Eyes Without a Face (1960) – Episode 95 – Decades of Horror: The Classic Era

"My face frightens me. My mask frightens me even more." Sometimes, someone else’s face frightens us the most. Join this episode’s Grue-Crew - Whitney Collazo, Chad Hunt, Daphne Monary-Ernsdorff, Jeff Mohr, and guest host Bill Mulligan - as they go transatlantic for Georges Franju’s stunning Eyes Without a Face (1960).

Decades of Horror: The Classic Era
Episode 95 – Eyes Without a Face (1960)

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An accident leaves a plastic surgeon’s daughter disfigured, and he goes to extremes to give her a new face.

IMDb

 

• Director: Georges Franju
• Based on: Les Yeux sans visage (1959 novel by Jean Redon)
• Writers: Pierre Boileau & Thomas Narcejac (as Boileau-Narcejac), Claude Sautet, Jean Redon; Pierre Gascar (dialogue)
• Cinematography by: Eugen Schüfftan, director of photography (as Eugen Shuftan)
• Music by: Maurice Jarre
• Cast
  • Pierre Brasseur as Doctor Génessier
  • Alida Valli as Louise
  • Édith Scob as Christiane Génessier
  • François Guérin as Jacques Vernon
  • Juliette Mayniel as Edna Grüber
  • Alexandre Rignault as Inspector Parot
  • Béatrice Altariba as Paulette Mérodon
  • Claude Brasseur as An inspector
  • Michel Etcheverry as Forensic pathologist
  • Yvette Etiévant as The mother of the sick child (as Yvette Etievent)
  • René Génin as Henri Tessot

Eyes Without a Face is Daphne’s pick and though she had seen what has become an iconic image of Christiane’s face in the past, she had not viewed the film. Upon viewing, she found the film to be very graphic and unsettling and admits it will take more watches to fully digest. Whitney also had seen the artwork time and time again and finds it interesting that we discussed this film about a traumatized young woman on International Women’s Day. Eyes Without a Face contains one of the most shocking moments in films of the time, but according to Chad, it’s much more than that. He was completely drawn in by Scob’s captivating and heartbreaking performance. Bill announces that Eyes Without a Face is his favorite movie, describing it as one of the saddest and most poetic of films. The ending has always blown him away and he describes the last ten minutes as incredibly beautiful. Its the cinematography that wows Jeff with every scene showcasing meticulous shot construction, creating an almost otherworldly feel.

Suffice it to say, your Decades of Horror: The Classic Era Grue-Crew have each vowed several rewatches of this film in their near and distant futures. Currently, Eyes Without a Face is available to stream on HBOmax and The Criterion Channel and on a Blu-ray disc from the Criterion Collection.

Gruesome Magazine’s Decades of Horror: The Classic Era records a new episode every two weeks. In the next episode, they will discuss a movie chosen by Whitney, The Bad Seed (1956).

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To each of you from each of us, “Thank you so much for listening!”