False Face

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 ...

"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.

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!

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.

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.