Linbeymusol Wonderful character development!

SoftInloveRox Horrible, fascist and poorly acted

Janae Milner Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

Gary The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

JLRVancouver No matter how ridiculous the story, how silly the script, how inept the acting or how dire the special effects, there is always something in classic cult movies that keeps people coming back for more. In "The Brain that Wouldn't Die", it's the iconic image of Jan's head, sitting in a pan, framed by equipment that looks like it was taken from a high school chem lab. Those scenes, the moody music, and the quick cut to the pictures of cats ("Meow") when the two B-girls are fighting, are enough guarantee this movie multiple viewings. Jason Evers is the woodenly scurrilous mad doctor and the lovely Virginia Leith is Jan (both corporeally complete and 'in caput'). Much of the movie is a leering search for a suitable (i.e. stacked) replacement body - as Donna says: "Your eyes are going to have a field day". You could also have a post-feminist field day analysing this movie: a women, left with only her mind, is muzzled by a man fixated on her body when she attempts to assume a dominant role in their relationship and when, by showing solidarity with the man's previous victim, she gains the upper hand, she is punished by that classic misogynic death: being burned alive. The movie is a 6 to anyone who would watch beyond the opening credits.

jacobjohntaylor1 This is not a good at all. It is awful. It is not scary. It is badly written. It is also badly acted. The ending is awful. It is one of the worst horror movie of all time. 4.1 is not a good ratting. But this is such a bad movie that 4.1 is overrating it. I give this 1 out 10. 4.1 doe not real show just how bad this movie is. See tales of Frankenstein. Do not see this movie. This is one of the worst horror movie ever. It is very stupid. There are movie older then this that way scarier so age is no excuse. Frankenstein (1931) is way scarier then this. Do not see this movie. It is awful. I need more lines and I am running out of thing to say.

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

gavin6942 A doctor (Jason Evers) experimenting with transplant techniques keeps his girlfriend (Virginia Leith)'s head alive when she is decapitated in a car crash, then goes hunting for a new body.This film was made in 1959, but floated around a bit until picked up (and re-cut) by American International and Sam Arkoff. Over the years, and due largely to its falling into public domain, it has become a late-night staple. Many people -- and all horror fans -- have probably seen this film in some form.Worth pointing out is that the monster in the closet is played by Eddie Carmel in his first "cinematic role". Carmel was a well-known Israeli-born circus performer who worked under the name "The Jewish Giant". Those who want to see him in action again ought to track down a copy of "50,000 B.C. (Before Clothing)" (1963). Interestingly, author Tony Sasso believes the monster in the closet is symbolic of repressed homosexuality. It is an interesting interpretation, and one he makes a big deal out of, but I certainly have my doubts on its veracity: the "closet" metaphor did not really take root until the 1960s, so there is no way the writers could have referenced it.On the whole, this film is pretty decent, with some great ideas and concepts. In an age when transplants were still in their infancy, it makes sense to use them for a horror or science fiction jumping off point. And it is clear to see how this might have influenced other pictures. Some have said "Jan in the Pan" is a precursor to the head in "Re-Animator". Whether or not this has been confirmed, the resemblance is there.What the film lacks is some realism. Early on a brain is exposed inside a head, apparently without a skull. Huh? And later, a woman's head is lifted from a car crash without being cut or forcibly removed. It was just lying there. Maybe that is possible, but it seems rather silly.The film also drags a bit because it is weighted down by dialogue. Dialogue can be a very good thing, and create exposition or add character depth. Here, however, it just seems repetitive. Jan says variations of the same line multiple times. And even in the opening scene, the elder doctor makes a point of arguing against "playing God" multiple times. We get it. The film would be much stronger at 60 minutes than it currently is in the longer form.For those who prefer longer, however, Synapse Films has graciously released an uncut edition running closer to 85 minutes with more cat-fight goodness, and a picture that is vastly improved from the awful public domain prints floating around. Whether or not you want to pay more when you can get a cheap version for free is up to you.Still not good enough? Scream Factory has jumped into the game. They say their 1080p uncut edition, scanned from the negative, is "new" (suggesting it is even better than the Synapse print. That may or may not be true. But regardless, they have definitely brought out the superior disc because they have added commentary from film historian (and king of the commentary) Steve Haberman and Tony Sasso, who literally wrote the book on this movie. What really makes the Scream disc the must-have version is that it also includes the full episode of "Mystery Science Theater 3000" where the film is riffed. Well done, Scream. They previously released "Squirm" in two versions: the MST3K version and a new collector's edition. All features should have been on one disc. So perhaps they are learning...