The Thing That Couldn't Die (1958)

Part of Universal's post-war monster movie cycle, The Thing That Couldn't Die (1958) remains an elusive quarry that I've never been able to track down.  Unusual in having a purely supernatural theme at a time when most of Universal's horror cycle was science fiction based, The Thing That Couldn't Die falls into the category of 'living head' movies.  The premise is straightforward - the living severed head of a man executed for witchcraft four hundred years ago is dug up on a modern day ranch, it proceeds to possess various people as it attempts to find its headless body.  Obviously, this involves the usual degree of murder and mayhem you'd expect from a B-movie of this sort.  Something about the film has always intrigued me, possibly it is the low-key nature of its monster, compared with many of the more its contemporary creatures from outer space, mutated by radiation to prehistoric survivals.  As can be seen from the trailer, the film contains much memorable imagery, involving a severed living head being held up by its hair to glare through windows and the like.

The film's poster repeats this imagery, featuring the head being held up by its also living headless body, to stare out of the poster, directly at the viewer.  All very evocative for what is essentially a B-movie designed as a supporting feature, or perhaps the lower half of B-movie double bill, with a sixty nine minute running time and a cast made up mainly of TV actors.  But it came from an era when studio produced B-movies could boast pretty decent production values (courtesy of standing sets from more prestigious studio productions) and marketing campaigns.  It is possible that the movie even had some influence on late film makers, with its plot bearing a lot of resemblance to that of Paul Naschy's 1972 film Horror Rises From the Tomb.  (Naschy was a big fan of classic horror films and it is quite likely that he had seen The Thing That Couldn't Die).  As mentioned, I've never been able to see the entire film and I fear that it would be a disappointment if I ever did, not living up to that poster or the striking imagery from the trailer.  Not that that will deter from catching it at some point.