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First, there was Vertigo...then, there was Eyes Without A Face...and now, there is Scalpel...

A plastic surgeon has become estranged from his daughter, after murdering his wife, and his daughter's long time boyfriend.

By his own admission, he does the devil's work...changing the ugly, maimed, and deformed, into the beautiful.

Though, clearly...he indulges in more gruesome aspects of the job.

The motives behind his actions are to secure his father's fortune.

As he knows his father had written him out of his will and left everything to his daughter.

Thus, he needs to keep her close, so that he could cash in on the inheritance he feels is rightfully his. . But this only acts to push her away.

So, having lost his daughter, when his father dies, he must come up with a new plan.

Which comes to fruition when he finds a battered stripper hobbling down the street.

Her face has been destroyed...so he recreates it in the likeness of his daughter.

Planning to use the woman, as his daughter's doppelganger, in order to trick his father's estate into handing over the money.

Little did he suspect, though, that his daughter would discover his plot...and return to try and foil it.

In a twist of fate, the two women start to work together, figuring he would resort to try and eliminate one of them.

Leaving them with only one option.

To fashion a scheme of their own...and turn the tables on him...

When you sell your soul to the devil...there's always a price to pay...and the time to pay it always comes before you think it will.

Just ask the not-so-good doctor...he's living proof.

Because he's now trapped in one hell of a bad trip...from which he'll never escape.

As the two women become the beneficiaries of everything he so desired to possess.

Such being the cost of playing games with the devil, on his terms.

Judith Chapman does an excellent job in both roles as Heather (his daughter) and Jane (the stripper).

And despite it's budget, VHS-quality format...the film is actually much better than one would suspect.

With a storyline that takes inspiration from, the aforementioned films, and then combining that with the plot from De Palma's Sisters.

Though all with an air of originality.

The whole thing was shot in Atlanta and Covington, Georgia...incorporating lots of beautiful scenery, and some great locations.

Exceeding all expectations I had going in.

It's definitely worth a watch.

7 out of 10.

"Scalpel" aka "False Face" is a soberly sturdy little southern Gothic dramatic thriller that might not have the pulsating thrills sprinkled throughout but the solid performances (Robert Lansing perfectly portrays one really twisted character underneath the solemnly overconfident façade) and a laconic narrative pulls you through by throwing up some offbeat occurrences (possible incest) and tension-grabbing surprises. It's humid soap opera stuff with many complications surfacing, as the harboured dementia (Lansing's laugh shows glimpses of it) lurking beneath goes onto tear a gaping hole in the trust, as lust enters the mind.

Plastic surgeon Dr. Phillip Reynolds learns at the will reading of his deceased father-in-law that his daughter (who has been missing for some time now and his violent tendencies might just have something to do with that) has inherited the family fortune of 5 million dollars. This makes Reynolds and his brother-in-law Bradley (who only received the pooch) angry and annoyed. Later that night while driving the pair come across a badly beaten go-go dancer that won't give out any personal details, so Reynolds secretly offers the girl the chance of inheriting some of his daughter's fortune if she agrees to allow him to reconstruct her face - just like his daughter and act like her. She accepts, and the scheme is in motion. Everything is going according to plan, that's until the real daughter appears on the scene.

Quite an interestingly chameleon-like and slow-grinding psychological drama, as it does bestow some powerfully suggestive images. Leading the way would be the father-daughter affection, especially the warped nature when he transforms the go-go dancer into his daughter. There it begins a creepy attraction --- was it always there --- did it serve for the death of his wife and his daughter's boyfriend? Though things really do get compelling when his real daughter shows up, as some instances will have you guessing to how it will actually progress. The true beauty or the cheap imitation. The performances are spot on; Margaret Chapman is simply wonderful playing two roles by bringing the right shades and mannerisms to her two very different characters, despite the appearances. Arlen Dean Snyder provides a lively turn as Bradley, where his suspicion gets the better of him. Writer / director John (the man behind the 1987 twin slasher "Blood Rage") Grissmer does a workmanlike job, rather accomplished but never truly exciting and a bit murky. However the dry air works in its favour, where the exhaustively moody music score blends well with the dramas and southern setting.

A genuinely well-devised and clinical curio.

A murderous surgeon (Robert Lansing) concocts a twisted scheme to win his missing daughter's inheritance money: by transforming a Jane Doe (Judith Chapman) into her double.

Although he was a constantly working actor, Lansing is probably best remembered as the authoritarian Brig. Gen. Frank Savage in "12 O'clock High" (1964), the television drama series about World War II bomber pilots. Genre fans may know him from "4D Man" (1959), "Empire of the Ants" (1977) or "The Nest" (1988). "Scalpel" is an early role for Judith Chapman who went on to star in a wide variety of soap operas.

The film has been called a "Hitchcock wannabe", which is fair. But really, it is as good as some of Hitchcock's work. Maybe not his best films, but better than average.

