There is a small bit of visual wit. Most obvious is a scene of two strippers fighting over Cortner, the camera tilts up to two pictures of cats, with the sound of fighting cats literalizing the action on the floor. Overlooked is the inclusion of a bust in Cortner's house, the sculpture of a head, that prefigures Jan's fate. While I have no way of knowing Green's intentions, the scenes of horror could be appreciated for their black humor. The monster in the closet tears off Kurt's good arm, leaving the loyal assistant to smear his blood-soaked smock against the laboratory walls. The monster bears a strong resemblance to Mr. Potato-Head, particularly as seen in Toy Story when he declares that he's "a Picasso". There is also shot after shot of Cortner interviewing possible victims, frequently with his hands around their necks.

The most famous line uttered by Herb Evers as Bill Cortner is, "Do I look like a maniac who goes around killing girls?" Part of Jan was played by former Fox contract player Virginia Leith. Leith was the step-mother of filmmaker Mary Harron. One could argue that the seedlings of Harron's feature films could be found in The Brain that would't Die. Certainly Cortner's words could have been easily said by American Pyscho's Patrick Bateman. The strip club scenes recall the milieu of The Notorious Bettie Page. And what to make of the facially scarred model, Doris, a self-declared "man-hater", perhaps not too distant in attitude from Valerie Solanas of I Shot Andy Warhol. Cortner is somewhat like Harron's male characters, self-absorbed and transgressive, while the female characters are objectified by men, sometimes by choice.

The Brain that would't Die may not be a good film in the conventional sense, but it should not be mistaken for a bad film, or so bad it's good, or camp. Bad films are never as perpetually entertaining as this. Can it be taken seriously as an examination of mad science or sexism? Somethings are better left at the surface. Be that as it may, The Brain that would't Die is the results of an idiosyncratic imagination that deserves to be valued for its shamelessness and audacity. In other words, this is truly what should be meant when one discusses an independent film.

Links to other entries in this blog-a-thon can be found at The Bleeding Tree.