Michael A. Martinez Admittedly I set the bar pretty low when I go into a Jess Franco film. Typically his films seem to be produced in the most cynical manner possible, getting any and every washed-up actor available to shoot as few scenes as possible and then to find some way of padding out the running time to make it feature length.Despite its goofy direction, strange out-of-place intentional comedy, inane dialog, poor and repetitive music, and cheap production design, this film actually has a lot going for it. For one, the cast is pretty good with a decent later-career performance from a drug-addled Helmut Berger, coupled with an earnest P.I. role from Chris Mitchum, Brigitte Lahaie trying her best not to look like a porn star, and Caroline Munro doing her best with a curiously confused, tertiary role. Anton Diffring even pops by to play another of his trademark cold-hearted Nazi / crazed doctor characters. Also look fast for Franco regulars Howard Vernon and Lina Romay in a throwaway scene.Shockingly, the sleaze & gore maintains a good pace and gradually escalates as you'd expect it to in a competent horror film. The film very rarely drags and is really mostly weighed down by the nightclub and people-driving-around-looking-at-things filler scenes. Franco really just can't resist the urge to waste the audience's time. However, overall this film must surely rank with JACK THE RIPPER among his best works (however meaningless of a compliment that may be).

MARIO GAUCI I had watched a good part of this on late-night Italian TV: I caught it from the scene where the Stephane Audran character is dispatched – as it turned out, this occurred around the 36-minute mark so, obviously, I have to consider this as a first viewing! Back then, I didn't like it at all; even if the rating doesn't suggest it, I found it hard to hate a film like this: Franco revisits familiar territory with a bigger budget than usual and a surprisingly starry cast: apart from the afore-mentioned Audran, we also have here Helmut Berger, Brigitte Lahaie (a regular of the contemporaneous horror work of Jean Rollin), Anton Diffring (in his final appearance and whose best-known role also saw him play a demented surgeon – CIRCUS OF HORRORS [1960]), Telly Savalas (who had previously collaborated with another horror/Euro-Cult great – Mario Bava), Chris Mitchum, Caroline Munro (once a Hammer starlet), Gerald Zalcberg (Mr. Hyde from Walerian Borowczyk's DOCTEUR JEKYLL ET LES FEMMES [1981]), as well as two Franco stalwarts in Howard Vernon (his last stint playing "The Awful Dr. Orloff") and Lina Romay! However, much of the director's effort goes for naught alongside the dated 1980s chic look and cheesy disco soundtrack.That said, the contribution of the cast is variable to say the least – as a matter of fact, the film has even been ridiculed by the claim that the best performance comes from ex-porn actress Lahaie! Sure, her participation is just about the most successful element in it – infusing her character with a good balance of cold-bloodedness and sensuality (involved with Berger in the casual seduction of prospective victims) – but the latter isn't bad either (just a bit stiff), Diffring quietly imposing (his statement that he had been a collaborator of Josef Mengele at Auschwitz is hilarious, whereas Dr. Orloff learned his craft under Diffring himself at Dachau!) and the odd-looking Zalcberg undeniably effective as Berger's burly mute henchman (continuing Franco's obsession with such secondary characters). On the other hand, both Mitchum and Munro are out of their depth here, Audran clearly looks embarrassed, while a visibly-tired Savalas is saddled with a thankless role (at times, literally phoning in his performance)! The film is perhaps best appreciated by non-Franco fans, since there's curiously little of his trademark 'style' on this occasion: with FACELESS, the director may have demonstrated that he could work within the mainstream, but he was obviously more comfortable doing his own thing in a semi-improvised manner and with the barest of resources! Besides, an audience of gore-hounds not used to Franco's earlier work wouldn't have scoffed at his outrageous touches of violence here: amputated hands, hypodermic in an eyeball, scissors in the throat, driller to the forehead – not forgetting the grisly face-grafting scenes (the first operation, which goes horribly wrong, generates some real tension with Lahaie and Berger looking on bewildered as Diffring fumes at the impracticality of the material he has to work with)! All in all, however, the film feels too different to the quintessential Franco product – while offering nothing remotely new thematically – to emerge as anything but a curio. As I said, the incongruously glossy look and irritating minor characters (some of Berger's eccentric elderly patients and, especially, a pair of gay stereotypes intended to provide comic relief but which is actually both lame and offensive) ultimately unbalance its points of interest. I had considered purchasing Media Blasters' SE DVD, which includes a couple of Audio Commentaries (one of them by the director himself) – but, frankly, the film isn't deserving of such extensive discussion/reminiscing; besides, the disc reportedly suffers from the company's usual sloppy production (the soundtrack reverting to French for the closing line and the audio of the main feature drowning out the latter section of Chris Mitchum's Commentary track).

chrisbridges71 I recently finished watching the first season of Kojak which Universal released. With Telly Savalis fresh on my mind, I decided to buy this movie since he had a role in it.Immediately, it is evident that Franco had a bigger budget to work with. Combined with a better-than-usual script for one his movies and some acting talent (look for John Vernon from Zombie Lake is a brief role), and this movie was not bad.By this time, this genre of movie had started to fade away in terms of quality releases. Lucio Fulci had run out of steam by this point as had Umberto Lenzi. Even the great Ruggero Deodato was struggling having just released Body Count the year before. (Unlike Franco's "Faceless," Body County had some known actors but the script was terrible and they had nothing to work with.)It was interesting to see Savalis in this, even though he was not a main character. His bald head, distinct voice and flashy suit, just like from his days as Kojak, added to the movie. His small role could not have saved this movie if it was terrible. However, in this case he added to it and made it a decent effort from a director who is routinely criticized for his work.I would recommend giving this a look.

lost-in-limbo A wealthy father hires a private eye to go to France and track down his missing daughter. Her disappearance can be attributed to a plastic surgeon's secret set-up, in which he and his assistant kidnap young ladies and keep them in the clinic's basement. A year ago his sister was disfigured by acid and now he's doing his best to restore the beautiful face she once bestow with the help of an ex-Nazi surgeon. While, that's going on, the private eye is getting closer to finding the connection between the missing girls and the doctor's hard work.When I hear the name Jess Franco, I think of sleazy euro-trash by reputation. Although some might classify it as art. Now I finally got around to watching one of his films and "Faceless" wasn't bad at all. Actually I found it quite intriguing, although at times rather bland to begin with, but it gets better in the latter half by rallying up tension and ghastly makeup effects with surprising results and an oddly unexpected conclusion. Mixed into the straightforward material is an inventively malevolent idea (taken from 'The Awful Dr. Orloff') covered with manipulative erotic overtones and cold sadism. It was hard to take it all rather seriously because of the nature of certain reactions, developments and questionably hokey FX. Despite this factor the far-fetch storyline and splatter element was quite fun and extremely out-there in providing some uncomfortable moments (like what was going on in the operation room). The script was okay, but that's where I thought it got bland and was reasonably stiff when it went for that melancholy vibe.On hand Franco chips in with a very 80's soundtrack that has that silky touch that goes down well with the flick's upbeat tempo and overall style. He definitely has a fine eye for detail. The budget shows up immensely, especially with the make-up, but more so with the calibre of actors involved on the project. Telly Savalas is only in an effectively special guest appearance. It's the classy Helmut Berger and very enticing Brigitte Lahaie that stick in mind. Their chemistry and villainous nature just oozes off the screen. Caroline Munro also provides a valuable addition to the line-up. Anton Diffring, Florence Guerin, Howard Vernon and Christopher Mitchum (who likes his gum) are all reasonable too.This Euro joint by well renown Franco is well worth a look and a good stepping stone into his long career