{"id":4096,"date":"2007-09-02T14:06:37","date_gmt":"2007-09-02T21:06:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=4096"},"modified":"2021-01-02T11:36:47","modified_gmt":"2021-01-02T18:36:47","slug":"fiend-without-a-face-1958","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=4096","title":{"rendered":"Fiend Without a Face (1958)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;The brain &#8212; it&#8217;s gone! Sucked out like an egg through those two holes!&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/09\/Fiend-Without-a-Face-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/09\/Fiend-Without-a-Face-Poster-196x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"196\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-47542\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/09\/Fiend-Without-a-Face-Poster-196x300.jpg 196w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/09\/Fiend-Without-a-Face-Poster-84x128.jpg 84w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/09\/Fiend-Without-a-Face-Poster.jpg 580w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 196px) 100vw, 196px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nWhen residents near a Canadian military base blame its nuclear power plant as the cause of several recent murders, Major Jeff Cummings (Marshall Thompson) begins to investigate. Soon he suspects that a local professor (Kynaston Reeves) may know more than he&#8217;s letting on, and enlists the help of the professor&#8217;s pretty young assistant (Kim Parker) in learning more.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Atomic Energy<\/li>\n<li>Mad Doctors and Scientists<\/li>\n<li>Mutant Monsters<\/li>\n<li>Science Fiction<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nI&#8217;ll gladly join the chorus of critics (see links below) who wonder what Criterion was thinking in selecting this rather average B-level sci fi flick for DVD restoration: while it&#8217;s not awful, it never comes close to the quality of artistic accomplishment Criterion is generally known for marketing. <em>Fiend Without a Face<\/em> is essentially yet another iteration on the timely yet overused theme of nuclear paranoia &#8212; an iteration which unfortunately suffers from a host of issues, including merely serviceable or sub-par acting by most involved; a cliched romantic subplot; an overly didactic explanation (via flashbacks) of how the &#8220;fiends without faces&#8221; came into being; a corrupt scientific premise; and rather iffy stop-motion animation (at one point, a brain explodes, but it takes a split-second for the innards to start gushing out &#8212; enough to notice the delay). While it may be of interest to &#8217;50s sci fi fans and\/or fans of mutant monster flicks, <em>Fiend <\/em>is certainly not must-see viewing for most film fanatics.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Kynaston Reeves as Professor Walgate<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/09\/Fiend-Without-a-Face-Doctor.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/09\/Fiend-Without-a-Face-Doctor.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"853\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-61281\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/09\/Fiend-Without-a-Face-Doctor.jpg 853w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/09\/Fiend-Without-a-Face-Doctor-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/09\/Fiend-Without-a-Face-Doctor-128x72.jpg 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/09\/Fiend-Without-a-Face-Doctor-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/09\/Fiend-Without-a-Face-Doctor-480x270.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 853px) 100vw, 853px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Some gruesome special effects near the end of the film<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/09\/Fiend-Without-a-Face-Gruesome.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/09\/Fiend-Without-a-Face-Gruesome.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"853\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-61280\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/09\/Fiend-Without-a-Face-Gruesome.jpg 853w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/09\/Fiend-Without-a-Face-Gruesome-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/09\/Fiend-Without-a-Face-Gruesome-128x72.jpg 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/09\/Fiend-Without-a-Face-Gruesome-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/09\/Fiend-Without-a-Face-Gruesome-480x270.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 853px) 100vw, 853px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nNo. While inexplicably chosen for DVD restoration by Criterion, this only-slightly-above-average B-flick isn&#8217;t must-see viewing. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/imdb.com\/title\/tt0050393\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.badmovies.org\/movies\/fiendface\/index.html\">BadMovies.org Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.dvdtalk.com\/dvdsavant\/s177fiend.html\">DVD Savant Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.britishhorrorfilms.co.uk\/fiendwithoutaface.shtml\">British Horror Films Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;The brain &#8212; it&#8217;s gone! Sucked out like an egg through those two holes!&#8221; Synopsis: When residents near a Canadian military base blame its nuclear power plant as the cause of several recent murders, Major Jeff Cummings (Marshall Thompson) begins to investigate. Soon he suspects that a local professor (Kynaston Reeves) may know more than he&#8217;s letting on, and enlists the help of the professor&#8217;s pretty young assistant (Kim Parker) in learning more. Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors: Atomic Energy&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=4096\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4096","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4096","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4096"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4096\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":61282,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4096\/revisions\/61282"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4096"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4096"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4096"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}