| Jan Compton | |
|---|---|
 | |
|
Real Name |
Jan Compton |
|
First Appearance |
The Brain That Wouldn't Die ( May 3, 1962) |
|
Original Publisher |
American International Pictures |
|
Created by |
Rex Carlton, Joseph Green, Virginia Leith |
Origin[]
Jan Compton was the fiance of Dr. Bill Cortner. While driving to his family's country house, Bill and Jan become involved in a car accident that decapitates her. Bill recovers her severed head and rushes to his country house basement laboratory. He and his crippled assistant Kurt revive the head in a liquid-filled tray. But Jan's new existence is agony, and she begs Bill to let her die. He ignores her pleas, and she grows to resent him.
Bill decides to commit murder to obtain a body for Jan. He hunts for a suitable specimen at a burlesque nightclub, on the streets, and at a beauty contest. Jan begins communicating telepathically with a hideous mutant, an experiment gone wrong, locked in a laboratory cell. When Kurt leaves a hatch in the cell door unlocked, the monster grabs and tears off Kurt's arm. Kurt dies from his injuries.
Bill lures an old girlfriend, figure model Doris Powell, to his house, promising to study her scarred face for plastic surgery. He drugs her and carries her to the laboratory. Jan protests Bill's plan to transplant her head onto Doris's body. He tapes Jan's mouth shut.
When Bill goes to quiet the monster, it grabs Bill through the hatch and breaks the door from its hinges. Their struggles set the laboratory ablaze. The monster, a seven-foot giant with a horribly deformed head, bites a chunk from Bill's right cheek. Bill dies, and the monster carries the unconscious Doris to safety. As the lab goes up in flames, Jan says "I told you to let me die". The screen goes black, followed by Jan's maniacal cackle, welcoming her long-awaited death.
Public Domain Film Appearances[]
- The Brain That Wouldn't Die (1962)
Notes[]
- Originally completed in 1959 under the title The Black Door (it was then changed to The Head That Wouldn't Die), it was not released until May 3, 1962, where failure to add the copyright notice resulted in the film entering the public domain.
- The film was featured in episode 513 of Mystery Science Theater 3000. This film was the first movie watched by Mike Nelson in Mystery Science Theater 3000, after he replaced Joel Robinson (Joel Hodgson) on the series. Jan in the Pan is the nickname given to the female lead by the characters on the show.