--- product_id: 28666798 title: "Eyes Without a Face (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]" brand: "pierre brasseuralida valligeorges franju" price: "£35.30" currency: GBP in_stock: true reviews_count: 8 url: https://www.desertcart.co.uk/products/28666798-eyes-without-a-face-the-criterion-collection-blu-ray store_origin: GB region: United Kingdom --- # Eyes Without a Face (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray] **Brand:** pierre brasseuralida valligeorges franju **Price:** £35.30 **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** Eyes Without a Face (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray] by pierre brasseuralida valligeorges franju - **How much does it cost?** £35.30 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.co.uk](https://www.desertcart.co.uk/products/28666798-eyes-without-a-face-the-criterion-collection-blu-ray) ## Best For - pierre brasseuralida valligeorges franju enthusiasts ## Why This Product - Trusted pierre brasseuralida valligeorges franju brand quality - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description Eyes Without a Face (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray] ## Images ![Eyes Without a Face (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray] - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71LsJGUUHdL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Psycho's contemporary balances fairytale and horror story *by D***A on Reviewed in the United States on May 3, 2014* Yes, the Billy Idol song was named after this film. Oddly, neither White Wedding nor Rebel Yell seem to have been used as the titles for feature films, even the lazy, cheap, straight to video kind. So we don't need to be distracted by that any more.A woman driving the first of several Citroens dumps a body into a river at night. Surgeon Dr Genessier gives a lecture about heterograft transplants, to an audience of non-specialists who seem absorbed by his account of how heavy irradiation can prevent transplant rejection. The tone is somewhere between the lecture delivered by Gene Wilder at the start of Young Frankenstein, and the exposition from the transplant team at the Keloid Clinic at the start of Cronenberg's Rabid. Genessier is called by the police to identify a body, which he declares is that of his daughter Christiane, even though the father of another missing girl arrives ready to claim his own daughter. In fact, Christiane lives in her father's chateau, her face horribly disfigured after a car accident, and Dr Genessier is kidnapping young women to steal their faces to replace Christiane's.EWAF aims to give equal weight to its fairytale and horror aspects, and largely succeeds. Edith Scob plays Christiane beneath a mannequin's mask, with perfect nose and delicately parted lips, through which only her incredibly widely-set eyes can be seen. She is dressed like a 19th century porcelain doll. The effect is to create a tentative alien or curious ghost, tiptoeing down corridors, until her actions take a more decisive turn. She is an imprisoned princess, whose father is trying to turn her into a simulacrum of herself.Dr Genessier's guilt at ruining Christiane's face - he drove the car in which she was injured - is implied, but his stronger motivation seems to be pursuit of his technique, or his art. He keeps a pack of stray dogs caged in his operating suite-cum-dungeon, to use for surgical experiments. Louise (Alida Valli), who procures his girls and disposes of their bodies, is bound to him because he repaired her face, the scar concealed beneath the pearl choker she always wears.Director Franju doesn't spare the bloodletting, in ways that seem shockingly frank for 1960. The centrepiece of the film shows him removing a woman's face to give to Christiane, and the black and white image is all that distinguishes this from the prurient gore of something like Nip/Tuck. Nothing is simply suggested, and the scene ends only when the entire face is lifted off, leaving a bloodied wound below. Later stabbings and the aftermath of other attacks are also depicted with careful attention. The DVD contains Franju's 1949 documentary Blood of the Beasts, which juxtaposes children playing and lovers smooching with scenes at an abattoir in which a horse is killed, bled (the blood literally steams - it's not just a literary convention) and flayed, so it's not as if he was some jobbing director who happened to take on a project that involved bloodletting and skinning: he was clearly deeply into this stuff.The other plot elements are perfunctory. The police have a particularly French world-weariness, but are ineffectual, and Christiane's fiancé is thinly sketched, so his grief at her reported death doesn't register. The failed police investigation into the missing girls proceeds dully for what feels like the last third of the film. Most reviews of the film plead the half-century statute of limitations in revealing exactly what happens at the climax, which robbed it of its power for me; I can't tell how impressive the much-discussed final images truly are.I can't resist film taxonomy, so where does this fit? The other two horror films famously released in 1960, Psycho and Peeping Tom, attracted dismay at their