DVD Corner

Eyes Without A Face Criterion 4K UHD Review

“Eyes Without A Face” is a horror classic.  

Based on the novel “Les Yeux sans Visage” by Jean Redon, 1960’s “Eyes Without A Face” is a French horror film written by Jean Redon, Pierre Gascar, Boileau-Narcejac and Claude Sautet. The story begins with a woman (Louise) dumping a body into the river. The body winds up at the morgue where  plastic surgeon Doctor Génessier arrives to confirm that it is his missing daughter Christiane. In reality Christiane is neither dead nor missing. She is hiding away at her father’s house where she is undergoing surgeries to fix her disfigured face that was the result of a car accident caused by her father. These are no normal surgeries, however, as Louise (the Doctor’s assistant) lures young women to the Doctor’s house. The crazed Doctor then drugs the women, removes their facial skin, and then kills them. The surgeries never seem to last though as the new skin begins to rot leaving Christiane to wear a white mask. Christiane begins to lose her mind through this tortured existence and yearns for her fiance Jacques (who doesn’t know she is alive). Other subplots featured here are the police investigating the missing women and dogs that Doctor Génessier is experimenting on.

Directed by Georges Franju, “Eyes Without A Face” takes the tried and true Mad Doctor tale and adds more dimensions to it. While there is a sense of visual horrors (including a graphic surgery scene), this is also a psychological horror story of a woman (Christiane) whose life begins to spiral out of control. She misses the life (and face) that she had, she’s horrified by what Louise and her father are doing, and she is essentially trapped in her home. She also feels  guilt in letting these surgeries happen. Will she stand up to her monster of a father? Will she try and save the next victim? Will she stop the surgeries? Can she free herself from her current circumstances? These are but a few of the questions racing through one’s head as the film races toward the finale. 

What makes “Eyes Without A Face” so unnerving though is that the movie traps you with the villains. Yes, there’s some scenes with the innocent Jacques and police detectives, but, for the most part, you are in the Doctor’s house bearing witness to his deceptions, experiments, and atrocities. The authenticity of the performances by Pierre Brasseur (Doctor Génessier), Alida Valli (Louise) and Edith Scob (Christiane) only make the film more disturbing. 

Video/Audio:

Presentation: 1.66:1 2160p. How does it look? The 4K digital restoration gives this B&W film crisp and clear picture quality. 

Audio Track: French Uncompressed Mono. How does it sound? The Mono track is satisfactory.

Extras (On The Blu-ray):
* Blu-ray copy
* A booklet featuring credits and essays by author Patrick McGrath and film historian David Kalat.
* French and U.S. trailers
* “Blood Of The Beast”- A 1949 documentary by Georges Franju about Paris abattoirs (with French and English soundtracks).
* “Franju On The Film”- An episode excerpt of the “Cinéma de notre temps” series featuring Georges Franju talking about “Blood Of The Beasts.”
* A 2013 interview with actress Edith Scob.
* “Le Fantastique”- An episode excerpt of the TV series “Ciné-parade” featuring an interview with Georges Franju discussing horror.
* “Boileau-Narcejac”- Excerpts from the documentary “Les grands-péres du crime” featuring interviews with “Eyes Without A Face” co-writers Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac.

October 15, 2025 - Posted by nicklyons1 | 4K UHD Review | 60's Film, Criterion Collection, Eyes Without A Face, Eyes Without A Face Criterion 4K UHD Review, French Cinema