Plot
A spate of unexplained deaths begin to
occur near a nuclear-powered American air base in England. As the locals
continue to
blame the Air Force for the deaths, it turns out that the victims have
been killed by some invisible creatures
that are a by-product of a thought-control experiment conducted by a retired
professor.
Review
Fiend Without a Face might
look a little cheesy on the outside nowadays but this classic dose of
science fiction horror from the 50s is one of the best of it's genre. I can
honestly remember this freaking me out as a kid. As an adult, the film is
obviously less intimidating but is more curious for other reasons. It has your typical 50s sci-fi plot: a small
town suddenly has a spate of mysterious deaths, no one has a clue what is
causing them and then there is a big reveal midway through and everyone
finds out that it's some form of horrible monster that is killing everyone
off. The only real difference between this and say The Deadly Mantis
or Them! is the monster and thankfully this is where Fiend Without
a Face punches above it's weight. It would be a travesty to consider
this in the same league as such 50s classics as Invasion of the Body
Snatchers or The Thing From Another World. But in the runners up
category, this must surely be leading the charge.
The first half of Fiend Without a Face is
rather dull and you'll wonder why there's so much love for it. The acting is stodgy, the dialogue is stilted
and the budget is rather limited. Production values are ok but the film
doesn't really give off any lofty ambitions or visions of grandeur. It seems
quite happy plodding along and doing it's own rigid thing. Thankfully with
it only being seventy four minutes long, the first half of the film is
literally half an hour. There is a wonderful sense of imagination
running through the film, most notably surrounding all of the experiments
and scientific mumbo-jumbo. The nature of the monsters is plausible given
everything that the film throws your way. Even their final appearance has
been brilliantly conceived to make proper use of the scientific themes
discussed earlier in the film. But for the first half of the film, you'll
have to be satisfied with invisible monsters. This means when they do attack
and kill people, you'll have to put up with ridiculously over-the-top scenes
of the actors clutching at thin air and grabbing aimlessly at their throats
before they drop down dead. Also be prepared for a bit of a romantic sub
plot as the dashing young American airman falls in love with the professor's
assistant. It's the usual forced subplot but it's hardly given much screen
time and won't detract from anything later in the film.
It's only when the monsters show up that
Fiend Without a Face switches from generic 50s sci-fi flick to cult
classic. The
monsters are the stars of the show here and although they look a little bit
dated, they still have the ability to creep you out. They're invisible for a
good portion of the film and heartbeat sound effects are used to signify
their presence. Believe me these noises are scary and effective at building
up tension. When they do show up at the finale, they're stop motion creatures
for the most part and look unique. The idea that they are by-products of the
thought control experiment is mirrored in their brain-like appearance with
spinal cords attached and a pair of antennae-like appendages at the front.
They move around with skilful mastery like caterpillars do thanks to the impeccable
stop motion. Scenes of the monsters
ripping planks of wood from the windows to get into the house will leave you
in disbelief at how impressive the effects are. The
make-up effects when the
monsters are are shot with a bullet are quite gory for that time as they splatter and ooze blood. In fact it was so
detestable at the time that critics said it wasn't fit for civilised eyes!
Granted it looks very tame in today's gore-soaked market but you have to
remember the time in which it was made and it's easy to see how it shocked
so many people. The finale where the survivors board themselves up inside
a
house to prevent the creatures from coming in must surely have inspired some of the ideas in Night of the Living
Dead and is a suitably exciting climax (although the preposterous
notion of blowing up the nuclear power plant to stop the monsters seems to
be something only the 50s would come up with!). The film doesn't quite
finish there and offers the promise of a sequel right at the very end.
Verdict
Old-school British horror and
sci-fi was always a lot slower paced than it's American counterparts and
some may find Fiend Without a Face a tad boring during the first half. But those who stick with it are in
for a real treat featuring some of the most imaginative monsters ever given
screen time. One of the best British sci-fi/horror flicks ever made and
certainly one that deserves more praise that it has received.
