Review #26: Curse of the Faceless Man (1958) - Feature film

Curse of the Faceless Man is a late 1950's snooze-fest. The movie itself is not terrible, but it's quite a dull film to watch, even with the short running time. The film had promise, I feel, but it didn't quite live up to expectations, which is a real shame.

Source: Dailymotion
Length: 1 hour, 6 minutes
Number of Ratings from IMDb: 332
Country of Origin: USA
Director: Edward L. Cahn [Creature with the Atom Brain, The She-Creature, Zombies of Mora Tau, Voodoo Woman, Invasion of the Saucer Men, It! The Terror from Beyond Space, Curse of the Faceless Man, Invisible Invaders, The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake]

The very first thing about this film that stands out in this film is the narrator - he explains the history of Pompeii, of how the civilization was wiped out by a volcano, and how countless people died. In present-day Italy, workers are excavating the area, looking for artifacts of the past. One worker finds a gold jewel box.

Along with something else.

A body encrusted in stone, which is then carefully removed from the ground.

We then cut to this place - a museum, in which Dr. Paul Mallon and Dr. Carlo Fiorillo meet up with each other.

From left to right: Mallon and Fiorillo

Fiorillo tells him about the events of the previous day: during an acquaintance's (Dr. Emanual) expedition, a 2,000-year old body is found. He also states to Mallon than he's "not even sure the body is dead," which Paul immediately questions, as it is such a ludicrous claim to make. Fiorillo saw the body earlier that day in Emanual's lab, and states he cannot tell if he (the body) is really dead.

Fiorillo called Paul because as Paul's expertise is tissue culture, Fiorillo wants him to test the substance found on the body (a rocky residue). Dr. Fiorillo also tells Paul that his daughter, Maria, will also be assisting him.

And speaking of the Devil...

Dr. Maria Fiorillo and Dr. Enricco Ricci arrive. Before entering the museum, it is two things are made clear: (1) Maria had a past relationship with Paul, and (2) Enricco is not happy Paul was called in (jealousy, I'd wager). Once inside, Dr. Carl Fiorillo explains that along with a body, a small box was found, containing valuables, such as jewels, and more mysteriously, a bronze medallion.

Maria stated that she noticed Etruscan writing on the medallion, to which Paul claims the Etruscans died out by the time of the Roman Empire. Carlo corrects this: Some survived, and the bloodline lived on into the Roman Empire.

Meanwhile, whilst the four are conversing on the Etruscans and the Romans, the body, or faceless man, is being transported via truck to the museum. Apparently, the body got rather bored during the drive, and decided to strangle the driver, leading him to crash.

At the museum, Dr. Ricci asks if the medallion can to translated, to which Carlo replied that Dr. Emanual is currently doing so, and once he's done, he'll turn over the contents of the box to the museum. A call then comes through, informing Carlo that his driver, Tony, has been in a crash and died.

At the crash scene, Maria laments the death of Tony, who's always been a reliable driver. Paul vocally wonders about the wound on the back of the head, causing the death. Paul also informs Maria that he is now engaged, surprising her, as she had not heard.

Dr. Emanual then comes onto the scene, meeting up with them all.

He wishes to discuss the medallion, but only in private, out of earshot of the Italian police. They then depart back to the museum. Once there, Dr. Emanual claims that the reason for his secrecy is due to the fact that one man is dead already, and more will perhaps join him. He then reveals what the medallion said.

As you can see (and hopefully read), it is a letter written by one Quintillus Aurelius (whom throughout the remainder of this review, I will refer to as the more terrifying Faceless Man), stating something about a curse, and how he will come back to life once the Romans are no more (he's late). Paul's skeptical that this had anything to do with the death of Tony. Ominously, Emanual states that he believes the body is still alive. Cue suspenseful music as Ricci then brings the Faceless Man in.

After a quick examination of the body, Paul notices blood on the right hand of the creature. Emanual believes the blood to be from Tony's would, annoying Paul, who doesn't believe in any curse, and chalks it up to possibly the immobile body striking Tony after the crash.

Paul swings by his fiancee, Tina Enright, and we meet one of the last important characters of the film.