The master of the icy stare that could freeze your blood, dumpy actor Robert Lansing made a lot of movies watchable, including "The 4-D Man" and many others. Such is the case with SCALPEL, a slice of southern sleaze from Georgia. When he's not busy chewing the scenery, casually talking about plastic surgery, or yelling "Go get her, GOD DAMN IT!" to a hired killer, he is just rolling in the part of Dr. Reynolds, your friendly neighborhood psychotic plastic surgeon. The rest of the fortunately small cast seems uninterested in what's going on, mainly there to collect a paycheck to buy some more of those gaudy 1970's outfits, although Arlen Dean Snyder is good in his role as the suspicious Uncle Bradley. Without Lansing, this film would have probably been long forgotten. We still need the DVD though! Get this thing a widescreen transfer!

"Scalpel" follows a deranged plastic surgeon in the southern U. S. whose daughter has gone missing, preventing him from accessing an inheritance in her name. When he comes across a battered stripper in the city, he saves the woman, transforming her into the likeness of his daughter in the process.

This little-seen effort from "Blood Rage" director John Grissmer is a surprisingly captivating slice of Southern Gothic sleaze, with heavy influences ranging from Hitchcock's "Vertigo" to the French classic "Eyes Without a Face," with dashes of Italian gialli. Though it's nowhere in the same league as either of the two aforementioned films, "Scalpel" (originally titled "False Face") is still a nervy, twisting psychothriller that offers ample entertainment and commendable suspense despite its most absurd narrative gymnastics.

Stylish cinematography from Edward Lachman, as well as solid lead performances from Robert Lansing and Judith Chapman (the latter playing a dual role) help bolster this low-budget effort to rise above. The film's cynical finale is done a bit haphazardly, but it goes out on a note that will leave the audience smiling. All things considered, "Scalpel" is a commendable effort with enough creative flourishes to stand out from your typical low-rent '70s horror flick. 7/10.

This movie has a great plot. It's fast paced and fun. And it's full of surprises. There's lots of southern flavor here, even a funeral with a jazz band playing and lots of people actually dancing at it. This movie is a classic. It's best to see only the uncut version.

An old man has died, cutting out his only son from his will, as well as his other relatives, leaving five million to his granddaughter Heather. Uncle Bradley, the only son, is understandably angry. So is Dr. Reynolds, the old man's son-in-law and father to Heather. Dr. Reynolds is a plastic surgeon with definite psychotic tendencies when it comes to his family. He evidently had killed his wife, making it look like an accidental drowning while swimming, and also killed his daughter's boyfriend, making it look like an accidental drowning as a result of drunkenness.

Heather, however, isn't around to claim the inheritance. No one has seen her for a year.

Bradley and Dr. Reynolds almost run over a go-go-dancer with their car. She'd been ejected by a bouncer from a club in only her panties and high heels, and the bouncer had smashed her face into a wall several times for reasons unknown. The two men don't know where she came from, and take her to the hospital. Without telling Bradley, the Doctor rebuilds her face so she looks like his daughter, books a phony airline flight for her, then takes her home and teaches her how to impersonate Heather. They'll split the five million evenly. They begin a sexual relationship as well, making the Doc quite the pervert for being able to do that with his daughter's exact likeness!

Complicating things are the fact that the phony Heather can't play piano like the real one, Bradley grows suspicious, and the real Heather quietly shows up again.

Curiously, the other film directed by John Grissmer, Blood Rage, also deals with identical twins - though the characters are actual identical twins played by one actor, here they're identical by virtue of surgery and played by one actress. The fake twins are more or less act the same in False Face (which I saw on video as Scalpel), while in Blood Rage they're more pronouncedly different.

One of the chief problems with the movie for me was that it felt overlong. It was fairly engrossing, but at the same time nothing terribly special.

Some doctors daughter leaves him after he kills her boyfriend so he decides to find some disfigured broad and performs surgery on her face to make her look like his daughter and copulate her beefy booty. Yes, I gave in to expectation. I thought, with a title like Scalpel, this was going to be a 70s bloody slasher movie but instead, it's a PG rated Mela-Psycho-Drama. Now I can appreciate a good PG rated film but Scalpel was a dull and crappy one at that. This film just drags on and on uselessly about this supposed psychopathic doctor and his unhealthy obsession with his daughter, I mean, who cares? It does have it's "twisted" moments like a couple of PG level bloody scenes and a wacky surgeon but it doesn't push any boundaries considering it's PG(!!!!) but that can be good news for those who like horror movies wimpy.

A murderous surgeon (Robert Lansing) concots a twisted scheme to win his missing daughters inheritance money, by transfroming a Jane Doe (Judith Chapman) into her double. Twists within twists make the rather convoluted plot entertaining. Lansing's character is a real creep, and Chapman who plays both the daughter and Jane is superb. Over all this movie is a fun little Hitchcock wannabe that amuses till the closing credits.

