Talkin' head much more interesting than TV news political pundits!
THIS talking head actually has something worthwhile to say... and she can also back up her words with the big nasty monster housed in the nearby closet!

This one is all about a (mad) doctor who has learned how to transplant a head, or at least he's ready to try. He has an assistant back at his country house laboratory with a somewhat diminutive personality who is much surprised when the doc staggers in through the door with his fiancé's head wrapped in his sports jacket! This was the result of a car crash on the drive to the country house -- the poor gal was decapitated.

Sometime prior to this event, the mad doctor had been experimenting around, sewing together various body parts (stolen from corpses at the hospital) and eventually creating an entire corpse which the doc energized to bring it to life. Unfortunately, this Frankenstein reject turned out to be badly flawed and, as the composite monster is as mean as the dickens, he's kept locked away in the laboratory closet.

Since the mad doctor has no body for his fiancé (I think the old one was supposed to have burned up in the car fire), he has to go out scouting around for one but first he brings the head back to life via a bunch of wires, tubes, electronic equipment, and a pan of life juice of some sort in which the head is strategically placed and propped up.

That task being completed, the mad doctor starts hitting the sleazy bars, looking up old flames and, he even attends a beauty contest in a determined effort to find an awesome young body for his lady. Unfortunately, while the doc is out, the fiancé's head wakes up and, for reasons unexplained, has unexpectedly developed telepathic abilities (which is lucky because the assistant gets tired of hearing her complaints and tapes her mouth shut!). Thus she communicates with the closet monster who is also really angry with the mad doctor and apparently, both freaks want nothing more than to die... but they have a little revenge in mind first.

I'll stop right there to avoid any major spoilers but you can pretty much guess where this one is going.

As to the technical aspects of this 1962 movie (actually, it was filmed in '59), it's shot in black-and-white and runs for 82 minutes (this is the superior "uncut" version, which includes the doctor's assistant staggering around for two minutes with an arm ripped away, the blood making big snail-trails everywhere). The aspect ratio is a little unique on this one -- it's 1.66:1 and is not your typical widescreen or letterbox. It has a thin border on all four sides so it looks like a regular full-frame on my widescreen TV but if you look closely, you can see the borders. It was filmed in Tarrytown, NY.

The packaging from Synapse Films is exceptionally nice on this DVD (with terrific and detailed liner notes by Bryan Senn) and the print is very good, much better than this one: The Brain That Wouldn't Die, or this one:AMC Monsterfest Collection - Cult Classics, Vol. 1 (The Atomic Brain / The Brain That Wouldn't Die / Carnival of Souls / Night Tide). That last one (on two discs in one package) is definitely the inferior choice of the 3, but of course you can obtain it really cheap and you also get the three other horror films as a bonus.

Do I like this film? Yes, very much! While it is clearly a B-movie and very low-budget as well, Director Joseph Green still did a superb job with what he had to work with. For example, if you watch VERY closely you can detect that they really didn't wreck the car (a cherry '59 Mercury convertible!) and the quick flash of the car door with the smashed glass was no doubt a junkyard one.

In summary, I would highly recommend this film to anyone who appreciates the older horror flicks. This one holds its own with comparable period films.

Sometimes Unintentionally Funny
The plot to this movie sounds humorous, and it kind of all goes downhill from there. However, this movie has some redeeming moments.

Dr. Bill Cortner (a fixture on television for four decades) has a great life. He has a fast car, a thriving medical practice and hot girl friend Jan Compton (Virginia Leith, whose career went downhill quickly after this movie - perhaps she should have quit while she was a head, or before she was one). How quickly life can turn tragic in horror movies, both for the actors and for the audience. While driving his fast car with his girlfriend - neither of whom was wearing a seatbelt (it was the early 60's) - Dr. Cortner loses control of his car and his girlfriend dies.

As many fans of horror and science fiction films know, there are many degrees of dead. In this movie, Dr. Cortner has a process for sustaining life in a head, which he uses on his girlfriend while seeking a new body for her.

This movie degenerates rapidly from here. Dr. Cortner begins visiting sleazy bars and tracking down beautiful women to find a suitable body for his girlfriend. The seeking of the body seemed to be an excuse for showing scenes which might have been risqué in 1962, but are now often tedious. Other than seeing what people thought was risqué in 1962, these scenes add little to the movie.

While Dr. Cortner is out gawking at bodies, Jan in the Pan is talking with the Thing in the Closet (I know, I usually explain stuff like this, but maybe you should find out more about this one yourself). Jan is having psychotic episodes (who wouldn't, being a head in a pan that looks suitable for doing oil changes?) and developing a rapport with the Thing in the Closet. You know that no good will come of this.

Before I forget I have to mention Dr. Cortner's assistant with the shriveled hand. The hand looks like something I would have created with stuff you find around the house. I could see why his assistant was upset with his hand; even Frankenstein's monster had a better hand, even if it did come from a dead guy.

This movie probably made rounds as the third feature at drive-ins in the early 60's. This movie has appeared on television, though with the supposedly risqué elements and the violence partially removed. This movie is one of those that you either find hilarious, particularly if you are a fan of Mystery Science Theater 3000, or you thought it was tedious, awful and campy.

In spite of the campy moments in this film, Jan in the Pan was done reasonably well. I also thought the idea of the Thing in the Closet was interesting, though overdone. I also wish Jan in the Pan would have talked less. Jan babbled on and on in every scene in which she was awake, and her idea of a mental bond with the thing in the closet was just her running her mouth. The Thing in the Closet had good ears, and probably wished it didn't.

You should be able to figure out whether this one should make your play list.

Good luck!

Horror Classic
I saw this movie on late night TV when I was around eight years old. I loved it then and I love it now.



I don't know what kind of effects they used on the womans voice (post decapitation) but it still creeps me out when ever she speaks.



I would have given it three stars for the battling voluptuous strippers scene alone. But all in all it's a great low budjet horror film. I still find the talking head to be quite profound in her enlightened view of the world (once again, post decapitation).

"I THINK I'M GOING OUT OF MY HEAD".....OVER YOU!
"A cheesy classic, ***BEWARE*** There are some prints that are not complete and are missing a pretty cool gross out part of this film! I'm not sure about the DVD I took the picture from for this list? A one of a kind cheapy that will crack you up!"

The Brain Thant Wouldn't Die
The movie is bad it is second only to Howard the Duck. It was so bad that I could not sit through all of it. Don't bother with this one.