La cara del terror

Attempting to solve a medical conundrum, a doctor tests a special serum to restore a disfigured woman's beauty through a secret surgery only to later realize not only does the serum wear off but his victim is an escaped mental patient and forces him to try to stop her.

This one wasn't all that bad of a horror/thriller. Once this one gets going, among it's better qualities is the fact that there's a rather great deal of fun to be had with the effects of the surgery. Although slightly neutered, it comes off rather well in the context of the story and features some rather fun times throughout here with the different after-effects of the operation showing her treatment and recuperation along the way that delivers just enough to give us an idea something is off about the procedure and brings in some rather nice and welcomed elements in this section. From the worries about the liquid drying too quickly to the differences in body temperature causing an adverse reaction to the process, this section really drives home a rather grisly set-up to the later realization that she's deteriorating and coming undone while she continues on with her newfound freedom the lifestyle currently gives her. The ways in which she goes to keep that identity a secret from others, often resorting to shocking murders to cover up her crimes, this carries the later half along with the police investigation to find her after the escape using the different means of evidence to find her. This does enhance the pace leading into the finale in her confrontation in his laboratory from the varying threats and brawling to the surprise manner in which it concludes itself, which along with the grotesque look of the disfigurement makes for the film's positives. There's not a whole lot really wrong here, as the film's main flaw featured here is the change in storyline from the other efforts from that time-period does make this one stumble with it's pacing. Bringing onboard the plot line about her escape into the world at large and not keeping it focused on him killing for attempts to perfect the formula, there's not a whole lot of actual action to be found here for a large part of this one. This focus on the investigation instead doesn't give this one a ton of interesting things to do and simply following her on the run trying to stay out of the police's custody that never amounts to anything and really lets the film get dragged out far more than necessary. It never really keeps to a consistent pace and causes the film to feel far longer than it really should without having much going on around the main story, and while it does enhance the finale with the contrast against the other scenes, for the most part, it's not a big factor going on around here. Along with the quite shortsighted and abrupt ending that just stops the film suddenly, these here are really all that hold it back.

Today's Rating/PG: Violence.

One of my sci-fi/horror/fantasy reviews written 50 years ago: Directed by Isidoro Ferry and William Hole Jr.; Executive Producer: Jack Miles; Released by Futuramic Films in America. Screenplay by Monroe Manning; Photography by Jose Aguayo; Edited by Antonio Ramirez; Music by Jose Buenagu. Starring: Lisa Gaye, Fernando Rey, Virgilio Teixeira, Gerard Tichy, Emilio Rodriguez and Conchita Cuetos.

Owing to Georges Franju's earlier classic "Eyes Without a Face", this oddly localed horror film (made in Spain) dealing with plastic surgery and revenge is very amateurish, partly due to hack auteur William Hole. The professional leading players help save the day, but it's really a waste of a good title.

Except that it's not justified why she was hospitalized in a mental institution and that in the second half of the film the heroine has the left half of the face destroyed instead of the right, it's a very good film. Lisa Gaye is impeccable in a difficult role for any other actress. Veteran Fernando Rey, Luis Bunuel's favorite from movies like: "Viridiana", "Tristana", "The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie", "That Obscure Object of Desire", is very good too. Me, I didn't like the end. Norma doesn't deserve that stupid death, falling on the shard of glass. She doesn't deserve to die at all. I would have preferred to be helped by the doctor once again, this time with the right serum and then to help her leave the country.

Fernando Rey is a wheelchair-bound professor who has developed a formula that can heal scar tissue. When he alights upon the badly disfigured "Norma" (Lisa Gaye) he injects her with his serum with almost miraculous results, which he proceeds to display to his peers and friends. Unfortunately, the serum begins to wear off and "Norma" - who had only recently escaped from a mental institution determines to exact revenge on the doctor and his assistant "Alma". The acting and dialogue are competent, but the pace is shockingly slow - far too many development scenes and far too little actually happens to keep the attention until the last ten minutes when "Norma" goes on a bit of a murderous spree. Although the dubbing is not bad, and it looks like some of it has been re-shot in English; it still struggles to make much headway leaving more blemishes on the story than his serum could really ever hope to cure.

While "Face of Terror" ("La Cara del Terror") looks like a crappy Spanish horror movie on the surface, it's really very well made and the dubbing is pretty amazing. And, it's well worth seeing.

When the story begins, Dr. Taylor (Fernando Rey) approaches the board of directors at the hospital, asking permission to try out a radical new type of plastic surgery...using actual plastic and using it to rebuild the faces of badly disfigured people. Oddly, the board rejects his proposal so he decides to continue his work on his own. Soon, a badly disfigured woman arrives....telling Taylor she knew about his work and begging him to help her. Naturally, he's filled with compassion and performs surgery on her and incorporates his new secret formula.

What the nice doctor doesn't realize, however, is that Norma (Lisa Gaye) is actually an escaped and dangerous mental patient from the hospital. And, after completing the surgery and having outstanding results (she's now very beautiful), he learns the truth and insists she return to the hospital. However, she's afraid and conks him on the head....making her escape. Soon Norma has found a job and appears to be trying to create a normal life for herself. But being beautiful offers its own obstacles and soon she's being sexually harassed and ends up killing the pig. But this isn't her last killing.

I really liked this film for quite a few reasons. First, although it was originally a Spanish language movie, it was very seamlessly converted to English. Most Spanish horror films of the era were horribly dubbed. But in this one, scenes with Taylor and Norma were re-shot with the actors speaking English and doing their own dubbing. As for the other characters, they also were dubbed very well and it wasn't the usual clumsy and distracting dubbing. Second, although Norma has some mental health issues, you CAN understand and even justify a couple of her killings...it's NOT a case of a maniac just killing folks. I also liked the ending. All in all, a surprisingly good and enjoyable film that defies so many of the expected stereotypes and cliches.