She's an artist - a painter. And during the day, she painted a most peculiar image.

After telling her about his day, Tina confides in him that she had a dream last night: a body was found in an excavation, explaining in detail about the box found with it, and later how the stone body killed a driver of a truck. Most troubling, in Tina's nightmare, the Faceless Man was trying to get to her. After hearing a truck driver died much the same way she saw in her dream, she demands to go back to the museum with Paul, where he has to be anyway to be questioned by the police.

At the museum, Inspector Renaldi informs them all that it's conclusively been proven that the death of Tony was not an accident.

Paul and Tina arrive, and Tina's introduced to everyone. Tina acts strangely upon seeing the body, prompting Inspector Renaldi to question her, but before he can ask too much, Paul interrupts, and informs Renaldi about the blood found on the hand of the body. Renaldi, however, believes the killer to be younger than 2,000 years old.

He then hypothesizes that whomever the killer may be is after the contents of the box found with the body. Renaldi then asks that the museum remain closed to the public until the killer is apprehended. As soon as he leaves, Tina recites to everyone what she told her fiance earlier.

She then asks permission from Carlo to continue sketching the subject from the museum, but he declines, unsure if it would be safe or not. It doesn't make a difference, because later that night, after awakening from another nightmare, Tina, while in a trance-like state, goes over to the museum and begins sketching (evidently, despite the fact their closed to the public, and it's very late at night, the museum doors were not locked).

She's so engaged in her cathartic sketching to notice the stone man becoming a bit more lively, beginning with his head turning to the side. Before to long, he decides he's been still long enough, and wants to stretch his legs by going after Tina.

Tina then screams and faints. A night watchman rushes in, and tries to stop the Faceless Man, but gets knocked aside. Grabbing a broach from the same chest the medallion came from, the Faceless Man places it on Tina's chest, and then becomes immobile once more, just before Dr. Fiorillo and Dr. Fiorillo (Carlo and Maria), who live in the museum) can make it to the room.

Maria announces the watchman dead, and Tina in shock. Before Maria can telephone Paul, Carlo laments the deaths, and the curse as a whole. Maria believes what the Inspector believes, though - thieves are after the contents of the box found with the body. Unconvincingly, Carlo concedes that his daughter may be correct. Paul is then telephoned. 

As Carlo is studying books, looking for information about the broach placed on Tina, Tina is "laying between the vague twilight of the past and the present," unaware of what is going on in her surroundings. 

Maria and Paul wonder about what put Tina into shock - Paul states once she snaps out of it, they'll find out. One thing is for certain, though: At the moment, Tina is out of commission, and she stays that way for the next 15 minutes or so.

A heated discussion between Paul and Carlo follows, and once Tina is taken back to her apartment, still in shock, the movie begins to pick up a little.

But not by much. I've found this film extremely hard to review. Exactly why, I'm not sure, but I just could not get into the mood to fully review this. The movie itself is not bad, though the downsides do overcome the positives. I apologize for my lack of a fuller synopsis (I generally like to review up to the last 10-20 minutes of the film; I just got halfway through this one), and I will work hard to ensure it doesn't happen again.

This film is much like The Mummy - it's a slower pace, deals with content of historical nature, and only have one or two scenes which stand out. The pace, I feel, killed this film. The plot is not an uninteresting one, but when little happens until halfway through the film, and what happens even then is tepid and dry, the plot sort of falls short of saving the film.

I am in college at the moment, and one of my minors is history. I say this to show that I have no disdain for the subject. I feel it's important to look back at past events, to ensure lessons have been learned and mistakes will not be made twice. The problem with bringing the subject into a horror film is that it can leave the film feeling dry. If they had toned down on the history just a bit (and the damn narration, which I'll get to currently), it would have been far more palatable. 

The aforementioned narration gets really old really quick. I'm not sure why the filmmakers decided to use that tactic, but I don't deem it an attractive one. If it was used only in the beginning and the end, it would have been corny, but still okay. It was used throughout the film, though, and rarely brought any relevant points to the table.

