ranked the episode considerably lower, at #125 in his ranking of MST3K's 191 episodes, saying, "It’s a dark, fairly ugly movie with extremely cheap sets, but Mike’s presence puts the crew into an upbeat, energetic state that contrasts nicely with it." The MST3K episode was released on VHS by Rhino Home Video in 1996 and as a single-disc DVD in April 2000; the uncut version of the original movie was also included as a bonus feature. On November 26, 2013, Shout! Factory re-released the MST3K version as a bonus feature part of its 25th Anniversary DVD boxed set. Reception and legacy On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 38% based on , with a weighted average rating of 4.63/10. Author and film critic Leonard Maltin awarded the film 1.5 out of 4 stars, calling it "poorly produced". On his website Fantastic Movie Musings and Ramblings, Dave Sindelar gave the film a mostly negative review, noting that, although it managed to work up a certain amount of tension and featured some good gore effects, it was ruined by its lack of likable and intelligent characters and its "inability to decide just how it wants to be taken". Brian J. Dillard from AllMovie said of the film, "Hokey, overwrought, and poorly paced, this venerable creature feature still commands a sizable following on the basis of its campy, low-grade special effects, its T&A exploitation, and its many pseudo-philosophical soliloquies". TV Guide awarded the film 2 out of 4 stars, calling it "one of the most genuinely bizarre 'brain' movies". Adaptations The movie also inspired the musical stage production The Brain That Wouldn't Die! In 3D!!! by Tom Sivak and Elizabeth Gelman, that premiered at the New York Musical Theatre Festival in October 2011. In 2015, Pug Bujeaud's musical theatrical production The HEAD! That Wouldn't Die was mounted in Olympia, Washington by Theater Artists Olympia. Lyrics and music were written by the ensemble cast and the TAO collective. Soon thereafter, Hollywood screenwriter Bruce Bernhard adapted the script as a staged musical comedy, creating a completely new score for it with songwriter Chris Cassone. The official world premiere for The Brain That Wouldn’t Die!…the Musical was at the Footlight Players Theatre in Charleston, South Carolina on October 13, 2016. A satirical feature film adaptation of the same title was filmed on location in Portland, Oregon. The film premiered on June 21, 2020,