With the release of one of his most famous films, “Les yeux sans visage,” director Georges Franju once again continued to explore the dark side of the human soul, delving into unpleasant actions for some important purpose. It all begins with the natural death of a well-to-do count, who took refuge in the secret room of the castle, because of which the heirs who came for the promised tasty piece were in bureaucratic captivity. Having no body in their hands, they are unable to get a share of the next five years by law, so they decide to open an entertainment show in an ancient family monastery in order to pay impressive bills for housing maintenance. Compounds the situation of a series of misfortunes, reducing the number of guests, thereby narrowing the circle of future owners of shares and raising suspicions of someone's malicious intent.
Having firmly charged the plot spring, the story quickly takes the viewer into circulation, foreshadowing a truly curious detective. The events taking place deftly act in the genre, weaving a number of important characteristic attributes from a spacious stone castle, shrouded in the fatal heritage of past generations, where a group of interested persons is locked up, tacitly opposing each other due to the competition of shareholders. Due to this, the paramount mystery perfectly intrigues the possible path of development, because here it is possible to assume several options with a quite logical presence in the scenario. First, it can be mystical notes of a supernatural thriller about the restless soul of the count, forever remaining a vengeful phantom to his vulture relatives, vegetating from aristocratic laziness that did not deserve rapid enrichment. Fortunately, the Gothic entourage of suburban buildings only contributes to this. Secondly, there is a confused purely rational detective, suggesting a lot of scattered guidelines leading to a mysterious calculated killer. The author flirts with suspicion among the heirs and even the secondary sullen faces of the castle workers, not allowing the spectator brain to rest, all the time, referring to our deductive assumptions, cherished before time to reveal the correct chain of motives, denouncing the villain. But it wasn't. False deceptions are skillfully placed in places, complicating the task up to the very climax. But this is a huge plus for any genre picture, to be able to withstand intrigue, deceiving audience expectations. By the way, what if the count is still alive? . .
However, somewhat disappointing is the fragmented atmosphere of the tape, often turning into a cheerful story about a sweet couple from the character of a young Jean-Louis Trentignan and his quirky beauty friend, who are cute cooing, arguing and reconcile against the background of quite sinister episodes. Such a contrast disharmonizes among themselves, as do the somewhat superficially written out key characters - the alleged killers, reducing themselves to images that are blurred before the viewer in common strokes. However, there is an assumption that this is on purpose, so as not to write out openly positive or negative characters, when none of the “ten black cubs” can be sure of his infallibility or pronounced character, ready to eliminate competitors.
In general, there was quite a fascinating genre movie mystery with a well-kept intrigue and in decent scenery, allowing you to enjoy watching, having amused yourself with the role of a detective breaking his head in the search for an obligatory killer hiding in the shadows.
7 out of 10