Face of Terror (1962)
"La cara del terror" (original title)

A scientist develops a serum that can eradicate scar tissue. He tries it on a girl with a horribly disfigured face. It succeeds, but then he discovers the girl is an escaped mental patient from a local asylum.

Directors:

Isidoro M. Ferry, William J. Hole Jr.

Writers:

Monroe Manning (screenplay), Monroe Manning (story)

Stars:

Lisa Gaye, Virgilio Teixeira, Fernando Rey

Cast

Cast overview:
Lisa Gaye	...	Norma
Virgilio Teixeira	...	Playboy (as Virgilio Texera)
Fernando Rey	...	Dr. Charles Taylor
Concha Cuetos	...	Alma (as Conchita Cuetos)
Gérard Tichy	...	Sanitarium Head (as Gerard Tichy)
Carlos Casaravilla
Pedro Hurtado
Emilio Rodríguez	...	(as Emilio Rodriguez)
Eduardo Sancho	...	(as Eduaedo Sancho)
Pepe Martín	...	(as Jose Martin)
Jacinto San Emeterio	...	(as Jacinto Sanemererio)
Ana María Custodio	...	(as Ana Maria Custodio)

Storyline

A kindly wheelchair-bound physician, Doctor Charles Taylor (Fernando Rey) is developing a serum able to repair scar tissue, but he has not been able to conduct a real test. He comes across a young girl with a horribly disfigured face. The effects of the serum are better than the scientist expected, and the girl is transformed to a thing of beauty again - Norma (Lisa Gaye). He presents her to some friends, exhibiting his success, and she befriends a handsome Playboy (Virgilio Teixeira). Unfortunately for Lisa, her restored beauty is not permanent. Unfortunately to Dr. Taylor, Norma happens to be an escaped mental patient from a local asylum, and she can't cope when the serum effects wears off, and her face returns to its hideous condition. Enraged at this setback, Norma goes to the laboratory armed with the shard of a broken bottle, screaming at the doctor, "I'll kill you!" The man can do little to defend himself but to drive the wheelchair back from her, and interposing some objects ...

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Plot Keywords:

disfigured face | scientist | disfigurement

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Genres:

Horror | Sci-Fi

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Details

Country:

Spain

Language:

Spanish

Release Date:

1964 (USA)

Also Known As:

Face of Terror

Company Credits

Production Co:

Carthay Productions, Documento Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

83 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Did You Know?

Connections

Featured in Son of Svengoolie: Face of Terror (1962) (1980)

User Reviews

Predictable, mildly interesting, of interest to some

Dr. Taylor (Rey) develops a revolutionary new process of restoring badly damaged human skin. His synthetic skin can quickly and painlessly eliminate scarring. Unfortunately, the Madrid Institute of Mental Health denies his request to start human testing of his procedure.

Soon after being rejected, he is approached by a desperate woman (Gaye) with appalling burn scars on the left half of her face from an accident involving an oil lamp. What Dr. Taylor doesn't know is that she is an escaped mental patient from the very institution that had just rejected his work. He agrees to attempt the procedure on her free of charge since she is to be the first human test subject. It turns out to be a resounding success.

Unfortunately, the patient flees the doctor when he discovers her true identity and wants to turn her in. During her escape, she incapacitates him with a blow to the head. Now on the run, she struggles to remain at large and even escape the Madrid area. The film follows her desperate plight to both remain free and prevent her new skin tissue from deteriorating.

"Face of Terror" (U.S. title) is rather well done in many respects. The cast is decent and the production values are fine. There are some genuinely chilling moments as our fleeing mental patient plots murder in order to get her way. Pacing is slow at times and the entire film is rather predictable, but it is still worth seeing if one is a dedicated fan of the genre.