Colibel Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

Platicsco Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Afouotos Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Chirphymium It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

bnwfilmbuff This is "The Brain That Wouldn't Die" meets "House of Frankenstein". Mad doctor Frank seeks out sane doctor Simon, who has discovered a serum that keeps disembodied organs alive. Sane doctor Simon has a bad ticker that is ready to go, an attractive but crippled nurse Kernke, and we all know where this is going. Frank has no apparent motivation for his behavior other than he can do head transplants or keep disembodied heads alive and he's crazy. Desperate attempts were made to give this flick some atmosphere like eerie music and misty night shots but nothing works. Frank is good as the mad doctor and Kernke is attractive but the story is a bore. This was challenging to stay awake through the entire movie.

Woodyanders Professor Abel (a sturdy portrayal by Michel Simon) creates a serum that enables human heads to stay alive after the body dies. After Abel suffers a heart attack, his crazed assistant Dr. Brandt (expertly essayed with sinister aplomb by Horst Frank) uses the serum to keep Abel's head alive and plans to transplant the head of beautiful, but hunchbacked nurse Irene Sander (a sound and sympathetic performance by the lovely Karin Kernke) onto the sumptuous body of exotic dancer Stella (sexy blonde Christiane Maybach). Writer/director Victor Travis relates the compelling story at a steady pace and treats the potentially lurid subject matter with admirable taste and restraint. Moreover, this film is acted with praiseworthy conviction and sincerity by the able cast, with Kernke a touching stand-out throughout. While there isn't much in the way of action, this picture is nonetheless still worth seeing for several nifty visual flourishes, the brooding somber mood, and the complex relationships between the unusually well-etched characters.

Chase_Witherspoon Psychotic Dr Ood (crazy-eyed Frank) is a maniacal genius who has the opportunity to perform a miraculous operation with a secret serum Z, when his boss dies on the operating table mid-experiment. Preserving Michel Simon's head for the purposes of its extraordinary brain content, the twisted Dr Ood is soon looking for another victim on whom to perform his gruesome experiments, when the crippled Sister Irene (Kernke) reluctantly agrees to undergo an operation that promises to correct her debilitating condition, stooped like Quasimodo with a shuffling gait to match. But the once unassuming woman, who cannot bear to look upon her hideous deformity, soon discovers that perfection comes at an unaffordable cost.Frank is unhinged as a deranged Doctor who makes serious overtures toward Kernke, even after he's turned her into some perverted Frankenstein's monster. Veteran French actor Simon is given little to do but screw up his face while his head sits atop a water cooler, sans body. Kernke has a likable character and Dieter Eppler makes a reasonable fist of the hero, even if he's something of a cuckold. You might also recognise prolific German-International actor Helmut Schmid as the docile mechanical engineer Bert who becomes concerned with Dr Ood's peculiar activities.Occasionally atmospheric and displaying good use of sets and lighting, the preposterous premise shouldn't necessarily paint itself into a corner, after all, Jason Evers succeeded in "The Brain that Wouldn't Die" and even Steve Martin was able to coax a laugh or two from "The Man With Two Brains" (I won't include "The Thing with Two Heads" in this analogy). Frank is better than the material with which he had to work, yet unfortunately, his credentials don't spare much goodwill on this modest little sci-fi that attempts to double as a psycho-thriller but fails to reach its potential.

Scarecrow-88 Eerie little thriller regarding the deranged antics of a mad scientist who keeps a renowned professor's brain alive even after having to decapitate his head once the weak heart stopped beating. His plans include removing the head of a hunchbacked woman(..a crippled spine, but beautiful face), reapplying it to the luscious body of a stripper. Horst Frank is the cold-blooded scientist, Dr. Ood, who perfects the serum of Professor Abel(Michel Simon)and uses it to keep his head alive while disposing of colleague Dr. Burke(Kurt Müller-Graf)who threatened to stop him. Ood's a brilliant plastic surgeon having performed on the face of Lily(Christiane Maybach)who poisoned her husband and needed an escape. Lily's sexy figure is perfect for a crippled patient, Irene(Karin Kernke), who has been waiting for delicate surgery on her spine for some time, and Ood is only happy to oblige. Ood was once a guinea pig himself, his brain experimented on, his intelligence increased along with an accompanied madness that is starting to cause him to become more dangerous to anyone that threatens his happiness with Irene. Meanwhile, a paralyzed and mortified(..and tired)Professor Abel attempts to talk some sense into Ood, discovering that he's beyond reason. Dieter Eppler is a sculptor, Paul Lerner, who becomes involved with Irene as she attempts to leave Ood(..Lily was a model for Paul and a birthmark exposes Ood's crime to Irene's dismay). Helmut Schmid, as Bert, is a loyal assistant to Abel(..and eventually, albeit reluctantly, with Ood)who becomes an adversary of Ood's when he uncovers his secrets involving the professor's unfortunate situation.As other user comments have elaborated, and rightfully so, it's hard not to think of THE BRAIN THAT WOULDN'T DIE when watching THE HEAD because both films deal with a victim's severed head left alive, their demands for death gone unanswered as the ones responsible have other disturbing plans in store...and both share the link of an attractive model being chosen to as a host body for the titular head. What separates the films is mood and tone. Director(..and writer)Victor Trivas is able to create an unsettling atmosphere that is ever present and Frank's reserved approach(..until the end where Ood is finally overwhelmed by his insanity) to his obviously cuckoo scientist add a quality woefully missing in THE BRAIN THAT WOULDN'T DIE. Plus, THE HEAD is more focused and far less corny, clearly exploring implications from a series of devious, coordinated procedures by Ood whose sole purpose, it seems, is benefiting his own twisted agenda, obtaining the prize that is Irene, his creation. Kernke, once operated on, has quite an alluring sex appeal(..her figure finally revealed after wearing a robe covering her body, bent and hunched as she walked) which calls to our attention just why Ood desires her to the point of violent obsession. The visual effect of Abel's head, absent a body, is impressive considering when the film was made..I mean, you have an idea of how it was pulled off, but still, I've seen far worse effects in the past(..even regarding the use of CGI). Effective score also adds much to the macabre behavior of the film's protagonist. A bonafide sleeper I think is worth a look.