Eyes Without a Face (1960) review

After a young woman is disfigured in a car accident, her surgeon father kills other women with the hope of removing their faces, restoring his daughter's pretty looks and giving her a new life. As an examination of identity, and how in essence we're little more than the skin on our faces, this film is eerie - while the set-up is a little clunky, and the plot itself is not always logically sound, these are minor qualms when measured against the unsettling calmness of the picture, and the way Franju refuses to rush things along, allowing his faceless heroine, in a doll-like mask, to creep around slowly, like she were the living dead. Its horror is less physical than psychological, and its long-term impact is palpable: it's not played for scares, but is still disturbing.