Review of Eyes Without a Face (1960) by Wayne K — 28 Oct 2017

Eyes Without A Face was a noticeable influence on, of all things, John Woo' Face/Off, among many others, especially in the horror genre. Not necessarily a horror film in itself, more a tale of grief and anguish, despair and the abandonment of hope.

It has some great moments, especially the reveal of the heroines disfigured face, but the film suffers badly from its near-static pacing and crushing lifelessness. The editing is very poor, with constant black outs at inappropriate times, and some scenes are allowed to go on for an unnecessary amount of time.

For example, we see the main character arrive at his home, drive into his garage, get out of his car, walk up the steps to his house, and all the way through his house until he reaches his daughter's bedroom.

Did we really need to see all of that happening in real time? It gets better later as we see less extraneous events, but it results in the film being significantly longer than it needs to be. There's not much of an atmosphere, not much tension, and too often feels like a product of its time.

Even the controversy it attracted back on original release doesn't feel warranted, as we really don't get to see much of a controversial nature. I think people maybe have badly overreacted. It's not a film I'd re-watch, or even suggest to a friend.

It needs better pacing, better editing and an actual sense of urgency.