Eyes Without a Face [re-release]

Name: Eyes Without a Face [re-release]
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Thriller, Horror
Released: October 31, 2003
Duration: 88 min
Rating: 90

2003

METASCORE

Universal acclaim based on 9 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 41 Ratings

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7.7

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7.7	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 41 Ratings

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Movie Details & Credits

Lopert Pictures Corporation | Release Date: October 31, 2003 | Unrated

Summary: In this 1960 French-Italian horror film, a father's love for his daughter becomes a nightmarish obsession, as he sacrifices many innocent girls in his attempt to reconstruct his once-beautiful daughter's disfigured face.

Director: Georges Franju

Genre(s): Drama, Mystery, Thriller, Horror

Rating: Unrated

Runtime: 88 min

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Critic Reviews

100

Scott Tobias

There’s no other movie quite like it. Read full review

100

Kenneth Turan

Disturbing, disorienting, quietly terrifying, it's one of the least known of the world's great horror movies and, in its own dark way, a startlingly beautiful and artful piece of cinema as well. Read full review

J. Hoberman

A masterpiece of poetic horror and tactful, tactile brutality. Read full review

Wesley Morris

Eyes Without a Face, outre as it is, never tires as hypnotic, touching, ghastly fun. Read full review

Roger Ebert

Franju constructs an elegant visual work; here is a horror movie in which the shrieks are not by the characters but by the images. Read full review

TV Guide Magazine Staff (Not Credited)

A blood-curdling picture directed by Georges Franju at an even, distant pace that builds tension to an almost unbearable level. Read full review

Staff (Not Credited)

Director Georges Franju has given this some suspense and not spared any shock details. But the stilted acting, asides to explain characters and motivations, and a repetition of effects lose the initial impact. Read full review

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User Reviews

EpicLadySponge

Apr 7, 2016

A movie without a face. Eyes Without a Face represents the unimaginable pain of living without a face while they still have eyes to see and keep track in incoming people in the way.

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Spangle

Oct 1, 2016

The age old question to who let the dogs out has been answered. It was Christiane (Edith Scob) the entire time. Somebody should let the Baha Men know that their answer came 40 years before the song.

This haunting French film from director Georges Franju is a classic for good reason. ItThe age old question to who let the dogs out has been answered. It was Christiane (Edith Scob) the entire time. Somebody should let the Baha Men know that their answer came 40 years before the song.

This haunting French film from director Georges Franju is a classic for good reason. It may be slow, but it feels relatively devoid of classic horror cliches. Rather, Eyes Without a Face is a film truly about guilt, emotional trauma, and depression. Like a black cloud, the atmosphere hangs over this film and it proves to be quite unsettling, even if it never downright scary. Rather, it is a thoroughly and subtly haunting experience that feels wholly unique and original.

With an odd score that often likes annoying carousel music, Eyes Without a Face is a film determined to buck expectations. By the end, the once annoying carousel music turns into a menacing sound due to the implication about what is set to begin when it is heard. The same can be said about the general plot. It honestly sneaks up on you. While I knew what the film is about, the true horror of this film is revealed in the details as you realize that Doctor Genessier (Pierre Brasseur) sincerely believes he must do this for Christiane. He is obviously a sick individual, but also one suffering greatly from grief and trauma over the situation he caused for his beloved daughter. Though one has to be sick to go to these lengths, the emotional trauma and helplessness he feels is intensely relatable.

That said, the scene in which he actually takes off a girl's face is pure horror. While much of the film can be more accurately described as psychological horror, this one sequence puts it over the edge. So calculated, so graphic, and so horrifying to think of the ramifications of this sequence, I am weak so I had to look away, but it was still traumatic. The sequence is that good. This same trauma is shown at the end when Christiane frees her father's last captive and the dogs he experimented upon. Given her great levels of depression, one must assume that Christiane has finally given up all hope and will kill herself at long last. The sheer hopelessness of this element of the film really underscores its balance between true horror and a film that explores the depths one can be driven to from grief.

A classic of the genre, Eyes Without a Face has had clear influence on later films (Halloween, Face/Off for example) and with good reason. It can be a bit slow a times, but is more than rewarding and proves to be a highly haunting experience when it is all said and done.… Expand

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imthenoob

Jul 31, 2020

There are things that make me want to like the movie, like the premise and the acting, but it was so difficult to get into because of the slow-pace and heavy use of these needless filler scenes that should have been cut out. It's a 90-minute film that really should have been 60-70 minutesThere are things that make me want to like the movie, like the premise and the acting, but it was so difficult to get into because of the slow-pace and heavy use of these needless filler scenes that should have been cut out. It's a 90-minute film that really should have been 60-70 minutes and it just failed to really capture my interest. Not to say that it is a terrible movie but I just couldn't get into it.… Expand

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