(dir. Georges Franju)
*First time viewing
The first thing you may
think of when you hear “Eyes Without a Face”, is that catchy Billy Idol song,
but it’s also the title of a fantastic French film that explores beauty, horror,
and the limits of guilt and gratitude. Eyes
Without a Face is the story of a surgeon who kidnaps young women and cuts
off their faces to replace his daughter’s, who was horribly disfigured in a car
accident of his own fault. It’s wonderfully mad science explored with elegant
precision and stunning imagery.
Franju’s
film mixes gothic beauty with grotesque horror, creating a film that is as
startling as it is stunning. I’ll admit that I was surprised by how far the
film went with its story (and lack of cutaways during the facial cutting),
especially given the time in which the film was made. I found it to be just as risky
and important a film for the genre as Hitchcock’s Psycho which debuted the same year (both films would later go on to
influence John Carpenter’s Halloween.)
But what makes the film all the more surprising and memorable is how the grisly
nature of the story is balanced with compassion. Christiane’s transformation, beneath
the surface of her mask, is a remarkable work of character development that is achieved
with little dialogue. The characters are particularly well-rounded, and the
film achieves this easily without relying on much exposition. While a lot
horror delves deeper into inhumanity as the story progresses, Eyes Without a Face relies on the
process of reclaiming humanity.
Scare Factor: 2/5 Don’t be turned off by the subtitles or
fooled by the black and white, Eyes
Without a Face pushes the limits in terms of what it will show. It’s not
only an exceptional horror film, it’s an exceptional film.
**Available to watch on Hulu Plus
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