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Eyes Without a Face (Les yeux sans visage)

1960 · 90 min · movie
⭐ 7.6 (39,285 votes)

Outside Paris, a woman dumps a corpse in the river. The body is identified by Dr. Génessier as his daughter Christiane, who was reported missing after an automobile crash disfigured her face.

In reality, Christiane still lives in Dr. Génessier's mansion next to his private clinic, guarded by German Shepherds and other large dogs. The body (which was disposed of by his assistant Louise) belongs to a young woman whose facial skin Dr. Génessier removed and unsuccessfully attempted to graft onto his daughter.

After her father leaves with promises to restore her face, Christiane, wearing a mask to cover her disfigurement, calls her fiancé, Jacques Vernon, Dr. Génessier's assistant, but hangs up without saying a word.

GĂ©nessier's next victim is Edna GrĂŒber, a young woman whom Louise befriends and lures to GĂ©nessier's mansion with an offer of a room for rent. GĂ©nessier sedates Edna with chloroform, and he and Louise carry her to the lab to prepare her for surgery, secretly watched by Christiane. Later, he removes Edna's facial skin and grafts it onto Christiane's face. The heavily bandaged and faceless Edna attempts to escape but falls to her death from an upstairs window.

After disposing of Edna's corpse, Génessier notices the new tissue is rejected within days, and Christiane has to wear the mask again. She phones Jacques and says his name, but Louise interrupts the call.

Jacques informs the police, who have been investigating the disappearance of young women with similar facial characteristics. Jacques realizes one of the girls looks like Louise. Inspector Parot instructs Paulette Mérodon (recently arrested for shoplifting) to check herself into Génessier's clinic. Soon after, Paulette is picked up by Louise and delivered to Dr. Génessier. Before he begins surgery on Paulette, the police arrive.

While the doctor talks with the police, Christiane, disenchanted with her father's immoral experiments, while slowly losing her mind from guilt and isolation, decides to act. She frees Paulette and murders Louise by stabbing her in the neck. She also frees the dogs and doves that her father uses for experiments. Dr. Génessier dismisses the police (who readily accept his explanations) and returns to his lab. There, a newly acquired German Shepherd attacks him, inciting the other dogs to follow suit, mauling him to death. Christiane, unmoved by his death, strolls out into the woods outside with a dove in her hands.

Directed by

Georges Franju

Starring

Édith Scob
Alida Valli
Pierre Brasseur
Juliette Mayniel
Alexandre Rignault
Béatrice Altariba
François Guérin