Les Yeux Sans Visage (aka Eyes Without A Face) (1960)

Secluded in the French countryside, a brilliant but obsessed surgeon (Pierre Brasseur) attempts a radical surgery that could restore the beauty of his disfigured daughter (Edith Scob) but at a horrifying price! Based on the novel by Jean Redon and directed by Georges Franju (JUDEX). This is one of the most stylish and graceful horror films ever made (how many horror movies have gowns by Givenchy), the horror movie as cinematic poetry. Franju and his co-writers have cleaned up some of the novel's more graphic moments and with the aide of Eugene Shuftan's elegant B&W cinematography and Maurice Jarre's score, we have a film rich in atmosphere and evocative imagery. Not widely embraced when first released, it has since been recognized as one of the great horror films and has been hugely influential (Almodovar's THE SKIN I LIVE IN comes to mind). Strong stuff for its day, audience members were known to faint or walk out. Cut and dubbed into English, it was released in the U.S. as THE HORROR CHAMBER OF DR. FAUSTUS. With Alida Valli, Francois Guerin, Juliette Mayniel and Beatrice Altariba.