Haunting ‘Eyes Without A Face’ isn’t typical horror fare
In the countdown to Halloween, a number of horror movies are being released both theatrically, and on various home-viewing formats.
But “Eyes Without A Face,” screening on Oct. 12 at the
Civic Theatre, is something completely different. Directed by Georges Franju, the movie is one of the rare scary pictures that is both horrifying and hauntingly lyrical at the same time.
In some ways, the film feels like a particularly ghastly spin on “Frankenstein.”
It’s about a mad scientist named Dr. Genessier (Pierre Brasseur) who is determined to restore the good looks of his disfigured daughter Christiane (Edith Scob.)
With help from a nurse and former patient (Alida Valli), he lures women to his home in suburban Paris to help him achieve his ghastly goal.
The victims are promptly drugged and prepared for surgery with hopes that their facial skin can be sliced off and transplanted successfully onto Christiane’s head. But as the operations fail, the corpses begin piling up.
On one level, “Eyes” is simply another mad scientist movie. But both Valli and Scob add an extra dimension to the proceedings. Valli, whose every appearance is accompanied by a twisted theme supplied by composer Maurice Jarre, is forced to do a lot of scientist’s dirty work and dispose of the dead bodies. She’s sinister, alright, but she also has a tragic air about her.
Thanks to Scob, Christiane is an even more complicated figure. For much of the movie, Christiane wears a plastic mask, which hides her features and transforms her into a sort of broken mannequin. This mask would later be cited by John Carpenter as his primary influence for Michael Myers’ disguise in the “Halloween” movies.
Swathed in a strange, long white raincoat, Christiane sweeps through the house and laboratory like a living ghost. Even though she is a something of a willing participant in her father’s schemes, she has sympathy both for the victims, and for the poor dogs her father relentlessly uses in his experiments.
“Eyes Without a Face” is the kind of movie that seeps into your bones. See it once and you’ll never forget it.
Tickets are $10 for general admission and $8.00 for students, seniors and members of the military. For more info go to http://www.civictheatre .com/cinema.
New on DVD and Blu-ray: Pottstown native, producer Todd Hallowell, who spent years working for director Ron Howard, oversaw “X-Men: Dark Phoenix” (2019, Fox, PG-13, $25), which revolves around Jean Grey (Sophie Turner) after she turns dangerous — and super powerful — following a rescue mission in space.
With an evil alien (Jessica Chastain) waiting in the wings, the X-Men (James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult) unite to stop Jean from destroying the world.
If you’re suffering from superhero fatigue, “Dark Phoenix,” reportedly the conclusion of the “X-Men” films, will only add to your agony as so many elements feel familiar, particularly the CGI-overkill.
On the plus side, Turner is an appealingly conflicted heroine, and Chastain gives good villain.
Amy Longsdorf is a contributing writer.