Uploaded June 2021 | Updated September 2026, 4 days ago
The Brain That Wouldn't Die (also known as The Head That Wouldn't Die or The Brain That Couldn't Die) is a 1962 American science fiction horror film directed by Joseph Green and written by Green and Rex Carlton. The film was completed in 1959 under the working title The Black Door but was not theatrically released until May 3, 1962, when it was released under its new title as a double feature with Invasion of the Star Creatures.
The film focuses upon a mad doctor who develops a means to keep human body parts alive. He keeps his fiancée's severed head alive for days, and also keeps a lumbering, malformed brute (one of his earlier failed experiments) imprisoned in a closet.
The specific plot device of a mad doctor who discovers a way to keep a human head alive had been used in fiction earlier (such as Professor Dowell's Head from 1925), as well as other variants on this theme.
Directed by:
Joseph Green
Cast:
Jason Evers as Dr. Bill Cortner
Virginia Leith as Jan Compton
Leslie Daniel as Kurt
Adele Lamont as Doris Powell
Bonnie Sharie as blonde stripper
Paula Maurice as brunette stripper
Marilyn Hanold as Peggy Howard
Bruce Brighton as Dr. Cortner
Eddie Carmel as monster
Original release date:
May 3, 1962
The Brain That Wouldn't Die (also known as The Head That Wouldn't Die or The Brain That Couldn't Die) is a 1962 American science fiction horror film directed by Joseph Green and written by Green and Rex Carlton. The film was completed in 1959 under the working title The Black Door but was not theatrically released until May 3, 1962, when it was released under its new title as a double feature with Invasion of the Star Creatures.
The film focuses upon a mad doctor who develops a means to keep human body parts alive. He keeps his fiancée's severed head alive for days, and also keeps a lumbering, malformed brute (one of his earlier failed experiments) imprisoned in a closet.
The specific plot device of a mad doctor who discovers a way to keep a human head alive had been used in fiction earlier (such as Professor Dowell's Head from 1925), as well as other variants on this theme.
Directed by:
Joseph Green
Cast:
Jason Evers as Dr. Bill Cortner
Virginia Leith as Jan Compton
Leslie Daniel as Kurt
Adele Lamont as Doris Powell
Bonnie Sharie as blonde stripper
Paula Maurice as brunette stripper
Marilyn Hanold as Peggy Howard
Bruce Brighton as Dr. Cortner
Eddie Carmel as monster
Original release date:
May 3, 1962
