Strange things are happening around a US Air Force base in a remote corner of Canada. Milk yields from the local farmer's cattle are down while the USAF's experimental nuclear powered radar system keeps suffering from unexplained power outs. Then a spate of mysterious deaths occur.
The Canadians suspect that radiation from the US base is to blame and that one of the base troops has gone AWOL, whilst the air force men worry that a Soviet spy is in their midst.
Eventually the truth comes out, causing both groups to settle their differences and unite against a common enemy in the shape of the brain-sucking id creatures inadvertantly created by a professor's dabblings with nuclear-assisted telekenesis.
The best part of this 1950s British sci-fi is undoubtedly the finale when we finally get to see the monsters, leaping brain/spinal cord combos brought to life in jerky stop motion.
The rest of the piece is pretty much Mystery Science Theatre 3000 material, replete with clichéd characters – Marshall Thompson's square-jawed no-nonsense hero, Kim Parker's screaming female love interest, Kynaston Reeves's scientist who dabbled where he should not have, etc – risible dialogue; anti-red and/or nuclear messages, and an excess of stock footage shots of US military hardware.
Fans of cold war sci-fi will find the international nature of the piece – British film-makers doing a Canadian-set film for the US market – makes for some interesting comparisons with, say, Invasion of the Bodysnatchers and The Quatermass Xperiment , while horror buffs may note the echoes of Night of the Living Dead and Evil Dead – to name but two – in the final scenes.
One doubts whether Fiend Without a Face could really be labelled a good film, but it could certainly be an enjoyable one in the right circumstances.
These are not, however, those of this Region 2/4 PAL DVD released by BBC company Partner Entertainment.
Put simply, this is one of the poorest quality discs I have seen. The picture, cropped from the original 1.66:1 to a 4:3 ratio, frequently looks like it has been sourced from a dodgy VHS tape. What makes this inexcusable is that somewhat better quality source materials are available, as demonstrated by Criterion's Region 1 disc that also boasts some nice extras.
While one doesn't expect the Criterion treatment on a budget disc like this, the attempt to pass off a substandard transfer with a plea that "due to the archival nature of this film the sound and picture quality may vary" and the complete absence of any supplemental materials at all reek of laziness and contempt for the consumer.
More about the Criterion release on (External) DVD Verdict and (External) DVD MG
Copyright © K H Brown 2002-2005
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