Les yeux sans visage (1960)

User Rating:

7.9/10   

Director:

Georges Franju

Writers:

Jean Redon (novel)
Pierre Boileau (adaptation) ...

Release Date:

24 October 1962 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Plot:

A brilliant surgeon, Dr. Génessier, helped by his assistant Louise, kidnaps nice young women. He removes...

Plot Keywords:

Assistant | Surgeon | Transplant | Plastic Surgery | Stockings

Cast

Pierre Brasseur	...	Docteur Génessier
Alida Valli	...	Louise
Juliette Mayniel	...	Edna Grüber
Edith Scob	...	Christiane Génessier
François Guérin	...	Jacques Vernon
Alexandre Rignault	...	Inspector Parot
Béatrice Altariba	...	Paulette
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
René Génin	...	Emile Tessot
Lucien Hubert	...	Un homme au cimetière
Marcel Pérès	...	Un homme au cimetière

Also Known As:

Eyes Without a Face (UK)
House of Dr. Rasanoff
Occhi senza volto (Italy)
The Horror Chamber of Dr. Faustus (USA) (dubbed version)

Runtime:

88 min

Country:

France | Italy

Language:

French

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Finland:(Banned) (1962) | Australia:M (2007) | France:U (2007) | UK:15 (2007) | UK:18 (1995) | UK:X (1959) (cut) | Argentina:16 | France:-16 | USA:Unrated

Company:

Champs-Élysées Productions

Trivia:

The original title of this movie, in French, is mentioned in the chorus of the song "Eyes Without A Face" by Billy Idol, from the album "Rebel Yell" (1983).

Goofs:

Continuity: 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.

Quotes:

Doctor Génessier: Smile. Not too much.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Middleman: The Palindrome Reversal Palindrome (#1.12)" (2008)

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.