Monday, October 26, 2015

Eyes Without a Face (1960)

A brilliant surgeon, remorseful for causing the facial disfigurement of his daughter, kidnaps young women to steal their faces. Things don't go well.

The simple story is filmed in long, slow takes that heighten the drama. Adding that to the tedium or reading subtitles, it did begin to seem hard to watch, but one gets over such things. Doctor Genessier is assisted by Louise (Alida Valli), who sparkled in The Third Man eleven years earlier.

Of all the horror I have watched for this blog, in here is the one scene I found hard to watch. Fans of splatter and torture porn won't be impressed, but this was as uncomfortable as I need to be. It wouldn't have worked in color.

Apparently 1960 was a banner year for revolutionary horror films. Eyes Without a Face was a well made, unsettling, and plausible film. The title became a Billy Idol song and young Christine's mask inspired Michael Myers. AMRU 3.5.

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