The Brain That Wouldn't Die

6.5/10

What would you do if a love one was injured in an accident? Would you do anything to help them be better, even kill?  This 1962 classic tells this story to high extreme, and while I enjoy it a lot, it definitely isn't as good as "The Killer Shrews, and other films like it. 

The movie begins by showing Dr. Bill Cortner attempting to save a man in operation. Sadly, this does not work, and the man dies. Cortner is broken up about this, and he decides to try something different on the body.  Miraculously, he actually saves the man, and is applauded for it. The only man that seems to be against Bill's methods is his own father, who believes that experimenting on a human is wrong. After leaving the office, Bill and his fiancée Jan drive home, and they get in a terrible car crash.  In the accident, Jan is decapitated, and Cortner is absolutely heartsick.  The only thing he can think of doing is bringing the head back to life, and making a new body for her.  He would die to do this for her, and even kill.....

The plot is very cool in my opinion, because while some aspects of it are absurd and familiar, it is also very dark and interesting.  I think it is very cool to see how Cortner's love for Jan drives him to his insanity, which gives him the idea to make this new body.  I feel like this is kind of a less scientifically accurate version of the Frankenstein plot, but it gives its own twist. It was definitely more complex than most storylines to B-Movies, because it had many unexpected elements that threw me off the first time I saw the movie. On the other hand, I kind of feel like this movie was made to show off a bunch of hot womens' bodies, being that is basically what 90% of the movie is about. 

The cast in the movie is good for the most part, and while no one was Oscar-winning performances, they all do there job, and convince the viewer that they are their character.  Jason Evers is amazing at the character of Bill, because he has such a downfall from the nice guy he was in the beginning. One can really tell this in the hardness he gets in personality. Even as becoming a potential murderer, he still keeps a suave way to his talking to the women. His character almost reminds me of Macbeth for all of these reasons. Virginia Leith did a good job as Jan, but it was uncomfortable to watch her the whole time. The fact that her head doesn't move around much was very hard, because it is almost claustrophobic to see her. Leslie Daniels was very likable as Kurt, because he was the very happy go lucky sidekick to Dave. He portrayed the intelligence of the character very well, and gave some great emotions later on in the film. Adele Lamont was very unique as Doris. She had such a seductive way about her, yet at the same time she portrayed insecurity that made her character very bitter. I'm pretty sure she was one of the first open lesbian characters in movie history. 

While there isn't a plethora of violence in the movie, the scenes that featured it were actually surprising for their time. One scene involved someone's arm getting ripped off, and there was blood all over their arm as they struggled. While everything was extremely fake, it was still somewhat shocking, and I liked it a lot. 

The ending of the movie is pretty cool, because it was something that had been built up the entire time, yet it was even more shocking than I would have ever thought it to be. I think the sudden change in course during the movie was pretty cool, because it saved the film from going into the typical happy ending. 

The weaknesses of the film were existent too, sadly. The first is that while the plot is very cool, there are a few scenes that get very boring.  Things get too talkative, and there isn't enough action.  The next weakness is that the music was a little out of place, being the same theme was used at least ten times, even though it's context was only good for three. While these weaknesses weren't movie ruiners, they were definitely things that the filmmakers should've been more careful with. 

Overall, this movie is good, but not the best. As a B-Movie, there are a lot of impressive qualities, but at the same time there were flaws too. I definitely recommend giving the movie a chance, because it's one that you'll love or hate.