Thing That Couldn't Die, The (1958)
The Thing That Couldn't Die (1958), directed by Will Cowan.
A young woman with psychic powers warns her friends not to dig up an old buried chest. That's because it contains a severed head, still alive after centuries, with evil mind control powers. Don't let it be reattached to its body, you fools!
Why review this very... modest... film? Perhaps because I enjoyed cheesy 1950s SF and horror films in my youth and need to defend them. When any title is lampooned on Mystery Science Theater the program's fans rush to the IMDB and vote it down as the "worst film EVER! OMG!! LOL!!!" That is unappealing herd behavior.
Even a small -- very small -- title such as this has its virtues:
Those who saw it when young (I did not) remember how much it scared them at the time.
It is a reminder that even major studios were capable of fast shoestring projects. This was made by Universal, not some indie outfit.
Cinematographer Russell Metty, known for:
...and many others.
Score by the uncredited Henry Mancini. I hear themes from the "Creature" films, to which he also contributed.
Featuring the mean, tough-looking James Anderson, perhaps best known as the nasty racist farmer Bob Ewell, father of Mayella, in To Kill a Mockingbird (1962). The commentary track on that film suggests he was a dangerous man off-screen as well.
Some erotica right out in the open, with the two women in bed. They could pretend it was no such thing at the time. Today this would be heated up quite a lot.
Which leads one to consider this as a sketch or trial run for a better production. Remake time.
Banned in Finland.
Available on DVD-R, only 69m long. ClassicFlix has it for rent. The IMDB has 1.85 for the aspect ratio; this is 1.33.
