gporcelli-41235
I want to be honest with this one. I was attracted by the movie's concept (it's a sort a romantic drama with some sci-fi horror features). "The brain that wouldn't die" (or "The head that wouldn't die"?) tells the story of a brilliant mad doctor which desperately tries to save his girlfriend's life after she looses her head during a car incident. The doctor keeps his girlfirend's head alive witha bizzare machine and starts his quest to find a new body for her. But his girlfriend doesn't want to allow him to do so since the doctor has to kill a girl in ordre to acquire a new body for her. The first 30 minutes are good, I mean, the script stands up pretty well then it becomes trashy. After 30 minutes the movie becomes ridicolous, awkwardly directed and unintentionally funny. It's such a shame since the movie could turn in a really good one. It's a missed opportunity. Thankfully there's another movie "Eyes without a face" which shares some of "The brain that wouldn't die" good elements but without the trash. I think this movie deserves a remake or a second chance because I'm sure it has the potential for a great horror.Final verdict 5/10 (mediocre)The concept was good, some elements were good, the first 30 minutes are good. "The brain that wouldn't die" is a missed opportunity. I think you have to watch it without too many expectations in order to enjoy it.
Rainey Dawn
I forgot just how good this film was until I watched it again recently - it really is a good work of science fiction horror. A very creepy and highly underrated movie.The movie was due to be released in 1959 but there was some legal and censoring issues. The movie was finally released in 1962. What is interesting is in the beginning of the film where Dr. Bill Cortner stated that "one day there will be limb and organ transplants". The first real life successful organ transplant was a kidney transplant in 1954 and the second successful was also a kidney transplant in 1962.In real life: The world's first full face transplant took place in Spain 2010.One can also look up "Head Transplant" and find out there were successful head transplants in real life successfully performed using dogs, monkeys and rats but NO human head (that is known) - all this during the 1950s.LOOK UP the 2015 CNN article: "Are human head transplants coming soon?" and the Wall Street Journal's 2015 article: "Surgery's Far Frontier: Head Transplants" -- then you will see just how realistic this film is - it was ahead of it's time like "Frankenstein". With all this said, the film "The Brain That Wouldn't Die (1962)" is a bit more realistic! To me, Dr. Bill Cortner is "mad" because he was more than willing to kill a woman for her body just to put the head of his fianceé on another woman's body. He has no care at all for life of his fellow humans - he only cares about his scientific experiments no matter how sinister they become.This is a great late night film! A great film to watch for horror and science fiction fans alike! 9/10
deepsouthwolf
I was two when I saw this movie and it scared me so badly I was afraid of closets, and people with covers up to their neck. I had a few nightmares but soon got over the scare. I think that movie is what made me so weird, I like telling scary stories just to see if I can scare the crap out of someone. I usually do. The creepy things that hide in the shadows of the closet. The movie was in my memory but I couldn't remember all of it. I was unable to sleep one night and there it was on Sci-Fi, and I got a good laugh at it, not believing that I had ever been afraid of the movie. In so many ways it's so third rate it isn't even funny. It's also very corny. Now if they were to do it today and take way the ridicules dialog it could work. Maybe get Kane Hodder to be the monster in the closet.
robertguttman
When a mad surgeon/scientist's fiancé is horribly injured in an auto accident he manages to preserve only her head alive. He then goes searching for a body upon which to transplant her disembodied head. And exactly how does he go about that? By cruising suitably zaftig 50s babes in his '58 convertible, how else?The 1950s were the heyday of really bad science-fiction movies, the kind that were so bad they were good. This one has to rate pretty near the top of the genre. Roger Corman once remarked that a filmmaker cannot set out to make a cult-movie, only the audience can make a cult movie. I think that "The Brain That Wouldn't Die" is a perfect case in point. From beginning to end everybody concerned, director and cast, seems to be taking everything absolutely seriously, and that is precisely what makes the whole thing so enormously funny. One doesn't need to watch this movie on "Mystery Science Theater 3000", accompanied by a steady stream of snide remarks, in order to find oneself laughing out loud. The filmmakers may not have meant it to be, but it really is that funny. This movie deserves a '7' not for it's direction, it's acting or it's cinematography, but simply on the basis of being so outrageously bad that it is an absolute joy to watch. Check it out and see for yourself.
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