Faceless "If there is but One Life, there are several ways to Die"

Director: Jess Franco

Starring: Helmut Berger & Brigitte Lahaie



I don't know if this review should "count" due to my copy of "Faceless" being so scratched, I had to fast forward until the DVD started to play normally. I actually didn't want to finish watching it, but do to a Chas Balun review on the back of the case, I felt I should finish it (Chas Balun always has some cool cat quote for trashy, gory exploitation films).

So anyways, "Faceless" is about this dude, who is a plastic surgeon, who manages to scar the face of one of his patients for life (eh). The patient decides the best way to get even is to scar her doctor's face with some sort of acid. When the patient goes to do the deed, the surgeon's sister pushes him out of the way, receiving a face full of acid that burns her face. The surgeon promises to find a way to restore his sister's face. He chooses to do so by kidnapping women and cutting their facial skin off and applying it to his sister's face. Since he can't get this method to work, he keeps kidnapping more women and eventually a private detective is hired to locate the missing women.

Now this was my first Jess Franco film and from what I have read, all of Franco's film are always complete trash. So I was expecting a whole lot of nonsense sex and gore, after all, "Faceless" is an exploitation film.

I am afraid was a bit disappointed.

For example, in one scene the surgeon's head goon has captured a woman who was snooping around the surgeon's office, he locks her in a wooden locker. Conveniently, the goon has a power drill nearby and in the next shot we see the drill enter the locker, nearing our victim's face. The next shot is outside the locker and we just see blood run down the door. I don't know what is worse, an off screen kill or a kill that is technically on screen, but we don't see the victim bite it.

In at least four scenes that I can think of, our favorite surgeon turns down meaningless sex because he has "work" to attend to. I mean, don't us younger guys watch horror films for the boobs that come with the genre?

Maybe I am being to harsh on "Faceless," after all, I didn't get to watch it in its entirety.

Your Choice
For Fans of Gore and Italian Exploitation Films
5 out of 10

Trailer for "Faceless:"