The unethical surgeon Dr. Bill Cortner (Herb Evers) is developing a technique of transplantation of organs and members using a serum against rejection. When he has a car accident with his girlfriend Jan Compton (Virginia Leith), he saves her head only, and tries to find a woman with a beautiful body to transplant Jan's head against her will.

I found the low budget movie "The Brain That Wouldn't Die" very underrated in IMDb. The story is not so bad, and certainly inspired "Frankenhooker" and "The Man with Two Brains". The acting and the direction are very reasonable, and there are some mistakes of edition (for example, when Dr. Bill Cortner is having a conversation in the car with his friend on the sidewalk), but these errors just contribute to make the movie funnier. The make-up of the creature is great. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "O Cérebro Que Não Queria Morrer" ("The Brain That Did not Want to Die")

This outrageous, no-budget shocker might as well be the '60s equivalent of RE-ANIMATOR, what with its graphic carnage, mad scientists, fantastic serums and monsters assembled from the body parts of the dead. It's quite an eye opener and a definitive so-bad-it's-good viewing experience, somehow turning a downbeat and sadistic plot into upbeat, often funny viewing pleasure. It's another of the films in the living-severed-head canon, which feature disembodied bonces still managing to speak although they have nothing below the neck. The film begins on a high with a surgery scene featuring a graphic shot of a patient's exposed brain, so you know straight off that you're in for something different from the normally tame early '60s fare that most people watch.

The rest of the film is deceptively simple, but blessed with a script with high aspirations featuring hilarious philosophical discussions over life and death and the ethical implications involved. Our scientist anti-hero crashes his car and decapitates his girlfriend, but carries her head back to his secret countryside laboratory and keeps it alive in a pan. Virginia Leith plays the head and magnificently manages to retain her dignity and character even though she spends the film kneeling beneath a table with only her head visible. Our old friend the mad scientist decides to find her a new body, which means travelling to the nearest burlesque club and checking out the well-proportioned strippers on view.

The plot slows down as the cameraman lingers on the lingerie-clad dancers strutting their stuff, and there's even time for a saucy cat fight too. Unfortunately the scientist gets the cold shoulder and is forced to flee. Meanwhile, back at the lab, the assistant (with a withered arm no less) is engaging in aforementioned debates with the severed head, which is very opinionated and just wants to be put out of its misery. A great addition to the plot is a unseen monster kept in a closet in the corner of the room which keeps on banging on its door repeatedly before escaping at the end - Paul Naschy borrowed it for his gore flick THE HUNCHBACK OF THE MORGUE, so it must be decent. The unseen monster actually works very well, building up the suspense and the viewers expectations throughout as it makes horrific noises and causes the door to judder all the while, biding its time before it escapes.

The gory highlight of the film sees the goofy lab assistant getting too close to the beastie, at which it promptly rips off his arm. He then goes on an incredibly extended death stagger around the entire house before making back to the lab again, smearing his bloody stump all over the walls as he does so. I couldn't believe I was watching a film first made in 1959/60 when I saw this moment, its so over-the-top! The climax involves the scientist preparing to behead an innocent victim when the monster escapes. Turns out its an incredibly tall and well-built bloke with a cheesy rubber mask on, which is fine by me. The creature tears a strip of flesh from the scientist's face, bloodily killing him, before chucking it on the floor in disgust! Meanwhile the severed head burns as the lab goes up in flames and the monster and the female victim live happily ever after.

Well, what can I say? This film is an exploitation classic and never lets up for a second. Although the story and plot elements are in bad taste the campy script and performances give it an enjoyable edge. Herb Evers in particular is good as the slimy scientist and there are plenty of pretty girls around for the viewer to ogle. The living head and the cheesy monster make for fine horror elements and the climax is worth the wait. Chills, thrills, laughs and gore combine to make THE BRAIN THAT WOULDN'T DIE a sleazy dream come true for fans of the schlocky B-movie.

I bought this DVD for $1 at Walmart. After seeing it, I might just return to the store and try to get my money back! The only reason I gave the movie a 2 and not a 1 is that the story has a few novel story elements, though it really never rises to the level of being interesting. This film has all the earmarks of being a made for the drive-in theaters market--ultra-low budget, amateurish acting and a liberal dose of sex (for an early 60s film). In fact, I wonder if perhaps the only reason the film was made was to make a fast buck AND because someone knew some strippers they could use as extras. The film is about a wacko doctor who wants to transplant his girlfriend's severed head onto the body of an unsuspecting donor. Most of the potential donors are skanky strippers or a model--whose only real purpose in the film is to titillate as they remove most of their clothes. However, they keep too much on to make the movie even worth watching for the naughty bits and the film isn't quite awful enough to merit watching by bad film buffs.