[.ca] The Brain That Wouldn't Die

From Amazon.com:
Mystery Science Theater 3000 experienced a changing of the guard with this fifth-season episode. Departed series creator and lead Joel Hodgson was replaced by head writer Mike Nelson, playing a hapless temp named... Mike Nelson, who was sent into space to cover for Hodgson's escape. The opening credit sequence and title theme (warbled by Nelson) were also new, but the show's basic premise--poking fun at atrocious B movies--remained the same. Nelson's debut "experiment" is the delirious 1960 head-transplant horror The Brain That Wouldn't Die. And while Nelson is occasionally stiff, particularly during the invention exchange (a longtime Hodgson staple, and soon to be excised), he and robot pals Crow and Tom Servo rise to the occasion during the film, which is filled with memorable zingers (Crow: "He's keeping her alive with Grey Poupon!"). Rhino's DVD presents the uncut, slightly gory version of Brain with and without the MST3K treatment. --Paul Gaita

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:
In this entry of the "Mystery Science 3000" series, the three witty viewers watch the sci-fi flick "The Brain That Wouldn't Die." This movie sux so bad!!! The plot, if you could stretch the word as far as the east is from the west, is about a scientist who keeps alive the decapitated head of his fiancee after she is injured in an auto accident. Slowly, she goes mad while he searches for another body. Well this is the first film Mike Nelson becomes the main host, and after getting trapped on an orbiting satellite, an unlucky soul must watch some of the silliest movies ever made as part of a fiendish experiment dreamed up by a group of sinister scientists. But as he views the films with two robots, he actually starts having a good time. He and his companions begin to make fun of what they see up on the screen and their observations are hilarious. I must say the movie's bad, but well Mike, Crow, and I aren't, so get up and get out and buy this episode.

Mike replaces Joel on the SOL, and hilarity quickly ensues:
Much to my surprise, I just realized that I apparently haven't gotten around to reviewing this classic episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000. Not only is it an especially funny episode, it is of great historical importance as the first episode featuring Mike Nelson as the human subject for Dr. Forrester's experiments (Joel Hodgson having bowed out in mid-season #5), thus giving rise to the who's funnier controversy that all of us fans seem to enjoy arguing about so much. The whole show got a makeover of sorts, from the theme song to new theatre doors to a new look to Deep 13. Mike, of course, was no stranger to MSTies, having served as head writer for years and having popped up numerous times in skits. That, plus the fact that Mike is a comic genius totally at home in front of the camera, made a rather traumatic event (Joel was, after all, the heart and soul of the whole show) a celebration rather than a wake. It was the start of a phenomenal run, as some of the show's funniest episodes can be found in Mike's half of that fifth season. Naturally, Best Brains wanted a slam-dunk movie for Mike's debut, and The Brain That Wouldn't Die (also known - in the movie's end credits, no less - as The Head That Wouldn't Die) was a can't-miss. Any show featuring a talking head in a pan of neck juice is rife for ribbing. You've also got a mutated monster so ugly that even Tor Johnson's mother couldn't love him, an arm-challenged mad scientist's assistant, a doctor whose idea of saving lives involves murder, a stripper catfight, and even a beauty contest. And let's not forget the talking decapitated head, even though said head proves so annoying that many would argue the good doctor should have left the head to burn and saved the body instead. You think you really know the woman you love - until you take her decapitated head, put it in a pan, and keep it alive with your own special blend of neck juice. Dr. Bill Cortner (Jason Evers), a new-breed doctor who bravely goes where most doctors (at least, those not named Frankenstein) fear to tread, could have just let his fiance Jan (Virginia Leith) die after her head gets chopped off in an auto accident. Instead, he grabbed her head, hustled it up to his personal lab, set it up all nice and neat in his own special recipe of life-maintaining gravy, and went out in search of a new body for the woman he loved. But does Peggy appreciate everything Bill has done for her? Nooooo. Not one bit. All she does is turn into the mouth that wouldn't shut up and makes "you should have let me die" her new mantra. Apparently, all of her nice qualities were located in her torso because she turns into a vengeful little spitfire who proclaims herself the leader of the doctor's army of mutant creations (all one of them). In her defense, Dr. Cortner is one weird dude with a pretty disturbing hairstyle, but she knew that before she dropped 95% of her body mass. Maybe she's just mad that the selective doctor is seeking an upgrade model for her new body, but you can hardly blame the guy for that. Why settle for pancakes when you can have the whole hungry man's breakfast? No self-respecting MSTie would dare be without this hilarious, historically important episode in his/her personal collection.

Bye Joel, Hi Mike:
The transition from the droopy-eyed, slow talking Joel, to the squeaky clean, somewhat ingenuous Mike was no problem, as this episode makes obvious. Mike Nelson had been the show's writer for years; it is little wonder that the leap to lead actor would be such a piece of work. And speaking of a piece of work, "The Brain That Wouldn't Die" was the perfect B-movie clanker for Mike's inauguration. This movie would inspire other B-films like Re-Animator and Frankenhooker, but that's besides the point. The 'bots and Mike have a party skewering this thing. As always, the trio never misses a beat. My favorite line happens when the camera passes through the mad doctor's laboratory and pans over a tray that is covered with hypodermics, to which Crow exclaims: "Hello, welcome to Kurt Cobain's and Courtney Love's home!" For any MST3K fan, this is a must.

A Real 50's Classic:
This is an old classic sci-fi horror film which doesn't have any real science or horror in it. It deals with a doctor who is doing experiments with complete transplantation. The story gets underway when his girlfriend is killed in an auto accident in which he was driving. However, he is able to save her head. After her head is secured in his laboratory, the good doctor goes shopping for a new body for his girl. In my opinion, this episode has some of the funniest jokes in the series. One of my favorites is when the doctor is carrying his girlfriend's head under his arm while running, and then the crew makes a football joke. Basically, if you're a fan of black humor, you have to check this one out.

A Good Episode:
This, the first episode to feature Mike Nelson as host of MST3K, is a pretty good episode. The movie, about a mad scientist trying to find an appropriate body for the severed head of his girlfriend, is ridiculous and sleazy horror exploitation, and it's hard to find a movie more suited for this show. The joking is often extremely funny, my favorite being, "Hey, you're not my dad, you're Hitler!" The intermission segments are pretty good as well. Like nearly all MST3K DVDs, the image in the intermission scenes is bright and sharp, and about as good (if not slightly better) than broadcast or previous videotape versions. The sound is as good as it should be, and the riffing in the movie segments is easily heard. The movie itself is soft and scratchy, although that hardly matters. The DVD includes a few special features, the only really important one being the uncut version of "The Brain that wouldn't Die" on the second side of the disc, which restores some scenes cut out of the MST3K version. Each side of the disc contains some humurously detailed instructions on how to flip the disc. Rounding out things are some fairly useless weblinks and "Other Rhino Titles" (basically a listing of other MST3K videos and DVDs).