Les yeux sans visage (1960)

User Rating:

7.9/10   

Director:

Georges Franju

Writers:

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

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
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
France Asselin	...	(uncredited)
Charles Bayard	...	Un homme à la conférence (uncredited)
Gabrielle Doulcet	...	Une admiratrice (uncredited)
Corrado Guarducci	...	(uncredited)
Brigitte Juslin	...	(uncredited)
Charles Lavialle	...	Le concierge (uncredited)
Max Montavon	...	(uncredited)
Jimmy Perrys	...	Un homme à la morgue (uncredited)

Directed by
Georges Franju

Writing credits
Jean Redon		(novel)
Pierre Boileau		(adaptation) (as Boileau-Narcejac) and
Thomas Narcejac		(adaptation) (as Boileau-Narcejac) &
Jean Redon		(adaptation) &
Claude Sautet		(adaptation)
Pierre Gascar		(dialogue)

Produced by
Jules Borkon	....	producer

Original Music by
Maurice Jarre

Cinematography by
Eugen Schüfftan		(as Eugen Shuftan)

Film Editing by
Gilbert Natot

Production Design by
Auguste Capelier

Costume Design by
Marie Martine		(gowns) (as Marie-Martine)

Makeup Department
Georges Klein	....	makeup artist
Marcelle Testard	....	hair stylist

Production Management
Margot Capelier	....	assistant production manager
Pierre Laurent	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Claude Sautet	....	assistant director

Art Department
Jacques Mély	....	assistant art director
Claude Moesching	....	assistant art director
Albert Volper	....	set dresser

Sound Department
Antoine Archimbaud	....	sound

Special Effects by
Charles-Henri Assola	....	special effects (as Henri Assola)

Camera and Electrical Department
Pierre Brard	....	assistant camera
Jean-Louis Castelli	....	still photographer
Robert Schneider	....	camera operator

Editorial Department
Denise Natot	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Maurice Jarre	....	musical director

Other crew
Ginette Diamant-Berger	....	script supervisor
Marcel Lesourd	....	animal trainer

Production Companies

• Champs-Élysées Productions (in association with)
• Lux Film

Distributors

• Lux Compagnie Cinématographique de France (1960) (France) (theatrical)
• Lux Film (1960) (Italy) (theatrical)
• Actionfilm (1961) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Lopert Pictures Corporation (1962) (USA) (theatrical) (dubbed)
• United Artists (1962) (Canada) (theatrical) (as "Horror Chamber of Dr. Faustus")
• Rialto Pictures (2003) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled) (re-release)
• Atlantic Film (2009) (Sweden) (DVD)
• Beam Entertainment (Japan) (DVD distributor)
• Canvas (2007) (Belgium) (TV)
• Criterion Collection, The (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Culture Publishers (CP) (Japan) (DVD)
• Imagica Corp. (Japan) (DVD)
• Interama Video (2000) (USA) (VHS) (as "Eyes Without a Face")
• Kino Video (2001) (USA) (VHS)
• Les Acacias (France)
• Something Weird Video (SWV) (1992) (USA) (VHS)
• Tohokushinsha Film (Japan) (VHS)
• Umbrella Entertainment (2007) (Australia) (DVD)

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 film made its debut in Paris on March, 2nd 1960.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the initial surgery scene, Doctor Génessier makes cuts around the face and eyes of the young woman (Edna). When he and Louise remove the face, there are suddenly marks and a hole cut around the mouth.

Quotes:

Doctor Génessier: The future, Madame, is something we should have started on a long time ago.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Ringu 0: Bâsudei (2000)

Dark, desolate and diverting

This film is dark and somber with a spare, eerie music score that suits perfectly the macabre, surreal story. A brilliant but deranged surgeon, having caused his daughter's disfigurement in a car accident, loses touch with reality and tries to restore her beauty in a most repulsive manner. Undeterred by failure, the mad doctor continues his gruesome work, hoping to find a miracle cure that will reconstruct the girl's facial features and also relieve him of his tremendous burden of guilt. The once-lovely girl realizes that she will never enjoy a normal life or see her beloved fiancé again, and her mute telephone calls to him just to hear his voice show how empty and lonely her life has become. There are some scenes that are horribly graphic but quite well done and a few moments that are poignant and touching amid the cruelty and butchery of the movie's central theme. Each character in this grim, unhappy feature is victimized in some fashion, but in spite of its subject matter, this cult classic is lean, first-rate storytelling.