The film was not without it's positives. I felt the cast of characters was strong (albeit a bit cliche). Carlo, Paul, Maria, Enricco, Emanual, Tina, and the Inspector all played a role of some importance in the film, although I felt that Enricco should have had a few more scenes. Seven characters is not a bad amount, and better, I feel, to the mundane and typical "man and woman" character types in older films. At least to me, it stood out.

The Faceless Man was not a terrible monster. Sure, it's a bit of a ripoff of the Mummy (and I'm sure the creators knew that), but it's not a bad attempt whatsoever. A bit laughable, nowadays, but arguably, the monster is at least unique. 

I cannot, in good faith, defend this for much longer, though. In all regards, this is no worse than many pre-1960 films. I do have to say, though, in terms of 1958 and 1959, this would be quite low on my list. 

Now, the director of this, Mr. Cahn, did direct two movies I've seen and enjoyed, those being It! The Terror from Beyond Space, and Zombies of Mora Tau. If this film had more of the feeling that those films shared, it would have been a far less excruciating time for me.

Maybe I am being unfair. Maybe this particular viewing experience was hampered by other factors I am unaware of. Due to that possibility, I will rate this film with generosity in mind, and in the future perhaps, this will be in need of a re-watch.

My rating: 5.5/10 

IMDb page

Another blog written on the same film. Far more detail, but be prepared for a longer reading time. I'd recommend it, though.

Hope this finds all well,

Michael

Review #18: Don't Go in the House (1979) - Feature film

This is a classic horror film I’ve seen a few times – most noted for its one on-screen brutal kill. Though there is only one scene of murder in the whole film, it is often remembered as a doozy. Though sluggish at parts, this film is a must-see for fans of slashers and grindhouse films in general.

Why did I choose to review this, you may wonder? It’s certainly not obscure. Well, as a horror fan, I enjoy connecting with others, and the best way to do that is through forums. I’ve been a member of HorrorMovieFans.com since 2009 – it’s a fantastic site with wonderful people, who, all too often, I think of more as family than anything else. This week’s Movie of the Week, in which everyone on the site discusses the chosen film, happens to be Don’t Go in the House. I thought it’d make nice reviewing material, and so I choose to do so. I’ll be permanently linking HorrorMovieFans, or as is often abbreviated, HMF, on the side of my blog as soon as I get proper permission to do so. If you’ve ever a desire to meet great people who love horror as much as you do, don’t hesitate to join. Plus, I’m there. What more could a sensible person ask for?

I will be linking the MotW thread from HorrorMovieFans at the bottom of the page.

Source: DVD (Shriek Show copy)

Length: 1 hour, 23 minutes

Number of Ratings from IMDb: 1,791

Country of Origin: USA

Director: Joseph Ellison [Don’t Go in the House]

We meet Donald Kohler, or as he goes by, Donny, who works at a local incinerator – or we suppose he does, as all he’s doing at the opening is gazing into the fire.

Danger is amidst, however, in the form of an aerosol can. Once it catches on fire, things literally go up in flames, and Donny’s coworker finds himself immersed in an inferno.

Donny stands memorized, frozen, as he is burning alive. Other workers quickly get there to douse the flames, but not before a particularly angry employer lambastes Donny for his immobility. And he’s not done, either.

In the locker room, he confronts Donny again, calling him rather inappropriate names. Donny replies incoherently, leaving his boss to believe him to be mentally unsound. Another coworker is watching this procession, with tender care in his eyes. This man is Bobby.

When Donny leaves, Bobby runs to catch up with him, and consoles him, telling Donny, among other things, the accident wasn’t his fault, his boss is a dick, and if he ever wants to talk, Bobby’s there for him. He even offers to take Donny to a bar, but he refuses, stating that he has to get home to tend to his mother. Bobby lets him go, but lets him know the offer is still on the table.

On Donny’s drive home, he hears what he believes to be the voice of his mother, urging him home, and it is one of the earlier indications that our main character is rather touched, to put it politely.

When Donny returns home, we are then introduced to the massive house he lives in, which looks, funnily enough, a bit like the famous house from Psycho (1960). A dutiful son, as soon as he enters the home, he begins making some tea for his mother. Looking at the matches to light his stove, he himself pleading with his mother ages ago, and it can be said that perhaps his mother abused him in the past. 

