In the dead of night, outside of Paris, Louise (Alida Valli) is on a mission. Driving to a secluded area she drags the body of a young woman out of her car and throws it into the Seine. Sometime later the body is found and taken to the morgue. Dr. Lherminier (Michel Etcheverry) from the morgue and Police Detective Parot (Alexandre Rignault) from the Missing Persons Bureau contacts Dr. Genessier and requests that he come to the morgue to see if the dead woman is his daughter.
Dr. Genessier (Pierre Brasseur) is a physician that specializes in heterograft surgery. The transplanting of tissue from one animal to another species. This method is often used in severe burn victim cases and is a temporary measure. His clinic is out in the country next to his mansion. Genessier has a large kennel with different breeds of dogs that he uses in his experiments. After a car accident Genessier’s daughter had been in the clinic being treated for a facial injury. She has since gone missing. Another young woman also went missing around the same time. The police also call her father, Henri Tessot (Rene Genin), as well.
When Genessier gets to the morgue he identifies the dead girl as his daughter Christiane (Edith Scob). Genessier has a funeral. On hand for the funeral are Christiane’s fiancé Dr. Jacques Vernon (Francois Guerin) and Genessier’s secretary and assistant Louise (Alida Valli). After the service Genessier returns to his home and goes to his daughter’s room. Christiane is actually alive. The car accident resulted in facial damage to the point where Christiane literally had no face. She wears a mask that covers her scars. The dead young woman in the grave is actually the daughter of Henri Tessot, the other man who also had a missing daughter.
The young woman was Simone Tesso. Genessier had tried to graft her face on his daughter to repair her. The graft did not work. Simone’s body was disposed of by his faithful assistant Louise and then claimed by Genessier to stop any inquisition as to what happened to Christiane. Christiane spends her days in her room with a face covered by a mask. Even Jacques believes the dead girl is his fiancé.
Genessier is determined to fix his daughter. To that end he sends Louise out to Paris to find another girl that resembles Christiane. Her name is Edna Gruber (Juliette Mayniel). She is Swiss and living in Paris on her own. Louise befriends her and takes her to Genessier’s mansion. Genessier surgically removes her face and grafts it on to Christiane. Edna escapes but falls out of a window and dies. Her body is disposed of. After awhile Christiane’s body begins to reject the graft. Not willing to give up, Genessier needs another girl.
“Eyes Without a Face” AKA “Les Yeux sans visage” was release in 1960 and was directed by Georges Franju. It is a French-Italian horror film collaboration that was filmed in French. The film was co-written by George Franju and was based on the novel by Jean Redon. The film was thoroughly trashed by critics. In 1962 the film was dubbed into English and re-titled “The Horror Chamber of Dr. Faustus”. There is no Dr. Faustus in the movie. The name cheapens the whole film. Since then people have come to realize how artistic this little horror film really is.
The only real horror part is the surgery where Genessier is surgically removing Edna’s face. I realize that Genessier is not actually cutting a girl’s face off, but it really looks like he is. It’s enough to make you more than a little squeamish. The rest of the film isn’t gross as much as it is surreal. It’s a very striking film, haunting and stark. She lives in a beautiful mansion and wears exquisite clothes but her face is a blank mask. The experience has slowly affected her sanity to the point where she is depressed and would rather be dead. The fact that the film is in black and white adds to the bleakness of Christiane’s existence.
Christiane’s relationship with the dogs her father experiments on is rather telling. She empathizes with them and them with her. She is another experiment that her father is engrossed in. She is just as caged as they are with her face that keeps her locked up in the house. They are unaffected by her appearance and readily accept her affection and give it in return. They have bonded over their similar plight.
Billy Idol did the song "Eyes Without A Face" as a tribute to the movie.
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Eyes Without A Face Billy Idol song