I love this movie so much

The Worst Film Ever

Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Jessica Burns (lovely Carolyn Kearney) is a young woman with strong psychic ability, living with others on her Aunt Flavias' (Peggy Converse) farm. One day, her dowsing rod leads her to a buried treasure chest. Alas, what is in the chest is not treasure, but the still living decapitated head of Gideon Drew (Robin Hughes), a 16th Century Satan worshipper. Drew is able to malevolently control some of the characters, while enlisting them to search for the rest of his body, buried somewhere else on the property.You can really tell that this drive-in movie was done on the cheap, but that in itself is NOT a strike against it. Unfortunately, the story (written by David Duncan) is kind of dull, with too much emphasis placed on the melodrama between most of our cast. Produced and directed by Will Cowan (his final feature film), it's never as schlocky, creepy, or as much FUN as one might like it to be. That's not to say, of course, that it doesn't have its moments. The sight of Drews' head in the hand of gargantuan, simpleton farmhand Mike (Charles Horvath) is amusing, and the climactic confrontation (which is resolved awfully quickly) is a hoot, as Drew surveys with contempt his determined human opponents.The acting is not great, but it's appropriate for this sort of thing. Kearney is a little much when she's required to play the indignant, virtuous girl; she's more fun when her innocence is corrupted by Drews' influence. William Reynolds, Andra Martin, Jeffrey Stone, Ms. Converse, James Anderson, Mr. Horvath, and Forrest Lewis are all okay, but it's easily Hughes who gives the best performance as the "thing" within this movie.It does kill roughly 70 minutes in painless enough fashion.Six out of 10.

The Thing That COuldn't Die (1958)* 1/2 (out of 4) Laughably bad horror film from Universal about a group of people who find a mysterious case buried underneath an old tree. A teenage Jessica (Carolyn Kearney) has the ability to see the future and she warns her friends not to open the thing so naturally they do it anyway. Inside just so happens to be the decapitated head of a devil worshiper who was killed by Sir Francis Drake. THE THING THAT COULDN'T DIE has the reputation of being one of the studio's worst films and I'm not going to defend it too much, although I still think there are worse out there. With that said, there's no doubt that this film is pretty awful at times but thankfully it gets bad enough to where you can actually just sit back and laugh at it. Poor Kearney is the cause of many laughs because her acting is just so bad that you can't help but feel bad for her. Even worse is some of the dialogue she's given to say and just check out the scene where she has a breakdown about "evil" things and then starts screaming how she wants people to die before making a tree fall on a woman. Say what? This entire sequence perfectly shows what's wrong with this movie but it made me laugh. The actual "monster" is just the decapitated head being carried around by a variety of people who then murder for it. This certainly isn't scary and the "effect" is only mildly entertaining. Outside of Kearney, the cast for the most part is decent, although no one really jumps off the screen. Charles Horvath plays a large, slow brute and it's so spot-on for Lon Chaney, Jr. that you have to wonder why the studio just didn't go out and get the real thing. THE THING THAT COULDN'T DIE is a bad film. There's no question about that but I think most will at least be able to laugh at it.

Wow!! For an old horror movie this one sucks. It also is not a horror movie at all in my opinion, it is at best a suspense. It is slow to develop and never gets any better. The acting is average at best. They did do a good job with the head of the bad guy when he is unearthed, at least for back then when the special effects were suspect most of the time. The dream flash back when the dowser is over come by I don't know what explains a lot but not all of the back ground information is supplied. Why didn't they just burn the body and/or the head? Well then there wouldn't have been a movie of course. I don't understand why TMC aired this one. They usually have much better movies.

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?