User Reviews

During this period of movie history, studios were making movies to lure young people to drive-ins and walk-in theaters. Usually, the studios didn't care what was on the screen, because most young people would use the opportunity to make out. For those that managed to watch the film, they were usually treated to creepy horror. One film in particular is "The Thing That Couldn't Die." Jessica has a psychic skill that allows her to find things. One thing that she finds is a box that contains the head of Gideon Drew. As many moviegoers can figure out, the head is STILL alive, and wants Jessica to find his body. Seems that Drew was a devil worshiper and was beheaded, his body buried separately from his head.

The film has some interesting points, but it was strictly made for drive-in audiences: enough to keep the little ones quiet, and enough to push the teens into the back seat. Great for a Saturday night fun fest.

While out divining for water, a young psychic woman named Jessica Burns (Carolyn Kearney) stumbles upon something else altogether. She discovers a chest that has been buried for centuries on her aunt's ranch. Instead of the treasure her aunt is hoping for, the chest contains the head of Gideon Drew, a devil worshiper who was beheaded by Sir Francis Drake. Telepathically controlling the hired-hand who opened the chest, Drew's head goes on a murderous spree in search of the rest of his body – also buried on Jessica's aunt's farm. While Jessica is certain she feels the presence of evil, can she put a stop to Drew's plans and will she be in time to prevent his becoming whole?

I thought I was fairly familiar with most of Universal's horror output prior to 1960, but this is one Universal film from the 50s that certainly gets little mention. While The Thing That Couldn't Die isn't what I would call a "good" movie, it does have a few things going for it. First, the film has some interesting ideas and is actually rather ambitious. Director Will Cowan, whether by luck or intention, is able to give the movie some nice atmosphere from time-to-time. And, the special effects involving the head are certainly creepy. But the whole project is undone by the acting. I'm shocked to learn that any of the supposed "actors" in this thing ever appeared in anything else. You would think that this was a "one and done" type of movie for most of those involved. Kearney is the worst offender. She's horrible. Also, The Thing That Couldn't Die may have been a bit too ambitious for its own good. Given the budget and other limitations, there was no way the movie could aspire to its more lofty ideas. Finally, the movie ends rather abruptly. Just as things are starting to get interesting, The End. What's that about?

This Universal horror film is actually a complete disappointment that the movie posters hide through creative artwork. The discovery of a buried 400;year old head is promising, especially considering that it's allegedly the head of an evil man whose cranium and body were several among "execution" (allegedly by Sir Francis Drake) in Southern California when it was discovered that the eerie looking man was working for Beslzebub. Opening the locked chest (featuring a serious warning not to open) releases the demon from its non-resting place.

Carolyn Kearney is a guest at this farmhouse who has the psychological ability to track down metal objects telepathically and with her help, they discover the chest for some reason in the middle of the night. The head with the moving eyes and silent muttering lips can get the person looking at it to commit murder.

Of course, if it is attached to its body (which we are supposed to believe has not decomposed), it can create all sorts of evil happenings. For some reason, the head ends up in a woman's hatbox which actually makes it looks like it's in a cooking pot. Perhaps they should have just boiled it and shrunk it to the size of a California raisin, flushing it away with remaining prints of the film.. That would have been a much sweeter plot than the disaster that happens here.

The main problem with this movie has been pointed out already by other viewers: not the low budget, or the recycled music, which is pretty well used, or the basic story, etc, but that many of the characters are pretty annoying. Jessica, the sweet young thing with the psychic gift, is just too bland to be much of a real heroine, and the hero does very little. Boyd, the sleazy ranch hand is supposed to be unlikable and he does a good job, as does the big, Lenny like guy as a well meaning , but simple character. The drunken artist is understandably P.O.'d at the way his model/fiancée Linda is acting.

The characters and performances that really stand out for me are Andra Martin as Linda, doing a very good job as the nice model, who turns into a really sensuously sinister character, under the influence of sorceror Gideon Drew. Considering he spends most of the movie as a disembodied head, Robin Hughes is very good as the undead magician.Once he's back in one piece, he delivers some effectively menacing lines quite well.

