Curse of the Faceless Man (1958)

Excellent but underrated film

Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Richard Anderson stars as Dr. Paul Mallon, who is studying a recently unearthed stone-encrusted man from Pompeii, wearing a bronze medallion with Eutruscan symbols on it. Despite the superstitious fears surrounding it held by the locals, Paul proceeds with his study, when people mysteriously start dying, having been crushed by powerful hands. Could it be the stone man, or is it just a coincidence? Edward L. Cahn once again directs a fondly remembered cult classic(by some) but film is pretty weak really, with a clichéd and predictable plot, and little credibility. Richard Anderson is good though, but to think he went from "Paths Of Glory" to this in just one year!

Curse of the Faceless Man (1958) * 1/2 (out of 4) When the ruins of Pompeli are searched, a stone man is recovered. He's taken to a museum where he apparently attacks a woman, which puts her into a state of shock where it seems she has dreams to where she might have some connection to the man. According to the film, this stone man is caught somewhere between life and death and I'm sure the majority of the viewers are going to know that feeling because there's very little to enjoy here. I say there's very little to enjoy but thankfully the film is bad enough to where you can enjoy bits and pieces of it but this only applies to those who enjoy bad movies and can get some entertainment out of them. There are a lot of questionable things in this film but the biggest one to me is a scene early on where a doctor reads us something about the stone man while the image on screen is just the letter that is being read to us. This entire scene struck me as poorly made because if they're going to show us the letter the entire time then what's the point of having it read to us? Since it is being read to us then why not have the camera on one of the characters to try and get a reaction shot? The dialogue in this film is bad enough to turn anyone to stone as the majority of the running time it has either this doctor or that doctor explaining that everything they're saying is true yet the viewer will be wondering where the proof is. There's no question that this is made like a mummy film but the only exception is that instead of bandages our man is made out of stone. The ending, which I won't ruin, is the exact same as one of the Universal Mummy films from the 40s (I won't give the title just to avoid spoiling the ending). Another major problem is the performances, which range from poor to downright bad. The majority of the lines are bad enough and the poor delivery certainly doesn't help them any. At just 67-minutes the film isn't too long but one just wishes that there was more energy in it. The bad dialogue and bad acting adds a few laughs but there's still no doubt that this is a poorly made film that doesn't have enough life to keep it going.

1950's Black & White, stilted acting exercise from some otherwise good character actors of the period headed up by Richard Anderson, featuring Adele Mara (40's and 50's second lead actress in Westerns, and "Wake of the Red Witch" with John Wayne). Notable also for appearance of character actors Luis Van Rooten as Dr. Fiorello, and Gar Moore as Dr. Ricci. Elaine Edwards (Tina) provides the obligatory "woman screaming" scenes. Supposedly shot in the vicinity of Los Angeles' Griffith Park Observatory, but very few exterior shots verify that fact, and it could have been a back lot production for any well-equipped studio. Plot involves a 2000-year old Gladiator who comes back to life searching for his reincarnated true love in order to be reunited with her in death. Tina (Elaine Edwards) is the candidate. Bob Bryant is the Gladiator, wrapped in bandages and paper mache "stone", ala "The Mummy" films, and in the end is dissolved in sea water. A very "talky" picture - lots of talk, explanation, and very little action.

CURSE OF THE FACELESS MAN (1958) is little more than a low-budget rehash of "The Mummy" story set in Griffith Park Observatory doubling as the Museo di Pompeii and Malibu locations doubling as the Bay of Naples. Though the film clocks in at sixty-three or so minutes FACELESS MAN plods along at a snail's pace. Quintillus Aurelius is an Etruscan buried in the volcanic eruption of Vesuvius who returns to the 1950's to reclaim his lost love (who has superhuman lung power - when this girl screams, she SCREAMS!) Not completely without charm but not a memorable moment in horror film history either. With Richard Anderson (FORBIDDEN PLANET, SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN) and Wolf Barzell (FRANKENSTEIN'S DAUGHTER). This flick is probably best enjoyed by Baby Boomers who were frightened by it as kids.