gruesomeness (implied, in both) and purported amorality, but they were kids' stuff compared with this in terms of gore, so I can only presume that English-language critics didn't see it. The fairytale elements follow the work of Jean Cocteau (who apparently praised EWAF), in Beauty and the Beast (OK, I fell asleep watching it, but it seemed pretty good, and you have to admit those arms protruding from walls and holding torches inspired a ton of music videos) and Orphee (stayed awake, it rocks). The rain slick streets, bare trees, smartly dressed extras and Citroens (2CV and DS 19) follow from '50s French crime films, and anticipate early Godard. The series of photos depicting the failure of a transplant, with Christiane's face becoming progressively more scarred, like the victim of radiation burns, recalled the Woman Behind the Radiator in Eraserhead. I've mentioned the kinship with Rabid, and arguably also Dead Ringers. There was an Argento vibe, confirmed when I read that he cast Valli in Suspiria. And Franju used Lang's cinematographer, which contributed to the arresting, classical quality of the images. It's beautiful to look at, and approaches greatness. It's also the kind of film that works better in hindsight than on the screen, and might be most satisfying for a compiler of lineage and gatherer of footnotes like myself. In the time it takes to read this, you could have watched most of it. I'll just be here looking under stones and peering into darkened corners if you need me. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Poetic French Thriller Is An Unique Masterpiece *by A***Y on Reviewed in the United States on October 9, 2021* Chilling, French classic is not the trashy, gory horror B-movie it easily could have been, but instead aspired to a surprisingly touching and artistic cinematic work. A creepy, but sad story of respected but mad surgeon's attempting to restore his daughter's face after her auto wreck, with his morbid obsession leading him to work on experimental facial transplants...but how to get the donors? Shocking for it's time, infamous for gruesome scenes of surgery, memorable role of Edith Scob in an iconic mask, symbolic use of animals, a poetic ending, and it's unique stylish tone- often referred to as dreamy, lyrical, or compared to a fairy tale. Macabre but rather beautiful. Compare with Jean Cocteau's films Beauty And The Beast or Orpheus, or even the highly stylish Italian classic Suspiria. Criterion Collection's Blu Ray looks fine and showcases the expressionist photography. Extras include documentaries and interviews, one of which is an extremely graphic (thus extremely disturbing) but remarkably fascinating documentary on a famous Parisian slaughterhouse/abattoir- quite gross. Highly recommended to fans of cult classics and dark fairy tales. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Eyes Without a Face *by I***W on Reviewed in the United States on February 1, 2013* A brilliant surgeon attempts to restore his daughter to her former beauty after a terrible car crash leaves her permanently disfigured. Using an experimental skin grafting procedure, Doctor Génessier comes closer and closer to achieving this goal, but modern medicine would never approve of his methods... Georges Franju's French classic ushers in a new era of surgical horror that would bleed in to the B-movie cinema of the 1960's and 70's in films like DR. BLOOD's COFFIN or Jess Franco's THE AWFUL DR. ORLOF. Where these later entries would exploit the theme for all of its gory potential, Franju focuses on the pathos of a character-driven drama that is riddled with grief, remorse, obsession, and despair. Questions of morality and ethics constantly plague the characters as the lines of right and wrong are blurred. We can never be certain whether Doctor Génessier continues his efforts out of the love and guilt that he feels for his daughter, or if it is the obsession with his own success that secretly drives him. We also find that the cost of vanity is eally quite deep, not just for the doctor and his daughter Christiane, but also for his victims. Many of these characters would choose death over disfigurement, devaluing a life lived without beauty. The elegant cinematography disarms the audience when it comes time to perform the surgeries, since the scenes are shot with such clinical precision and convincing special effects as to completely uphold the suspension of disbelief in a thrilling display of the Grand Guignol. Pierre Brasseur provides a flawless performance as Doctor Génessier, however it is Edith Scob who we truly identify with as Christiane. Scob's expressive performance speaks through the thick rubber mask which hides her facial features. EYES WITHOUT A FACE is not only significant for defining a whole new sub-genre in Horror, but it is also an all-around great film, and a timeless classic of world cinema.-Carl ManesI Like Horror Movies --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.co.uk/products/28666798-eyes-without-a-face-the-criterion-collection-blu-ray](https://www.desertcart.co.uk/products/28666798-eyes-without-a-face-the-criterion-collection-blu-ray) --- *Product available on Desertcart United Kingdom* *Store origin: GB* *Last updated: 2026-05-28*