The aforementioned are probably the best performances, but the third memorable one stands out as being one of the most presumably unintentionally dislikable characters in a movie. Aunt Flavia as written is certainly not very appealing, but the actress portraying her makes her so obnoxious that she nearly sinks the picture. Other posters have referred to her "dental drill voice" and that they hoped the bad guy would get her before the picture was over, or a tree would fall on her, and I concur.

Ever since one poster referred to " the closet gay leading man", I've been forced to look at the movie differently. A couple of posters have mentioned a vaguely lesbian subtext to some scenes involving Linda and Jessica, and I have to admit, seeing the two good looking ladies sharing a bed was kind of exciting, but any possible undertones of that nature would have to have been pretty well hidden for a Fifties movie.

It certainly isn't a good movie by most standards, but it does have a kind of creepy atmosphere that works fairly well. I think it's worth seeing once, any way.

As a kid, this movie scared me green. As an adult, I couldn't stop laughing.

I have not had the pleasure of watching this movie via MST3K. I caught it, instead, on a late Saturday afternoon, when there was absolutely nothing in the theaters, and there was nothing left to do outside but rake some autumn leaves. I figured, this HAD to be better. I was wrong.

The movie has some very good elements; a water-divining mystic, a beatnik painter, couple of idiot ranch hands, an elderly history buff, and an "evil wind." Um...I mean...evil head. An evil head which will, as soon as the systematic hypnotism of each and every one present is complete, be looking for its evil body.

The whole story takes place on an evil "ranch" which apparently neither grows crops, nor raises evil livestock.

As everything is declared by their resident mystic to be "evil," you either roll your eyes horribly, or laugh til your sides split, depending on your mood. Me? I laughed until I had tears streaming down my face.

I remembered this movie fondly as one of those which really SCARED me as a kid. But some kids are afraid of Santa Claus, too..no? Anyway... if you're into 50's horror camp, then this is definitely a movie you shouldn't miss.

If you're looking for a good story line, this movie has that. It's the over the top dramatics and downright innocence of the time that makes it so horrid. The acting was just BAD, but it still had some good elements. Perhaps it rates a remake...?

It rates a 4.3/10 from...

the Fiend :.

As "disembodied head movies" go, this one's right at the top. The movie is workmanlike, the cast doesn't have famous actors although they are recognizable, and production values are decent. The silly story—a very old head searching for its body—is the only thing that may turn people off.

The scene is an isolated guest ranch in California, where various beautiful people are spending a relaxing holiday, accompanied by the ranch's matronly owner, her slimy ranch foreman, and a dim-witted hired hand. One of the guests is a beautiful young woman who is clairvoyant—she finds hidden and buried things through some sort of mind power. See where we're going here?

Eventually, the clairvoyant woman identifies a spot to dig for treasure, and a small, old chest is dug up. Naturally, the dopey hired hand opens the box, and there's a 400-year-old disembodied head of an evil sorcerer (Robin Hughes) inside. After being underground for so long, The Head needs to catch up on unfinished business in a hurry, so it hypnotizes most of the ranch's guests. To do this, The Head appears in unusual places (window ledges, closet shelves, hat boxes) and whispers inaudible, mystical instructions to its victims. Pretty slick, eh?

After the convenient deaths of the foreman and hired hand (they had served their purposes in the story, after all), The Head—using the clairvoyant one—identifies a location to dig up its decapitated body. Sure enough, a coffin is produced and is promptly carried back to the main ranch house.

The opening of the coffin is the highlight of the movie, and it's quite entertaining. The headless body stands up, whereupon one of the hypnotized women gently reattaches The Head…hmmm, pretty snug fit. The reunited sorcerer now decides to kill everyone, resulting in a "Whoa, this is bad" moment. Bullets don't work, so the movie's hero (William Reynolds) produces a magical anti-sorcerer amulet that was discovered at the beginning of the film. The bad guy jumps back in his coffin, whereupon he is transformed into a skeleton, marking the film's ending. After 400 years in a box, The Head only gets reunited with its body for about 60 seconds. Such a pity.

I used to laugh at this silly film, but in the past few years it has grown on me a bit. The acting is really quite good, particularly by the dumb hired hand (Charles Horvath) and The Head himself (Robin Hughes). The hypnosis scenes, which I used to consider just hokey, are very fun to watch. If you can forget the ridiculous story line, this movie is worth viewing.