When an unhinged surgeon happens across a young woman with her face beaten beyond recognition, he sees an opportunity to put his trusty scalpel to use - hatching a plan to "reconstruct" her face in the image of his missing daughter.
Related News
-
‘Batwoman 2×09: Rule #1’ Review
01 April 2021 | Nerdly -
Scalpel – Now Available on Blu-ray From Arrow Video
28 February 2018 | WeAreMovieGeeks.com -
Blu-ray Review – Scalpel (1977)
19 February 2018 | Flickeringmyth
Whether you watch weekly or want to join in for the big finish, get ready for these big Spring TV and streaming finales.
User Lists
Related lists from IMDb users
Share this Rating
Title: Scalpel (1977)
Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below.
Edit
Cast
| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Robert Lansing | ... | Dr. Phillip Reynolds | |
| Judith Chapman | ... | Heather / Jane | |
| Arlen Dean Snyder | ... | Uncle Bradley | |
 |
David Scarroll | ... | Dr. Robert Dean |
| Sandy Martin | ... | Sandy | |
|
|
Bruce Atkins | ... | Bartender |
|
|
Muriel Moore | ... | Cousin Margaret |
|
|
Clara Dunn | ... | Gossipy Woman |
|
|
Stan Wojno | ... | Donald (as Stanley Wojno) |
|
|
Laura Whyte | ... | Jennifer Reynolds |
|
|
Larry Quackenbush | ... | Keith Jarvey |
|
|
Greg Oliver | ... | Killer |
|
|
Mimi Honce | ... | Maddie Schuster |
|
|
Ellen Heard | ... | Woman at the Party |
|
|
Tad Currie | ... | Mr. Branch |
Edit
Plot Summary
|
Plot Synopsis
See All (9) »
Storyline
Dr. Phillip, a deranged plastic surgeon, who has probably murdered his wife and who definitely has murdered his daughter's boyfriend, is distressed when he learns Phillip's, his father-in-law will. Rather than leave any money to the transparently awful son-in-law, he leaves his entire (very large) estate to the surgeon's daughter, Heather. The only problem is, the girl has run away. He hits on the scheme of re-creating his daughter's face from the ruined features of a go-go dancer, and with her cooperation bilks the estate of several disbursements, growing increasingly deranged as time goes on. Written by dvdbeaver
An old man has died, cutting out his only son from his will, as well as his other relatives, leaving five million to his granddaughter Heather. Uncle Bradley, the only son, is understandably angry. So is Dr. Reynolds, the old man's son-in-law and father to Heather. Dr. Reynolds is a plastic surgeon with definite psychotic tendencies when it comes to his family. He evidently had killed his wife, making it look like an accidental drowning while swimming, and also killed his daughter's boyfriend, making it look like an accidental drowning as a result of drunkenness.
Heather, however, isn't around to claim the inheritance. No one has seen her for a year.
Bradley and Dr. Reynolds almost run over a go-go-dancer with their car. She'd been ejected by a bouncer from a club in only her panties and high heels, and the bouncer had smashed her face into a wall several times for reasons unknown. The two men don't know where she came from, and take her to the hospital. Without telling Bradley, the Doctor rebuilds her face so she looks like his daughter, books a phony airline flight for her, then takes her home and teaches her how to impersonate Heather. They'll split the five million evenly. They begin a sexual relationship as well, making the Doc quite the pervert for being able to do that with his daughter's exact likeness!
Complicating things are the fact that the phony Heather can't play piano like the real one, Bradley grows suspicious, and the real Heather quietly shows up again.
Curiously, the other film directed by John Grissmer, Blood Rage, also deals with identical twins - though the characters are actual identical twins played by one actor, here they're identical by virtue of surgery and played by one actress. The fake twins are more or less act the same in False Face (which I saw on video as Scalpel), while in Blood Rage they're more pronouncedly different.
One of the chief problems with the movie for me was that it felt overlong. It was fairly engrossing, but at the same time nothing terribly special.