thriller, the characters and the dialogue are so outre that it seems more like some crazy off-Broadway "Theatre of the Absurd" production. From the get-go, you've got an extreme situation that's just brimming with perverse possibilities; a constantly quarreling father and son team of surgeons who get in heated arguments over transplant procedures. The younger one, Dr. Bill Cortner (Herb Evers), is convinced he can grow tissue from severed body parts and has taken to stealing human limbs from amputee operations at the hospital. We soon find out just how obsessed he is - he's been spending all his weekends at his father's isolated country house, trying to get his technique down to a fool-proof method (one of his "mistakes" is locked in a basement closet). Assisting him in his endeavors is Kurt (Leslie Daniels), a whining masochist who keeps hoping Dr. Cortner can give him a new, healthy arm; his current transplant is shriveling away slowly. Then things really get messy. Bill and his fiancee Jan (Virginia Leith) are involved in a terrible car accident with Bill being thrown from the wreck. He staggers to his feet, stumbles toward the flaming vehicle and what does he do? He scoops up his fiancee's decapitated head, wraps it in his sports jacket and runs like a madman across the countryside (lots of zany hand-held camerawork here) until he reaches his private laboratory. In no time, Jan's head is placed in a tray of osmotic liquid and rigged up to a bunch of gurgling tubes. Even wrapped up in a huge ace bandage, Jan still looks FABULOUS, false eyelashes and all! But she is angrier than a hornet when she realizes what has happened to her. To say more about the plot would spoil it for those who have yet to experience this deranged B-picture from director Joseph Green, his film debut. The tacky sets alone give new meaning to the word minimalist, like that sleazy nightclub where Bill goes to find the perfect female body for his adored head. There's a hilarious back stage catfight between two burlesque dancers that looks like it was staged by Bunny Yeager, the photographer responsible for those great Betty Page S&M stills. Even the gore scenes still seem strong for a film of its era; in fact, the scene where Kurt gets his good arm pulled off by the 'thing in the closet' was considerably trimmed in the original release version (Synapse provides us with the extra-bloody, unedited version). And the ending has to be seen to be believed - did the cone-head geek monster really stumble into the sunset with the unconscious scar-face model for a happy-ever-after ending? But what really stays with you is that nagging head, its shrill laugh and its hilariously antagonistic relationship with everyone except the mutant in the closet; they form a mental telepathy bond. Favorite line? They're so many but how about the one where Jan's head says to the mutant: "I'm only a head and you're (slight pause)...whatever you are. Together we're strong!" The Synapse "Special Edition" DVD of The Brain That Wouldn't Die is a must-have for fans of this cult fave, easily the greatest movie ever filmed in Tarrytown, New York. The DVD is the uncensored edition of the film presented in a new digital wetgate transfer (windowboxed) and the extras include the original theatrical trailer, rare behind-the-scenes photos (many of them featuring Eddie Carmel - a onetime Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey circus giant - in his mutant makeup) and excellent liner notes by Bryan Senn. Print quality is outstanding (hardly a botch or blemish anywhere on the film) and it's doubtful if this black and white oddity ever looked this good back in 1962 when it first played neighborhood theatres and drive-ins. For more information about The Brain That Wouldn't Die, visit Synapse Films. To order The Brain That Wouldn't Die, go to TCM Shopping. by Jeff Stafford