The Brain That Wouldn't Die
About The Brain That Wouldn't Die
After a crash cuts off his fiancée Jan Compton's head, Dr. Bill Cortner keeps it alive in a tray in his basement lab. She asks him to let her die. He hunts a body, including his old girlfriend Doris Powell. A mutant from an earlier experiment, locked in a closet, tears the arm off assistant Kurt. The creature gets out, sets the lab on fire, bites Bill's cheek, and carries Doris clear. Jan, left in the flames, says she told him to let her die.
Cast & crew
More about The Brain That Wouldn't Die
Joseph Green directed. He and Rex Carlton wrote it. Carlton and Mort Landberg produced. It was shot independently around Tarrytown in 1959 under the working title The Black Door. Another title considered was I Was a Teenage Brain Surgeon. American International Pictures released it on 3 May 1962 on a double bill with Invasion of the Star Creatures. Some prints open as The Brain That Wouldn't Die and close as The Head That Wouldn't Die.
Themes
Music
Abe Baker and Tony Restaino wrote the theme called The Web.
Preservation
Public domain in the United States from release, because of a flawed copyright notice. Theatrical prints run 71 minutes. An uncut version runs 83.
Notes
- Jason Evers plays Bill. Virginia Leith plays Jan. Adele Lamont plays Doris. Eddie Carmel, in his first film, plays the creature in the closet.
- Anthony La Penna plays Kurt, billed as Leslie Daniel.
- Abe Baker and Tony Restaino wrote the main theme, titled The Web.
- A bad copyright notice put the film in the public domain in the United States from the day it opened.
Scenes
- Jan's head, in a fluid tray, tells Bill to let her die.
- The creature bites Bill and carries Doris out while the lab burns.
Also available
- Internet Archive (the_brain_that_wouldnt_die)
Quotes
I told you to let me die.