Answers by E.C.McMullen Jr. and Kelly Parks

Your Hosts E.C.McMullen Jr. & Kelly Parks November 6, 2007 PICK OUR BRAINS! You've got questions and a fractured memory? Have zombies ate too much of your brain and your recollection of some monster movie has gone inexplicably fuzzy? We're here to help. Today, E.C. and Kelly answer a fan's desperate plea!

J.L. COULD BE TALKING ABOUT THIS MOVIE

Hey E.C., great site! For years I've looked (from time to time), for a site like yours. Intelligent reviews of popular horror movies as well as the not so popular. I'll be referring to the site often, I'm sure.
(FeoNote: See? Now THIS is how you start an email!)

If you wouldn't mind trying to answer a question I've had for about 25 years, I'd appreciate your response. Essentially, I saw a movie on a couple of occasions as a kid that I've never been able to find again, and I need to know what it was in order to start an effective search

I'm 43 years old now, so this will give you some way to gage the time frame which was roughly between 1969 and 1974. In the movie, I remember a womans head in a pan or some sort of tray, rather, the head (alive and speaking - I believe), was sitting in the tray or whatever it was. Regardless, the setting was in some sort of laboratory, like that of a mad scientist or something of the like. Unless I'm confusing some of these details with one or more other movies, I also remember the laboratory being in a dungeon like area of an old European style mansion or castle. My biggest memory was the womans head in this laboratory and I think her head was bald, or shaved. But it was alive and it definitely looked around - and I'm pretty sure it was able to speak.

BUT THIS MOVIE IS EASY TO FIND, SO J.L. IS PROBABLY THINKING OF ANOTHER MOVIE.

Anyway, thank you for any input you might be able to offer.

JL Nugent

Feo & Kelly's Answer: Thank you for your question, J.L. When we put what are apparently lesser Horror Thriller Geeks to this test, they tossed out the title, THE BRAIN THAT WOULDN'T DIE. But there is another... Yes, the two movies share many simularities. Both have a young woman whose decapitated alking head is kept in a laboratory. In 1962's, THE BRAIN THAT WOULDN'T DIE, the woman's head was in a pan. In the movie you seek, her head might be on a table. Why do I believe that the first movie may not be what you are looking for? Though you mentioned that her head was in a pan, if you actually WERE talking about THE BRAIN THAT WOULDN'T DIE - which remains on DVD in video rental shops and in stores throughout the world, as well as online - then you would have had no difficulty in finding it. So I'm guessing that you are looking for something else. The key to your question is that you thought it all took place in a dungeon or castle, certainly not the basement of a house, as was the case in THE BRAIN THAT WOULDN'T DIE. What you may have forgot to mention was the Nazis on ice, the movie was in color, and there were living amputated arms hanging from the walls. The woman's head was shaved and decapitated, but as if things couldn't get any worse, the top of her head was entirely removed exposing her brain, and her body was chopped to living pieces! Whew! How will our heroine get out of this one, eh? This 1966 movie was called THE FROZEN DEAD. It was written, directed, and produced by Herbert J. Leder (FIEND WITHOUT A FACE, IT!) and starred Dana Andrews (NIGHT OF THE DEMON aka CURSE OF THE DEMON, THE SATAN BUG) and Anna Palk (THE SKULL, THE EARTH DIES SCREAMING). The movie had many stumbles but never lost sight of - or strayed too far from - it's horror, to whit: the woman's talking head, her suffering, the mad doctor's cruelty and insanity, the Nazis, and the freaking living amputated arms hanging from the walls. The whole concept was crazy enough to hold your attention even when the story sagged. The tension was also heightened by the creepy music provided by Don Banks (DIE, MONSTER, DIE!, TORTURE GARDEN). THE FROZEN DEAD is very difficult to find on VHS or DVD and you may have to find it in someone's collection or go to a company that specializes in out-of-print DVD titles. The last time I saw it on DVD was bundled as a two-fer with THEY FROZE HITLER'S BRAIN. Then again, maybe you haven't been looking THAT hard and the movie you're looking for really is THE BRAIN THAT WOULDN'T DIE. Memory is a tricky thing. Especially when you keep your head on a table.

UPDATE: NOVEMBER 6, 2007
J.L. responds -

Ed, thank you very much for the answer. Yes, both movies did ring a bell. It's always great to find an answer to something I've wanted to know for so many years. As it turns out, I believe I've seen both films, that explains my apparent confusion.

The memories I have were more of a blend of details from both movies. The best thing is finding your site. Already I've bookmarked the site, as well as purchasing the first of the two movies, The Brain That Wouldn't Die. I'm putting the other on my favorite searches list at ebay.

It's going to be fun watching these with my wife and kids.

Looking forward to visiting the site in the future. Please pass my gratitude on to Kelly as well.

Hey, here's a link to a site where one of my childhood TV heroes is remembered. Long live the Cool Ghoul!

J.L. Nugent

This article copyright 2007 E.C.McMullen Jr.

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