Wettlauf gegen den Tod

Italian jazz, Italian car factories and an invitation to meet the boss. That juxtaposition of the naked woman in the fur coat and the lifeless village. All surface style in the villa, executive toys clacking away. Great first appearance (complete with choir!) of Celli. The offer is made; there's a room full of ickle babies and a troupe of white fiats. It's a fascinating little flick. The allegory may be a bit heavy handed, but there's a real style here.

After re-watching this obscure Italian gem, I'm even more convinced that Corrado Farina is a true neglected maestro of Italian horror cinema. Granted, he's only made four films, two of them being horror (the other one is the delirious fumetti adaptation "Baba Yaga"), but they really shows a unique style that is hardly seen elsewhere in the genre. In fact, even more so than "Baba Yaga", "Hanno Cambiato Faccia" is something of a black sheep of 70's Italian horror. The most obvious difference is the look of the film. While most of it's kind are photographed with Bavaesque colors, this one is almost completely pale and "lifeless", with all the exterior scenes filmed in nearly deserted, fog-shrouded landscapes and with stark white, minimalist interiors. Corrado's script is also very well written and intelligent. Something of a loose adaptation of Bram Stoker's "Dracula", set in 1970's Italy, we follow a young man who goes to visit his boss - Giovanni Nosferatu, the head of a huge corporation, at his secluded country villa, in order to get a promotion. As soon as he gets there, however, he soon realizes there's something not quite right with Mr. Nosferatu, and he eventually comes to the conclusion that the man is a vampire. Not unlike Hans Geissendorfer's eccentric masterpiece "Jonathan", this is an obvious allegory to capitalism, with corporate tycoons presented as vampires who feed on the expenses of their consumers, and the title means that these foul beings are still living in our modern society, only under a different image. The metaphor is presented very subtly, and doesn't come across as being pretentious. The film's finale, though some can see as being anti-climatic, actually enhances this, and leaves a haunting, lingering impression, rather than a shocking one, on the viewer. One of the film's greatest assets is the contrast between classic Gothic imagery with high-tech, ultra-modern settings. Nosferatu's villa is, on the outside, old and crumbling, surrounded by a foreboding forest and an ancient cemetery. There's also a nearby village with the creepy innkeeper-ish character who warns the protagonist of his destination before he gets there. Hell, there's even a cobwebbed crypt for the vampire to sleep in. Another brilliant aspect is the choice cast. Adolfo Celli is just effortlessly creepy as the undead businessman, and Giuliano Esperanti makes for a likable protagonist in his Jonathan Harker-type role. Argento fans will be surprised to see the androgynous Geraldine Hooper, best known as Gabriele Lavia's homosexual lover in "Deep Red", as Celli's mysterious and seductive secretary, a "Bride of Dracula", if you will. As a whole, I think I slightly prefer "Baba Yaga" over this, but only by a hair, as "They Have Changed Faces" is obviously the better written, better acted of the two. Speaking of which, even if you didn't like "Baba Yaga", I urge you to see this film - it's a highly original, intelligent slice of Italian Horror, and another one that deserves more praise and recognition. 9/10

Vampires are the real BAD guys (i.e. corporate honchos feeding on much more than blood) in this satirical, quirky outing. Visually stunning, with a main character who goes by the name of Giovanni Nosferatu... not to forget an army of white, man-eating utility cars from hell (just forget wimpy, musty ole bats!)... I mean, how can you go wrong?

