The Holidays are now over and what better way to get back into the swing of things by watching a bad movie. Okay, bad might not be the best term to describe The Brain That Wouldn’t Die, as it certainly isn’t the worst movie I’ve witnessed before. Yes, the plot is paper thin and could’ve easily been trimmed down to a solid 20-minute episode of Twilight Zone or something similar, but overall I enjoyed the movie enough. However, the movie isn’t the main reason to pick up Scream Factory’s new Blu-ray. No, the reason to pick it up is the Mystery Science Theater 3000 special feature, which goes through the entire movie and is a blast to sit through. Read on to see whether one feature alone is worth the price of admission (short answer: it is)…
PRODUCT INFORMATION
DISCS: 1
RUN-TIME: 81 min
ASPECT RATIO: 1.66:1
RESOLUTION: 1080p
AUDIO: DTS-HD Master Mono
SUBTITLES: English
REGION: A
RATING: NR
PRODUCTION DATE: 1962
RELEASE DATE: Dec 22, 2015
PLOT SUMMARY
Medical science leaps light years into the future in this “great, absurd movie” (The Psychotronic Encyclopedia of Film) that explores the strange world of transplants, cloning and mutant regeneration. Strangely relevant in today’s ethically challenged world, this presents a truly psycho surgery case and is “one of the great sci-fi sleaze classics” (Starlog).
When Dr. Bill Cortner loses his sweetheart, Jan, in a car accident, he refuses to give up hope for her life. Scooping up her decapitated head, he brings it back to the lab for resuscitation. But keeping her head alive is one thing – finding her a new body is quite another. So while the mad doctor is out looking for spare parts, she’s stuck at home going out of her mind – literally! And nothing will stop her from getting revenge on the man who is keeping her as a trophy girlfriend!
MOVIE
The Brain That Wouldn’t Die is basically about a head in a dish who talks to a creature behind a door while a doctor scopes out hot chicks for their bodies. Yep, that’s pretty much all the movie is about. Not much happens in the film, save for a completely random cat fight between two women, and a bathing suit fashion show. If you’re expecting a rampaging killer head, you’re going to be disappointed, as the only killings happening in this movie are by some weird creature, who is only shown near the end, and the effects are hilarious looking.
As I mentioned in the opening paragraph, there is a lot of filler in this movie and I could easily see, with a few trims, it fitting in nicely into a Twilight Zone episode, but alas what we get instead is a lot of minutes of not much going on. The only benefit with that is we get to sit through the enjoyable MST3K for a good amount of time.
BLU-RAY
Scream Factory has done a nice job cleaning up the movie. There is a bit of dust, light leaks and cigarette burns present, but if you compare it to the film stock used in the MST3K episode, you can easily see how cleaned up it is. The audio is also well done, with clear dialogue and no issues or drop outs present.
The features are the main reason to pick up this movie, with the aforementioned Mystery Science Theater 3000 being the best reason to get it. The feature which is in Standard Definition runs for the total runtime of the flick, so expect lots of laughs. The other features include an alternate scene from the international cut, which includes a bit of nudity of the breast kind (those international peeps sure do love their nudity and god bless them for that); audio commentary with Film Historian and Author Steve Haberman and Writer Tony Sasso; Theatrical Trailer and Still Gallery. It’s a good helping of features for a movie that isn’t all that great.
BLU-RAY SPECIAL FEATURES
- NEW High Definition (1080p) Transfer From The Negative Restored To Its Uncut Version
- Mystery Science Theater 3000 Episode – The Brain That Wouldn’t Die (Standard Definition)
- NEW Audio Commentary With Film Historian And Author Steve Haberman And Writer Tony Sasso
- Alternate Scene From The International Cut
- Theatrical Trailer
- Still Gallery
Product Note
This version of The Brain That Wouldn’t Die is uncut and includes parts of the brain surgery scene that were missing from previous releases.
VERDICT
I didn’t hate The Brain That Wouldn’t Die, which I suppose is a positive towards the flick. It isn’t a terrible movie, but it runs too long. I don’t mind 60s cat fights and bathing suit competitions, but mix in some killer head action with that “scantily clad flesh” and you would’ve easily got my money. Instead, my money is going towards the Blu-ray for the MST3K special feature and I think you would be wise to do the same.
RATING
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| Rating is mainly for the MST3K feature. |