THE BRAIN THAT WOULDN’T DIE was a production that Roger Corman would have been proud of. Shot on-the-cheap mostly on a basement soundstage, the film had little impact when American International released it in 1962. But, THE BRAIN THAT WOULDN’T DIE went on to become a true cult film, warping the minds of genre fans everywhere with its cheesy charms. I first saw THE BRAIN THAT WOULDN’T DIE back in the 1970’s on a Saturday afternoon show called Creature Double Feature. I found it very entertaining; there’s nothing more fascinating to a young genre fan than a talking, disembodied head. Toss in a monster-in-the-closet sub-plot, and I was hooked. But what I did not know at the time, that I was viewing the cut, sanitized version of this bizarre film. I’d heard about an uncut version circulating throughout the underground for many years, never realizing it would soon show up on our very own DVD format. Leave it to the mind-bending folks at Synapse Films to bring this one to fruition. Synapse has taken their name and logo from the human brain, so it’s only appropriate that THE BRAIN THAT WOULDN’T DIE become their signature release.

The movie stars Herb (BASKETCASE 2) Evers, as Dr. Bill Cortner, a horny physician with a God complex. After this film, Evers changed his name to Jason Evers so he could continue to find work! Lovely Virginia (CURTAINS) Leith plays Dr. Condon’s doomed fiance, Jan. Leslie (STRANGERS) Daniels portrays Kurt, a former surgeon but now Dr. Condon’s lab assistant. Adele Lamont is Doris Powell, Dr. Condon’s old high school acquaintance. The film also features the voluptuous Bonnie Sharie and Paula Maurice as two strippers. THE BRAIN THAT WOULDN’T DIE pretty much killed the career of director Joe Green (as well as anyone else who participated in the shoot).

In an emergency room situation, Dr. Cortner (Herb Evers) uses his controversial techniques to revive a terminal patient. His father (Bruce Brighton), who is also a surgeon, is impressed. But he warns his son about his unconventional approach. Jan (Virginia Leith) is a nurse at the hospital and is engaged to Dr. Condon. What she is unaware of is Dr. Condon’s secret agenda to perfect organ transplantation. Dr. Condon has developed a formula called adrenoserum, that brings life to human tissues when injected. A phone call from Dr. Condon’s lab assistant, Karl, prods Dr. Condon to come to their suburban lab and attend to one of their ‘experiments’. He takes Jan up to the lab with the intention of revealing his secret work to her. However in his rush to reach the lab, his sports car crashes. Dr. Condon is thrown clear, but poor Jan has been decapitated.

Dr. Condon scoops up his fiancé’s head and takes it back to the lab, and with the help of Karl, they set up her head in a dish pan filled with plasma. When Dr. Condon injects her head with adrenoserum, the cells become active. Dr. Condon plans to save his fiancé by any means necessary. Karl is shocked when Dr. Condon informs him he is going to graft Jan’s head onto a new body. The problem remains, where to get a full female body. He leaves the lab and heads for the seedy side of town and flirts with local strippers, looking for an opportunity to make his deadly move. Meanwhile’s Jan’s head revives and she is not happy. Dr. Condon’s adrenoserum causes a disturbing side effects in her brain, granting her extrasensory powers. She establishes contact with a creature in the closet—a mass of deformed human tissues, the product of Dr. Condon’s mistakes—and forms an alliance with it. Together they vow to wreak vengeance upon Dr. Condon, the source of their misery.

Dr. Condon, looking to get away with the perfect crime, blows opportunities to secure a buxom female body for Jan. He then manages to con a former acquaintance (Adele Lamont) to accompany him to his laboratory with the promise of a restored complexion (she has huge scars on her face). Back at the laboratory, Jan and the creature dispose of the sniveling lab assistant, Karl. Dr. Condon comes back to the lab and drugs the woman he abducted, then prepares her for surgery. Jan tries talking sense into her Dr. Condon, but he’ll have none of it. To save this innocent girl, the unholy alliance must put an end to Dr. Condon’s delusions of grandeur.

Yes, THE BRAIN THAT WOULDN’T DIE is a cheaply made film with poor sets and questionable props, but Joe Green’s direction is ripe with conviction. His script is convincing and the dialogue is above average for a film of this ilk. Issues abound about what role science and medicine have in our lives and what their boundaries should be. Green touches on some relevant themes in modern medicine. However, don't be too fooled by its real intent. It is a sleazy story about a man obsessed with his aptitude in medical science who wishes to fuse together his dead girlfriend's head with the perfect body, thereby creating the perfect woman for a man with the best of both body and soul. The movie also attempts to create a sense that what Dr. Condon is doing to his girlfriend is wrong and against nature.

While THE BRAIN THAT WOULDN’T DIE is not for everyone, it has all the ingredients of a superior exploitation flick. Besides the psychic disembodied head and the grotesque monster, THE BRAIN THAT WOULDN’T DIE features strippers who try to look like Betty Page, pre-E.R. surgery scenes, catfighting, Dr. Condon’s strip bar escapades, over-the-top acting, and plenty of gore. Some of the best scenes consist of Dr. Condon trying to talk women into going back to his laboratory. He tries to be sneaky about it, because he doesn’t want to leave any evidence behind that will tie him to their disappearances. His escapades in locating a suitable subject for the body transplant are a highlight of the film and generate more suspense than any of the killing or gore scenes.

Herb Evers is a hoot to watch, because he plays Dr. Condon in such a serious manner. He exhibits William Shatner-style method acting, and actually winks at the camera when he announces he is off to find a female human body. His rambling on about performing these atrocities for the benefit of mankind is particularly effective. Virginia Lieth gets the best dialog in the film, and I like how she plays with her new founds powers by tormenting Leslie Daniels (as Karl), and laughing at his cowardice. Though she has no body or appendages, she is far from helpless. Leith really makes the most of her unglamorous role, and she gets my vote for best disembodied performance in a brain film. Leslie Daniels keeps a straight face and imbues his Renfield-inspired character with Shakespearean intonations. A warped melodramatic moment occurs between Leith and Daniels, when they argue about the pratfalls of life and death. Eddie Carmel projects lots of physicality into the Zippy the Pinhead-influenced monster.

The original mono sound elements have been remastered to a Dolby Digital Mono 2.0 soundtrack. Synapse cleaned up the anomalies, and removed the hiss, pops, and audio dropouts. I noticed some slight background noise, but this is a very fine job, along the lines of what Anchor Bay does on their DD Mono 2.0 tracks. The sound is clean and natural. The dialog and sound effects are delivered without distortion. It’s a riot listening to Carl the lab assistant argue with the disembodied head about morality, and Dr. Condon justify his actions for his cold-blooded experiments. Sound effects like car engines, car crashes, laboratory noises (like the bubbling test tubes), and the monster in the closet knocking (and pounding) on the door, all sound great. Abe Baker and Tony Restaino composed several motifs for the film. The majority of the score sounds like typical 1950’s style horror/sci-fi themes. But the score switches to some swinging nightclub music when Dr. Condon peruses the dance clubs looking for some attractive women. This music alternates between lounge and jazz (and includes some prominent sax) and sounds pretty hip even today. Despite only being a two channel mono mix, Synapse does a nice job with the sound. This is a good test for them since this is the oldest film they have released yet, and its pretty good. This bodes well when the time comes for them to go even farther back into the vaults.