CURSE OF THE FACELESS MAN (1956)

CURSE OF THE FACELESS MAN (1956)

Tagline: Entombed for eons - turned to stone - seeking women, women, women!

(Sci-Fi, Adventure, Tina Is Not Crazy]) [G]

Note: This movie was not given an MPAA rating, but it definitely would have been a [G]. Theatrically it was released as part of a double feature with IT! THE TERROR FROM BEYOND SPACE. 

Why don’t we get married tomorrow, go back to New York and forget this whole thing?

In this one, excavators find a stone-encrusted body in Pompeii. After Tina Enright starts having dreams about the body coming to life, the creepy remnants from the past become the prime suspect in a series of skull-crushing murders. Can Maria, Dr. Fiorillo, and Dr. Paul Mallon stop the curse of the faceless man?

First off, this movie has some wonderful narration from sci-fi icon Morris Ankrum. Normally unnecessary narration bugs the crap out of me, but it really works in this movie. The stone-encrusted monster suit used in the movie is simplistic but effective. I think the fact that this is in black and white really helps thing one out. 

Acting wise this is a pretty strong outing for Elaine Edwards who plays Tina Enright. There is really only one scene where I think she kind of dropped the ball, but I blame the director here. She is best known for 1959’s creepy horror thriller THE BAT. I also liked Richard Anderson in this as Dr. Paul Mallon. He is most famous for FORBIDDEN PLANET, but he stands out as one of the better parts of this flick. This is also a pretty good effort from Adele Mara who plays Maria Fiorillo. She was in over 98 productions and had an acting career that spanned from 1941 to 1978. I also thought that Luis Van Rooten as Dr. Carlo Fiorillo and Jan Arvan as Police Insp. Renaldi added some depth to the cast. 

The only real glaring issue I have with this movie is that it doesn’t seem likely that the ancient lover of the faceless man would just happen to be involved with Tina who also just happened to be in Pompeii when the excavation was going on. We also kind of have this same convenient coincidence in THE MUMMY RETURNS which kind of makes me wonder if that is where that movie got the idea to have Evelyn connected to Imhotep and Meela. Having said that, if you take that element out, we don’t really have as deep a backstory. 

What works in this movie is that they did a good job of mixing sci-fi with ideas of Egyptian paranormal elements. I thought it was pretty cool that Tina’s dreams kind of gave a “right now” tie to the faceless man. The score is pretty good, so I really thought unlike in a lot of other films from the era, it helped rather than hurt. I also liked the idea behind the “Cove of the Blind Fisherman”. That part of the storyline might have been better if Tina wasn’t involved, but it does at least give the faceless man more purpose than just mindlessly smashing skulls. I also thought the ending was more interesting than good or bad. It made at least some sense with the rest of the story. 

Overall I thought this was a good one. I would definitely watch it again. CURSE OF THE FACELESS MAN is a 5 out of 7, my only issue with the movie wasn’t enough for me to knock the movie down any more than that. 

GRAPHICS ARE THE PROPERTY OF VOGUE PICTURES AND ARE USED FOR REVIEW PURPOSES ONLY. 

Please check out the link below by clicking on the picture. Because no one should die buttonless.