Monday, December 05, 2005

Must-See Movie: The Brain That Wouldn't Die

The Brain That Wouldn't Die (1962)
One of the best B-horror movies ever, and one of the best MST3K experiments of all time, this 1962 classic is the best cinematic experience to enter my life.

A doctor who likes to experiment with dead body parts in his spare time gets into a car crash with his girlfriend. Although he emerges unscathed, she is sadly beheaded. As the fire of the crash consumes her body, the doctor instinctually saves her head, wrapping it in his coat, and runs to his desolate cabin-slash-laboratory (which happens to be running distance away, thankfully).

In the secret lab he manages to restore his beloved's head by hooking it up to tubes in a cheap lasagna pan of special so-scientific-they-never-explain-it juices. Phenomenally his gal Jan is able to speak (without lungs or any other airways - it's science, people - don't you get that??) where she endlessly nags her boyfriend to "let...me...die."

The BF instead goes out body-shopping (at a strip club, a swimsuit contest...even trolling the streets gawking at leggy women), planning on luring back the best model (*ahem*) to his cabin where he'll lop off her noggin. "Yes, I was at the strip bar. It's for science, hon. Do you want a body or not? I'm doing this for you, you know..."
In the meantime, Jan-in-the-pan makes friends with the freak behind the locked door, a mysteriously hideous beast who is a result of all the after effects of the grotesque experiments. She is able to command him, as they share a bond of disgusting freakishness. Not like their friendship can go that far. She can't help him move, can't drive him to the airport... it's a pretty limiting relationship.

At any rate, Jan may very well be my next Halloween costume next year...if I can just figure out how to keep the juices in the pan when I stick my head into it.

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