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

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

Did You Know?

Trivia

Originally released in the U.S. on a double feature with the Japanese horror film The Manster (1959).

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Goofs

At the beginning of the movie when the body is being dragged to the water when it is first removed from the car the corpse is wearing stockings. When the corpse is dragged closer to the water you can see bare legs.

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Quotes

Christiane Génessier: My face frightens me. My mask frightens me even more.

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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 The Middleman: The Palindrome Reversal Palindrome (2008)

User Reviews

Poetic Horror

Georges Franju's version of a mad scientist trying to play God tells about a brilliant but controlling and obsessive doctor who is trying to restore the face of his own beloved daughter that was horribly disfigured in a car accident caused by his reckless driving. He requires tissues of recently deceased young women that look like his daughter and he is not going to wait for them to die in an accident - he creates the accidents with help of his loyal secretary/nurse/lover/former patient Louise (Alida Valli of "The Third Man") who kidnaps the unsuspecting girls and brings them to the secluded mansion in one of Paris's suburbs where Doctor Génessier is ready to perform the fascinating and horrifying surgeries.

"Eyes without a Face" is a very impressive, classy picture that has inspired many later horror movies. The music by Maurice Jarr adds to the uneasy and creepy atmosphere - it makes you feel like on the never-stopping ominous merry-go-round and you can't get off it.