BootDigest Such a frustrating disappointment

Taraparain Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

Orla Zuniga It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

Taha Avalos The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

JohnHowardReid Director: JOSEPH GREEN. Screenplay: Joseph Green. Additional dialogue: Doris Brent. Story: Rex Carlton, Joseph Green. Photography: Stephen Hajnal. Film editors: Leonard Anderson, Marc Anderson. Art director: Paul Fanning. Make-up: George Fiala. Special effects: Byron Baer. Property man: Walter Pluff jr. Camera operator: John S. Priestley. Gaffer: Vincent Delaney. Grip: John Haupt jr. Script supervisor: Eva Blair. Assistants to producer: Linda Brent, James Gealis. Production manager: Alfred H. Lessner. Assistant director: Tony LaMarca. Sound recording: Emil Kolisch, Robert E. Lessner. Producer: Rex Carlton.Not copyrighted by Rex Carlton Productions. U.S. release in May 1962 through American-International. No recorded New York opening. No recorded U.K. release. Never theatrically released in Australia. 82 minutes.SYNOPSIS: A surgeon robs graves to obtain organs for his transplant experiments.NOTES: Location scenes filmed near Tarrytown, New York, in 1959. First of three movies directed by minor film distributor Joseph Green, and the only one on which he receives a writing credit. COMMENT: Despite the presence of the lovely Virginia Leith in the title role and a joyful assemblage of other nice girls, this emerges as an el-cheapo horror flick with a few gory moments, lots of time-wasting chit-chat and extremely limited production values. Steadfastly slow, cop-out direction doesn't help either. However, the dialogue is sometimes unintentionally hilarious and this has given the movie a certain bottom-rung status on the cult circuit.

Mark I remember seeing this as a kid and was fascinated by the disembodied head. I don't really think I was very scared, but for some reason, even 50 years later, I remember almost every scene with the head. There are so many great and cheesy aspects to this movie. The dialog is just hilarious, along with the soundtrack, basically one reoccurring 1950's porn music loop during the "sexy scenes." The lustful close-ups" ... it just goes on and on with the fun.Of course, there is the climactic ending scene, where the movie makers seem to have run out of film stock, so it ends extremely fast. Kind of like a "well, that's it" moment.Best viewed with friends a bit on the loaded side I believe.

Eric Stevenson I was surprised at how many times this movie was featured on shows, not just MST3K. Looking here on the IMDb, this was actually the title of a LOT of TV shows that make fun of bad movies. To be honest, this wasn't awful. Yeah, it is still technically bad. The worst parts were probably at the end where everything just fell apart. What's interesting is that there are some genuinely good moments in this. I actually like some of the scenes with the woman's head. Her dialogue isn't that bad.It still meanders into pointless scenes, especially with the woman whom the scientist eventually captures. It is a pretty cheap effect. I mean, when first seeing a preview of this, I didn't even know this woman was just a head! It just looked like someone sticking her head through a table! Stuff like "The Beast Of Yucca Flats" is infinitely worse. This is still nothing to care for, at least not without it being made fun of. **

Scott LeBrun Yet another Dr. Frankenstein type attempts to play God in this memorable schlock picture. Dr. Bill Cortner (Jason Evers) is an unbalanced genius with radical ideas about body part transplants. One day, he's in a mad rush to get to the family country home. His reckless driving causes an accident that decapitates his girlfriend Jan (Virginia Leith). Acting quickly, Bill scoops up her head and takes it back to the lab that's in the country home. He's able to keep Jans' head alive in a pan, and although she would have preferred that he let her die, he's determined to find a perfect donor body.Despite its reputation, "The Brain That Wouldn't Die" might not be all that satisfying to some viewers, because it doesn't play out the way that one might think. It's rather slow and VERY talky, and there's a fair bit of padding as Bill spends time in a strip club ogling the bodies of the lovely ladies present. What the movie does have, however, is a script full of deliciously stupid lines. Written by director Joseph Green, based on the story by him and producer Rex Carlton, it gives Jans' severed head plenty to say. (I've heard some Internet wits refer to this movie as "The Head That Wouldn't Shut Up.") This also gives us a cool monster (played by Eddie Carmel) that remains hidden in a closet for most of the running time, only to emerge minutes from the end. There's a surprisingly high amount of satisfying gore in the full length American version. The scene where Bills' associate Kurt (Anthony La Penna, credited as Leslie Daniel) gets his arm ripped off by the monster and staggers around the house & lab is a real corker. The movie also benefits from a groovy jazz score.Evers gives a decent performance in the lead role. Leith is both a good sport and a real hoot as she rants from her place in the pan. La Penna is great fun, especially when his character undergoes an inexplicable personality change and exchanges words with Jan. Adele Lamont is tantalizingly sexy as Doris, the model who won't leave her house.Some bad B movie enthusiasts are sure to have a good time with this one. One might say that its head is in the right place.Five out of 10.