The Thing That Couldn't Die



The Thing that Couldn't Die is a 1958 American black-and-white horror film from an original screenplay by David Duncan for Universal Pictures, produced and directed by Will Cowan. It was released in 1958 on a double bill with the British Hammer Films classic Horror of Dracula.

This film may have been the inspiration for the 1972 Spanish horror classic Horror Rises from the Tomb, as the plots are extremely similar.

Plot
A young woman named Jessica Burns (Carolyn Kearney), who claims to have psychic powers, lives on a remote ranch with her Aunt Flavia (Peggy Converse). An ancient box is discovered while digging a well discovered by Jessica while dowsing. Against Jessica's warnings, her Aunt takes it back to their house. Gordon (William Reynolds), a young man who has shown interest in Jessica, goes for an archaeologist, arguing the box should be kept intact for appraisal and opening by an expert. However, the Aunt's greedy ranch foreman, anticipating treasure, secretly convinces the slow-witted handyman to break it open. Instead, the box contains the intact head of Gideon Drew (Robin Hughes), a man executed for sorcery 400 years earlier. The head awakens and telepathically takes over the mentally vulnerable handyman.

After murdering the foreman, the head has the handyman conceal it while arranging to have a coffin retrieved containing Gideon's body. After the handyman helps the head take control of a young woman (Andra Martin) staying at the ranch, it drives him to approach police in a threatening manner holding the knife that killed the foreman. The police had arrived to investigate the theft of the box's remains and the blood left behind from the killing of the foreman. Failing to stop, the handyman dies in a hail of police bullets.

Once his head and body are joined, Gideon will be fully able to exercise his powers. The young woman is aware of the evil and is protected from the head's influence by an ancient cross she wears around her neck, but when Gordon removes it to make a cast so its historical value could be appraised, the head takes control of her mind. Jessica then helps find the head's body, previously being against doing so since they only wished to make money out of it as well as fear that it was an evil business. The young woman joins head to body and Gideon arises from his coffin, but Gordon, aware of the error of his ways, catches the monster off guard with the cross. This forces Gideon back into the coffin and, when they drop the cross in with his body, they watch the total disintegration of his mortal remains.

Cast

 * William Reynolds as Gordon Hawthorne
 * Carolyn Kearney as Jessica Burns
 * Andra Martin as Linda Madison
 * Jeffrey Stone as Hank Huston
 * Peggy Converse as Flavia McIntyre
 * Robin Hughes as Gideon Drew
 * James Anderson as Boyd Abercrombie
 * Charles Horvath as Mike
 * Forrest Lewis as Julian Ash

Trivia
The film was mocked in an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000 and shown on an episode of Svengoolie.