It makes little difference to him physically; however, as when he gets upstairs, he discovers that his mother is deceased, due to natural causes. Understandably, he freaks out a bit, and begins shouting at his mother’s corpse to “Please wake up.”

Voices soon comfort him, though, and let him know that he is now free from her overbearing attitude. Immediately, he reverts back to childhood, and plays his music loudly while jumping on a chair.

Donny’s glee doesn’t last long, however – he begins hearing his mother’s voice scolding him for his misbehavior, and he sets to right everything to how it was before. Seeing his mother though, still dead, brings back the voices, who tell him that he should purify her.

We are then given a flashback – Donny’s mother punishing him by holding his arms over an open flame.

Now understanding why Donny is a bit out there, we can perhaps feel a tiny bit more sympathy for him. He then goes to “take care of his mother,” i.e. burning her arms, much like she did him years back.

The following day, we see Donny hammering some steel sheets on a wall in his house, when a phone call interrupts his work. The caller? Bobby, who asks him if he wants to meet him for a cup of coffee prior to work.

Donny feigns being sick, however, to get out of it, which is quite a shame, because as friendly as Bobby is being to Donny, all Donny can do is rebuff his attempts. Donny claims he has things to do that day, and so he won’t be in for work.

Driving out to town, he stops at a camping store, and sees a few things of interest, one of the things being the white protective wear seen below.

Enter new character: Kathy, a florist whom is closing up her store for the night, and serves as Donny’s first attempted victim.

Sweet talking his way into the closed store (“My mother’s sick, it’s here birthday, and I need some flowers”), he manages to get into the store and buy some cheap flowers for his “ill” mother. He then politely leaves the store, but waits in his truck.

Finally closing up, Kathy runs after the bus, but it doesn’t stop for her, leaving her alone with three thugs (seen in the shadow of the bus below), making sexual passes and cat calls at her.

Donny rides up and offers to take her to the next bus station or her home. Not wanting to stand around the Neanderthals any longer, she chooses to take him up on the offer.

While driving her to her destination, Donny asks if he can stop at his home and drop the flowers off. It’s on the way, and he says he don’t take long. Kathy agrees, and when they get to his home, she even agrees to come inside (though it does take a little coaxing) and meet her, because “she never gets out anymore,” according to Donny.

She’s looking around the house, some parts of it gorgeous, some parts utterly dilapidated; Donny goes searching for his mother. He comes up with a lie that she’s sicker than he believed, and fakes placing a call to her doctor. When she attempts to call a taxi service afterwards, he hits her from behind with an umbrella stand.

Kathy’s night, from here on out, will be one of her worst.

She’s wakes up, her hands tied above her head, hanging naked in a metal-plated room.

Donny then dons his earlier purchase and forcefully walks into the room and, with a flamethrower, burns her to a crisp in the most outstanding scene of the film.

The following day, Donny’s boss tells Bobby that if Donny’s not back by Monday, he’s going to be fired. Again, even with Donny is not within earshot, Bobby defends him, and tells his boss to give him a break. The boss refuses to, and Bobby has to break the bad news to Donny.

We then cut to another woman, this time stranded on the side of the road. It’s not spoiling much to say she is victim number two once Donny drives by and offers to take her to a gas station.

We then see Donny attempting to get another victim, but this fails terribly due to his forcefulness, and in fact, he almost blows his cover.

He does catch up with her, though, and a third woman is dead. He introduces the new woman to his mother.

During a call from Bobby, who warns him he best be back at work on Monday, Donny begins hallucinating, seeing his mother in a mirror.

He tells Bobby that his mother’s really sick, and that he’s scared for her health. He also says that he’ll call Father Gerritty, and that he’ll know how to help. Bobby offers to come over and talk, but Donny again rebuffs him, this time a little more politely though. After telling Bobby that he’s the only friend he has out there, he hangs up, leaving Bobby appearing slightly satisfied.

Donny then goes upstairs to explore the voices and noises of women giggling. He first checks on his mother (still dead), and then on his three guests.

He finally goes to bed, but is plagued by the dead women in his dreams, who pop out at him from a hole in the sand.

