BLOOD IN BLACK & WHITE: EYES WITHOUT A FACE

Sometimes I get in the mood for black and white horror films, sci-fi, or monster movies. There's something about them that I find intriguing. Maybe it's the gritty quality of the film that lends it a kind of authenticity more believable than some color films. Maybe it's the thrill of seeing where our current films came from, the inspirations, the filmmakers and actors and writers who paved the way for modern cinema. Maybe it's the simple thrill of discovery and the hope of finding a lost treasure. It's all those things and more. I have this ability to place myself in the right frame of mind, a historical cinematic context, in which I appreciate what these films tried to do and what they did do for today's film. Maybe it's all bullshit and I just like black & white movies. Whatever.

The latest discovery of mine is a beauty. Georges Franju's EYES WITHOUT A FACE. A French-Italian horror film from 1960. The film centers around a Dr. Génessier and a missing persons case. Several young women in their late teens and early twenties have gone missing including Dr. Génessier's daughter, Christiane. A year ago Christiane fell victim to a horrible car accident, one that left her face mangled beyond recognition. Her father, a renown surgeon, tried to save her face but there wasn't enough face left to save.

Now. A body is discovered by the police, horribly disfigured and missing its face. Dr. Génessier and another father of one of the missing girls arrives to identify the body. The doctor arrives first and identifies the body as that of his daughter. The doctor returns home to his estate in the countryside. A young woman wearing a white mask stalks the hallways, eyes peering out from underneath. Dr. Génessier refers to her as Christiane, his supposedly deceased daughter. "Soon. Soon," he promises her. "The next one will take."

Dr. Génessier leaves that night and returns with a young woman, unconscious, under his arm. He takes her to the basement. Straps her down to the table. With a scalpel he removes her face and attaches it to Christiane's face. A month later the face begins to deteriorate. Two months later the skin on her face has nearly fallen off. "The next one will take," promises her.

Wow! This movie blew me away. The acting is taken very seriously and isn't overdone. The performances are haunting. The story is creepy and gruesome. The cinematography is artistic and adds to the tension with tight shots of the faces and claustrophobic hallways. The story is compelling and well executed. And the make-up effects are shiveringly effective. Hell, it shows you the entire facial transplant surgery! That scene alone is worth watching!

EYES WITHOUT A FACE represents a landmark horror film in the history of the genre. I can't believe it took me so long to discover it. I place it up there with Black Sunday, Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, I Walked With A Zombie, and Frankenstein as one of the best black and white horror films I've ever seen. Just a great horror movie all around. In the context of 1960, what this film did for the genre had never been done before.

Overall Ranking: 8 out of 10
Brilliant Filmmaking despite my obvious genre affections