So many times since I bought this Blu-ray, I've picked it up and then put it down again. A low budget film featuring facial surgery, maybe not. And then I watched it! Great film, full of surprises, not least of which is that the early exposition is dealt with so smoothly. From the brutal and explicit beginning, through the background story, the surgery and all, we are skilfully informed as the pictures fade into each other and we have arrived at the beginning of the tale that we expected to be the ending. Set in Georgia we get wonderful pictures of green and gold burial grounds and overgrown ruins. An atmosphere of creepy otherness develops alongside shades of incest. More a dramatic tale with tinges of the Italian gallo than a horror, this is nevertheless horrific and not without surprises. One particular surprise towards the end really caught me off guard and is followed quickly by the chase through the woods of a skimpy bikini clad women that almost as surprising as it is stunning. And then surprising again! It is a tragedy that director John Grissmer only made one other film and that almost a remake of this. Robert Lansing is effective as the leading man but Judith Chapman is an absolute revelation. Her career seems to have been more in TV and it is true that the interiors here sometimes look more like TV but Chapman is marvellous in a difficult role and always convincing. This is an underrated film that seems to offer little but does quite the opposite with great location shooting, some stunning key scenes and some real shocks.

A southern gothic nightmare but little boring

But it is not the movies fault I heard a different plot and imagine that it would go a certain way and then when I watched the movie I was disappointed because of it, but it's my fault for miss hearing.

But the story about an, over controlling father and his obsession is not bad at all, I think the story is solid, I think the actors does a really fine job and the dad is especially creepy.

My biggest problem with the movie is it's not that imaginative in the cinematography and all the parts of a movie I usually enjoy in horror films, I think the stories intriguing ,what I just wish there were more.

Interesting that imdb has this under the initial title and not the one it seems to be better known for (Scalpel). You'll still find it easily with the title it is marketed (by Arrow for example) and it is a point that gets talked about in the extras of that release too.

Talking about the Arrow release, it is amazing that the original DOP was not just available but went above and beyond to make sure anyone who wants to watch this gets the closest to what he had in mind back when they made the movie! Kudos to him and Arrow for allowing him that (also putting their own version on the disc for anyone to be able to compare and decide which to watch).

But enough about technicalities (although I would argue more than important for the enjoyment), the movie itself is also quite a find. There are always curiosities in the horror world. Movies you may not have heard about, that do deserve to be watched though. This is one of them. It may have notions of other movies (like Eyes without a Face, a classic itself), but that does not take anything away from the movie or the lead performances! Rabid which was released the same year took a similar theme to a different extreme. Both movies are more than fine.

So if you are into horror and like to be scared, I can recommend this highly .. especially when it looks so good as it does ...

This film is available on video as "Scalpel", and it's quite interesting. Lansing is a crazed plastic surgeon who makes a disfigured dancer look like his missing daughter to claim a $2 million dollar inheritance. However, things get complicated when the real daughter reappears. Some interesting plot twists and decent acting makes this mystery worth a look.

Scalpel is very dark melodrama with a southern Gothic ambiance and style. This is one mean and nasty little thriller, but is really well made and superbly performed by the actors. Robert Lansing is a plastic surgeon that makes a disfigured stripper look like his disappeared daughter to get an inheritance. Judith Chapman looks great and delivers a fine performance. Robert Lansing is fantastic as the very unscupulous and psychotic doctor. Scalpel delivers big on sleaze, violence and darkness with murder, nudity, incest and leading characters that have no morals and revel in depravity. This is one sick flick, that is actually really good and a deranged and seedy soap opera with graphic sex and violence with foreboding and bleak southern atmosphere. Very creepy and effective , haunting and gritty. Thumbs way up if you have similar dark tastes in cinema.

The topless stripper (Judith Chapman or a body double?) who gets her face bashed in at the start of the movie looks great topless from the shoulders down. Later, Judith Chapman gets chased through the woods in a hip-hugging red bikini. This is one of my favorite bikini scenes!

This is one of the best intro to grindhouse films ive ever seen. Much like "I start Counting " it does way more with less. What sticks out is the performance of Robert Lansing and the female lead was a acting juggernaut born in wrong year. The other film associated with this director doesnt quite match the brilliance of this film set in New Orleans. The actors, story, and everything snatched me up. Much like Joe DeAmato captured in Blue Omega, this film has you actually considering what you would do if put in a simulator situation, and but god Robert Lansing had me believing it. Its definitely a must watch in my book.

I recently watched Faceless (1977) on a random streaming service. The story follows a renowned surgeon who meets a woman with a deformed face, setting him on a dark path. He spends the rest of his career removing beautiful skin from people's faces in a desperate attempt to replace the damaged woman's face with skin that resembles his daughter. If the surgery goes awry, it could destroy both of their lives.

Directed by John Grissmer (Blood Rage), the film stars Robert Lansing (4-D Man), Judith Chapman (The Young and the Restless), Arlen Dean Snyder (Heartbreak Ridge), and Warde Q. Butler (Smokey and the Bandit).

I found this movie surprisingly entertaining and much better than I anticipated. The kill scenes are imaginative-with flying appendages and creative set pieces-and although the practical effects are low-budget at times, they are executed with impressive skill. There's one standout syringe scene that is thoroughly impressive. Despite the limited budget, the filmmakers did an admirable job, delivering the expected horror nudity, a nod to Orloff, and some gritty surgery scenes. There's a lot to like here.

In conclusion, Faceless is a well-executed addition to the horror genre. Although its premise is somewhat recycled, the effective horror effects and creative kills make it worthwhile. I'd score it a 7.5/10 and recommend it to horror enthusiasts.