After he wakes up screaming, he checks on the bodies, and everything is where it should be. He decides to drink some water before going up to bed, but he sees yet another hallucination, of which he’s had enough of. He goes out to try and get some help.

Going to a local church, he procures some holy water, which he believes will help him in some way. He runs into Father Gerritty, however, and an interesting scene begins.

He asks the Father if he believes in the Devil; he replies he doesn’t believe in the Devil, but he does believe in evil, insofar as it is up to the people themselves to decide whether or not they want evil to permeate their lives.

Becoming agitated by his answer, Donny shows the Father his injuries (due to him being burnt various times throughout his childhood).

The Father demands to know who did that to Donny, and he replies his mother. At first shocked, the Father than replies foolishly by stating that he must forgive his mother for her trespasses. He then tells Donny to come back to his office another time, and they can talk.

Back at home the following day, Donny blesses his mother with the holy water, and asks her to forgive him for his sins. He tells her that he can change, and he wants to move forward from their troubled past.

He calls Bobby, and wants to go out – a movie or something – but Bobby brings up another suggestion: the disco, leading to one of the funniest and grooviest scenes in the film.

After a rather comical shopping scene – the salesman below being one of my favorite characters in the movie, Donny is dressed to kill, and heads on to the disco.

He meets up with Bobby and a few women, who seem pleasant enough. Things are going relatively well, in fact, until Farrah, one of the girls, tries to force Donny onto the dance floor, holding his arms over a candle. This brings back some memories, and he lashes out, throwing the candle into her face, setting her hair on fire.

Farrah’s brother doesn’t take kindly to this, so when Donny’s running out to his vehicle, he attempts to jump him, and gets a few good kicks in, but is then thrown off, and Donny gets into his truck and drives away.

Bobby goes to Father Gerritty to get him to help calm Donny down, as Bobby is deeply worried for him (still, after all of the trouble he’s caused). At the same time, Donny finds two drunken chicks, and promises them they can party at his home. Will Bobby and Gerritty get to Donny’s before he can incinerate the two women? *Cue suspenseful music*

Here are a few pictures near the ending of the film I rather enjoyed.

Don’t Go in the House has been compared to many films – a cheap version of Maniac (which came out a year later), a rip-off of sorts of Psycho, an English version of Mil gritos tiene la noche (or Pieces, from 1982). I feel it’s a grindhouse classic. No doubt, it is sluggish at points, and only one kill is seen on screen in the first hour. That said, that one kill looks great, and many commenters claim that to be some of the most violent imagery they have seen in a movie.

It is similar to Maniac - the film follows the empty life of a killer. The difference is, there is actually dialogue in this film throughout the movie, unlike Maniac, in which the main character rarely spoke to another person until the last 30 minutes of the film.

Now, I watched this film via this film collection. The copy I watched is uncut and of very high quality. It has decent extras (including commentary), and I feel it's well-worth buying. Also, two other films are in that pack, those being Tenement (1985) and Cop Killers (1973). While Cop Killers is not horror, Tenement is, and more so, it's pretty obscure, especially compared to Don't Go in the House. I plan to review Tenement at a later date, because I get such a kick watching that film.

I watched this twice - once without commentary, and once with commentary. The commentary is a little lacking in this aspect: there's only one person on the commentary. Granted, it's Dan Grimaldi, the actor portraying Donny, but even so, it would have been nice to have Robert Osth (Bobby) and perhaps one of the women, Johanna Brushay (the first victim - in fact, this is her only film) or Nikki Collins (Farrah) also. Hell, even just Grimaldi and Osth would be great - according to the commentary, they're still in contact to this day.

Don't get me wrong - I thought the commentary as it is was a pleasant addition. Grimaldi, who went on to do bigger and better things, mainly The Sopranos, looked back on this film with a boyish admiration. His experiences acting, while often trying, helped him become a better actor (though he didn't do too much more throughout the 1980's). 

All-in-all, it's a good film. Not great, but with a little more tweaking, it could have been. Nonetheless, it's a must-see in my eyes, for fans of 1970's and 1980's horror. Do yourself a favor and watch this one.

My rating: 7.5/10

IMDb page

Don't Go in the House MotW Thread

- Michael