A largely unknown but highly rewarding Euro-Cult gem that transposes the ancient Transylvanian vampire legend into the commercialized industrial age of 1970s Italy; director Farina is perhaps best-known (if at all) for the Carroll Baker-starring adult comic-strip adaptation BABY YAGA (1973) – a film which I was kind of lukewarm on at first glance but would now love to revisit (for the record, I do own the Blue Underground DVD of it). The mostly anonymous cast is headed by distinguished character actor Adolfo Celi (playing the all-powerful tycoon Giovanni Nosferatu) and whose underlings include one Harker, one Van Helsing, etc.!; the hero of the piece is played by Giuliano Disperati (who reminded me of a less handsome version of Hurd Hatfield) and their female counterparts are essayed by Geraldine Hooper (as Celi's androgynous secretary) and red-headed hottie Francesca Modigliani (portraying a bare-breasted hippy who hitches a ride in Disperati's car and stays on). Obviously, Jean-Luc Godard had already paid similar tribute to F.W. Murnau's Silent vampire masterpiece in his own iconic neo-noir/sci-fi opus ALPHAVILLE (1965) by naming the Howard Vernon character as Professor Nosferatu von Braun; the beauty of Farina's – and co-writer/assistant director/editor Giulio Berruti (who would go on to direct the middling nunsploitation/slasher KILLER NUN [1978]) – concept, however, is that (as the film's very title implies) vampires have nowadays changed their faces and instead of sporting bloodied fangs and enveloping cloaks, they don suits, haunt business boardrooms and prey upon millions of gullible TV viewers via puerile (but obviously effective) commercials! The film's initial stages have a deceptively light-hearted air about them: predating the amiable "Fantozzi" comedy series of movies by four years, Disperati cannot believe his luck in being invited to meet the elusive President of the firm he works for (who inhabits the 20th floor on which, apparently, only a handful of people have ever been to); when Disperati is invited to Nosferatu's country house, he is made to listen to commercials whenever he gets to sit on the sofa or take a shower! Even so, the subtle choral music on the soundtrack ominously underscores the sinister air of the rural surroundings – represented by Nosferatu's omnipresent watchdog army of white Fiat 500 which 'accompany' every visitor to the villa. Needless to say, the usual expected elements of vampire movies are also present in the mix here: the crypt housing Nosferatu's decaying coffin; the midnight secret meeting of the Vampire and his acolytes (here made up of, among others, a Renfield-like advertising agent dreading his boss' reaction to his clips and even an ecclesiastical authority who imparts his blessing on the latter's work vis-a-vis censorship issues, etc.). Despite Disperati's apparent shooting of Nosferatu (whose main relaxation activity is taking target practice on moaning puppets!), the eventual climactic defection to the cause – conformism to the consumerist mentality – of both hero and (the sadly largely absent) heroine does not really come as a surprise and concludes the movie on a satisfying ROSEMARY'S BABY-like coda.

This very cool, very weird movie surprised me with its cleverness and depth, and how entertaining and often hilarious it is. That's the nutshell. Now I'm going to get a bit heady.

They Have Changed Their Face is not going for subtlety, and in fact assiduously avoids it. One of its strengths is how intentionally, unabashedly on the nose it is with its core analogy and themes. The script compares vampirism so closely with capitalism and consumerism from the opening minutes that the analogy is almost erased, with the two represented things being almost literally one in the same. The movie's "Dracula" figure is an oligarch, owner of a vast network of companies and puppet master of a global network of politicians, artists, and religious leaders. He is also a fascist, which, especially combined with the hypercapitalism dimension, makes the movie even more anti-conformist.

It's a sad commentary on the current state of humanity how well this movie has aged. It perfectly foreshadowed the rise of 21st century fascism and late-stage capitalism, and even the current social and individual psychosis of "mass narcissism" demonstrated on social media platforms, through so-called reality shows, and in a certain president and among his sycophants (not to mention, you know, the whole fascism thing), etc. Mass narcissism is the actual term used by the oligarch-vampire, whose name is hilariously literal: Mr. Nosferatu. A speech, or maybe more accurately, sales pitch, he gives our Johanthan Harker figure earlier in the movie about the masses, and his plans for them-is practically the dictionary definition of fascism. Those plans include fomenting that mass narcissism by, among other things, manipulating and compelling consumers to buy what he wants them to buy. We even learn in the opening minutes of the movie that Van Helsing has sold out and works for Mr. Nosferatu. That is sooo dark and savvy, and reflects the level of astute satire at work here.

That astuteness and directness is also evident during a business gathering filled with overlapping conversations. Among others, we catch this moment: "Bergman and Godard are slaves! The only free cinema is advertising. Advertising cinema is cinema vérité." So, it turns out that what we're watching, while ostensibly a "horror" movie-it certainly has some elements of horror-is closer to European art cinema, including the particular kind of social and political satire we see in some of the films of that era.

They Have Changed Their Face is also well-paced for the most part, has a good score, and is genuinely entertaining on the fundamental level of story, with a bit of conspiracy plot and a decent amount of suspense.

Two shortcomings I would mention: There are ways in which the story, plot, and directing could have brought in some additional traditional horror and vampire elements, which I think would have been a strength and not a distraction with respect to the art film ethos and themes (e.g., fate vs choice) of the film. In addition, the ending, while adequate, felt like a couple of shots-not even necessarily scenes-were left on the cutting room floor which could have clarified in just a few seconds of screen time some plot points and main themes.

That said, this film fits the definition of a hidden gem. It's pretty well-rated on IMDb and Letterboxd, but is nonetheless underrated. I've never seen it included in any lists of overlooked flicks, top vampire movies, and the like, and as far as I've seen it's never included in discussions of vampire movies. While utterly different from vampire floicks like Dracula's Daughter (1936), The Vampire's Ghost (1945), Curse of the Undead (1959), Blacula (1972), Ganja & Hess (1973), and Let the Right One In (2008), I would include They Have Changed Their Face among those as one of the most unusual vampire movies out there.

As of July 2025, They Have Changed Their Face is available to stream for free on Tubi.

Side note re. The capitalism theme: The Satanic Rites of Dracula (1973) has the count posing as a property developer in modern London, but the movie does nothing particularly interesting with that odd idea.