Eyes Without a Face (1960)

A surgeon causes an accident which leaves his daughter disfigured, and goes to extremes to give her a new face.

Director:

Georges Franju

Writers:

Jean Redon (novel), Pierre Boileau (adaptation) (as Boileau-Narcejac)

Stars:

Pierre Brasseur, Alida Valli, Juliette Mayniel

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Pierre Brasseur	...	Docteur Génessier
Alida Valli	...	Louise
Juliette Mayniel	...	Edna Grüber
Alexandre Rignault	...	Inspector Parot
Béatrice Altariba	...	Paulette (as Beatrice Altariba)
Charles Blavette	...	L'homme de la fourrière (as Blavette)
Claude Brasseur	...	Un inspecteur
Michel Etcheverry	...	Le docteur Lherminier - médecin légiste / Forensic surgeon
Yvette Etiévant	...	La mère (as Yvette Etievent)
René Génin	...	Emile Tessot
Lucien Hubert	...	Un homme au cimetière
Marcel Pérès	...	Un homme au cimetière (as Marcel Pères)
François Guérin	...	Jacques Vernon (as Francois Guerin)
Edith Scob	...	Christiane Génessier

Storyline

After causing an accident that left his daughter Christiane severely disfigured, the brilliant surgeon Dr. Génessier works tirelessly to give the girl a new face. He does so however by kidnapping young women and attempting face transplants. He has been woefully unsuccessful to date. The doctor's world begins to collapse around him when his daughter realizes just what he has been doing.

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Plot Keywords:

captive woman | disfigured face | surgeon | experiment | face transplant | 

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Taglines:

Beautiful women were the victims of his FIENDISH FACIALS!!! [American retitled and dubbed version poster]

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Genres:

Drama | Horror

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

When the film appeared in the Edinburgh Film Festival in 1960 it was reported that seven audience members fainted during the surgery scene. Director Georges Franju responded "Now I know why Scotsmen wear skirts."

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Goofs

License plate changes numbers between shots as the doctor is backing up and pulling into his garage for the first time. As he walks through the garage, into the house, you can see the original plate '7769' on his assistant's car.

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Quotes

Louise: [when Christiane stabs her] But... why?

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Alternate Versions

The film was re-released to US theaters completely uncut and under its original title on October, 31st 2003.

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Connections

Referenced in Reel (2015)

User Reviews

A classic, providing real chills

An early French chiller that set a benchmark in horror film making, with its unflinching depiction of horrific acts of surgery. The films sole purpose is to shock you in revealing things never before seen in 1959. Unfortunately, we are now in the age of cheap teen horror flicks and action films that feel the need to throw gore in our faces at every possible moment thus diminishing the impact of this film when watching it. Especially now we're in the 21st century, many of the scenes are comparatively tame. This does not mean, however, I disliked the film. Quite the contrary. Eyes Without A Face contains some truly terrifying images that make the hairs stand up on the back of your neck. The use of a woman in a white mask (a technique used so well in films such as Halloween and Friday the 13th) provides the films more memorable and spine tingling moments. It's the clever use of shade and light that make this possible as the director and cinematographer provide us with long -lasting images to chill to the bone.

The pace of the film is also worth a mention. Franju (the director) keeps us on the edge of our seat as the rich upper class couple lead young women into their house in order to remove their face! For some the pace could prove rather too slow - as in truth it did for me once or twice. But the payoffs from the slow pace offset any problems posed by it. It actually comes as a relief from the many directors who, in this day, believe that quick cuts and loud noise provide terror. Maybe it's time they delved back into the likes of this film, Halloween and Psycho to provide them with a few inspirations. I can think of only a handful of directors that have provided me with any real fright in the past ten years - M. Night Shyamalan (The Sixth Sense and Signs), Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez (The Blair Witch Project) and Wes Craven (Scream) are some of the few I can mention. Other films like the truly awful Jeepers Creepers and Thirteen Ghosts, which served no real purpose what-so-ever, provided me with quick cuts and loud noises - neither of which particularly endeared me to their cause. Call me an old fuddy duddy, but it's time they made more horrors like they did in the old days - films with real suspense and images which truly frighten; films like this one.

Well, that's my moan over with. I gave this film 8/10, for those that care.

Details

Country:

France Italy

Language:

French

Release Date:

24 October 1962 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Horror Chamber of Dr. Faustus

Filming Locations:

River Marne, Noisiel, Seine-et-Marne, France

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$19,628, 2 November 2003

Gross USA:

$58,565

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$60,254

Company Credits

Production Co:

Champs-Élysées Productions, Lux Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1