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Movies / On DVD / Eyes Without a Face
Eyes Without a Face

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Eyes Without a Face (1959)

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97 %
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Reviews Counted: 38

Fresh: 37

Rotten:1

Average Rating: 8.1/10

Consensus: A horrific tale of guilt and obsession, Eyes Without a Face is just as chilling and poetic today as it was in 1959.

Runtime: 90 mins

Genre: Foreign Films

Synopsis: Based on Jean Redon's novel LES YEUX SANS VISAGE, French director Georges Franju's gloomy, atmospheric horror film EYES WITHOUT A FACE is a masterpiece of cinematic poetry. After his daughter... Based on Jean Redon's novel LES YEUX SANS VISAGE, French director Georges Franju's gloomy, atmospheric horror film EYES WITHOUT A FACE is a masterpiece of cinematic poetry. After his daughter Christiane (Edith Scob) becomes horribly disfigured in a car accident of which he was the cause, guilt-ridden plastic surgeon Doctor Genessier (Pierre Brasseur) grows obsessed with perfecting the reconstruction of her once-beautiful, but now-ravaged, face. With the help of his sadistic nurse Louise (Alida Valli), Genessier kidnaps young girls and brings them back to his isolated manse for grisly medical procedures that graft the victims' living skins onto that of his daughter's. Often compared to Jean Cocteau's BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, the film's nightmarish power springs from the surrealistic beauty of its haunting images--from the fiercely blank mask that shields Christiane's wounded face to the merciless incisions of Genessier's surgeries--and a moving climactic scene that garners one of the most transcendent finales in all of cinematic history. [More]

Starring: Pierre Brasseur, Edith Scob, Alida Valli, Claude Brasseur

Starring: Pierre Brasseur, Edith Scob, Alida Valli, Claude Brasseur, Alexandre Rignault, Juliette Mayniel

Director: Georges Franju

Director: Georges Franju
Screenwriter: Pierre Boileau, Thomas Narcejac
Producer: Jules Borkon
Composer: Maurice Jarre

[See More Credits]

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Release:

Oct 19, 2004

No Details Exist
 
 

Reviews for Eyes Without a Face

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1 - 20 (sorted by date)
Text View | 1 2 >> >|
Arrange By: Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

A compelling and clinically brilliant combination of French art film and shock horror.

Full Review Source: Cinefantastique | comment Comment
03/25/09
Steve Biodrowski
Cinefantastique

ends up occupying uncharted territories somewhere between the gothic horrors of Frankenstein, the fairytale lyricism of La Belle et la Bete, and the charnel-house realism of Franju's own abbatoir-set documentary Le Sang Des Betes.

Full Review Source: Eye for Film | comment Comment
05/18/08
Anton Bitel
Eye for Film

Both a horror movie and a dreamy art film without peer.

Full Review Source: Antagony & Ecstasy | comment Comment
04/27/08
Tim Brayton
Antagony & Ecstasy

No review available.

comment Comment
11/19/07
Felix Gonzalez Jr.
DVD Review

Sharp as a scalpel, soft as a caress, this is a weird masterwork.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
09/26/07
David Parkinson
Empire Magazine

It has some queasy scenes, but unclear progression and plodding direction give this an old-fashioned air.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment 2 Comments
09/26/07
Variety Staff
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

As absurd and as beautiful as a fairy tale.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
09/26/07
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Chicago Reader
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

In its sedate, measured virtuosity, eloquently haunting imagery abuts the queasily naturalistic. It's both beautiful and grisly, lyric and sinister.

Full Review Source: DVDJournal.com | comment Comment
04/05/06
Mark Bourne
DVDJournal.com

A marvellous movie in the fullest sense.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
01/26/06
Geoff Andrew
Time Out

This is a truly haunting horror movie.

comment Comment
12/05/05
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com

No review available.

comment Comment
07/06/05
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

Among the most disturbing horror films ever made.

Full Review Source: Slate | comment Comment
10/29/04
David Edelstein
Slate

enduring, accomplished

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
10/25/04
Doug Hennessy
Filmcritic.com

It’s a fine B movie, but not worth the $30 list price.

Full Review Source: Reno Gazette-Journal | comment Comment
10/21/04
Mark Robison
Reno Gazette-Journal

It’s not a masterpiece but it certainly isn’t forgettable.

Full Review Source: Slant Magazine | comment Comment
10/11/04
Chris Barsanti
Slant Magazine

No review available.

comment Comment
07/17/04
Randy Shulman
Metro Weekly (Washington, DC)

Has a baroque beauty rarely seen in the horror genre...the haunting final images are worthy of Poe or Cocteau.

Full Review Source: Boulder Weekly | comment Comment
05/27/04
Thomas Delapa
Boulder Weekly

Eyes Without a Face has the staging and rhythm of Noir, and, up until one incredible scene, employs horror with implication and ambiance.

Full Review Source: Not Coming to a Theater Near You | comment Comment
04/06/04
Rumsey Taylor
Not Coming to a Theater Near You

[Director Franjau] concentrates on weaving an incredibly frail spell and keeps it wafting in just the right spaces throughout the film; the beautiful black-and-white, Cinemascope cinematography helps a great deal.

Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
03/01/04
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid

Outre as it is, never tires as hypnotic, touching, ghastly fun.

Full Review Source: Boston Globe | comment Comment
02/20/04
Wesley Morris
Boston Globe
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
 
 
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