Review of Eyes Without a Face (1960) by Kristen P — 10 Jun 2010

I have been living under a rock, because I just recently found out about this movie whilst cruising around online. I'm not sure how I missed it, but thankfully I uncovered it during my quest to watch as much French horror as I can.

And wow ... you want to talk about being pretty forward-thinking and visionary for 1962! I love many movies from that era. There's something about the film being shot in black & white, the dramatic (at times too much) music, and the low-tech approach to freaking you out.

Very effective ... worked for me. Great story, if not one of the more rudimentary ones out there, but that's in part what makes it so interesting -- the fact that someone thought this up long before horror as we know it today became a full-fledged genre.

I have a thing about masks (meaning they fascinate and creep me out at the same time), and I have to say that the mask the daughter wears in this movie was very unnerving. It looks surreal and almost alien-like in its perfection.

I spent the entire movie feeling awful for this girl, so the ending was particularly poignant in its climax. A lot of fun to watch, and definitely has been added to my personal list of favorites.