Abbreviated Entry...
So most of June has been pretty brutal for me schedule-wise. Big Time Life Events™ of close family members (weddings/funerals/reunions) have conspired to make the movie-every-day thing rather difficult. I've still managed to watch one every day, but the end result of everything life has thrown my way is that I'm as exhausted as I've ever been. So to keep my sanity (and this blog going), I'm going to do things a bit differently for a little while - I watched the movies, but rather than the standard entry, I'll just do a little synopsis, a little imdb research, quote some of the reviews (can you do that?) and bounce off of them. Followed up by my general impressions.
Okay, thanks!
Fiend Without a Face
A US military base near a small town in Canada is doing some highly secretive atomic experiments. People in the nearby town mysteriously turn up brutally murdered in the woods. Who could be to blame? If you guessed "invisible monsters," good guess. It's kind of misleading to call the film Fiend Without a Face, because there is lots of other stuff the fiends don't have - bodies, for instance. Anyways, the townsfolk want the base to shut down, but Major Cummings thinks something strange is going on. Can he solve the mystery before even more people are killed?
Okay, so the first hour of this 74-minute non-epic is padded to the gills with seemingly silly dialogue, off-kilter acting, and budgetless set design. I would argue that there is more than meets the eye in the film's script, though, to the degree that it is a surprisingly intelligent, supernatural take the atomic age. A highly enjoyable hour which provides more than mere camp appeal. But - wow - that last 15 minutes! You can see everything from THE TINGLER, to NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, to ERASERHEAD, to EVIL DEAD being born in the film's glorious finale!
-Thanks "tash-8" via imdb
The whole reason Fiend Without a Face is as well respected (?) as it is now is because of the big finale - it does have a Criterion edition, after all. While the beginning of the film is mostly well done but still pretty standard B-movie fare, once the invisibility of our monsters go away the film is really pretty amazing. It's an impressive example of stop-motion animation and early gore - and it really is quite gross at times. But it's astonishingly well done for a 50's film, and Fiend Without a Face certainly ends on a high note.
Fiend has everything that a 50's Sci-Fi movie should have; a really square hero that saves the day, a beautiful female lead that falls for him, atomic power misused, and an invisible monster that sucks the brains out of its victums.
It is the stop motion animation at the end when the monster(s) become visible that really makes this film work. Without the animation by Peter Neilson and Ruppell this would be just another 50's atomic caution tale.
-Thanks "larry loc" via imdb
While the animation is ahead of its time, Fiend Without a Face definitely feels like a film from the fifties. The acting can a bit corny and over-earnest at times, and the romantic angle feels shoehorned into the story.
As atomic creature films go, this is one of the best. Particularly notable are the brains themselves, brought to life with stop-motion effects easily on par with an early Harryhausen... But overall, this is a rarity - a cold-war monster film with a decent, solid plot, good acting, and top-notch effects. I highly recommend it.
-Thanks "stmichaeldt" via imdb
While it does feel like a stock 50's film at times, it feels like a *good* stock 50's film. As mentioned here, the story is believable (enough) and it's well-directed and shot. And the Criterion DVD that I watched looks awesome. After watching a lot of old movies online or on a Mill Creek Budget Set, and honest to god loving transfer of a 50's film was great to see.
Overall, Fiend Without a Face is a solid film. The grand finale of the film is the only thing that makes it feel revolutionary, but everything leading up to it works pretty well too. I think you may have to be a fan of the sort of cheesy sci-fi films of the era to really be sucked into the first hour or so. But even if that's not your thing, if you are looking for a quality example of old-school craftsmanship, Fiend Without a Face is short enough and fast-paced enough that it's worth checking out either way.
I would recommend this film.
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