Comwayon
A Disappointing Continuation
Merolliv
I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.
Billy Ollie
Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable
O2D
This movie had a lot of potential but the dialogue and long periods of silence we're equally boring and I found myself not paying attention, often singing Eyes Without A Face in my head. Then the old guy starts explaining everything and I snapped and had to fast forward. Other than that it's a typical old b-movie, scientist action heroes and a female lead that had no reason to be there.
sol-
As dead bodies missing brains and spinal cords begin to mount, the staff at a nearby nuclear power plant try to prove that radiation poisoning is not to blame while a scientist questions if telekinesis is responsible in this low budget horror film. There are several eerie moments early on as the titular fiend remains invisible while choking its victims and the filmmakers make good use of the shadowy interiors of their indoor sets. The film is most famous though for its climax in which the monsters become visible, which ultimately proves a mixed blessing. The stop motion effects are very innovative and even quite creepy, however, the monsters also look incredibly plastic (rather than organic) in close-up and several of their attacks are inane. The best asset of the film is probably its telekinesis pseudoscience with a fascinating scene in which a scientist gradually manages to move a book page with his mind, however, this all gets a little lost amidst the film's 1950s Cold War paranoia slant with fear of thought control and the unknown possibilities of nuclear energy. There is also some terribly silly comic relief (walking in on a woman coming out of the shower) and all of the characters are barely fleshed out beyond stereotype, but as far as B-feature monster movies go, this is certainly one of the more imaginative and atmospheric entries out there.
gavin6942
Invisible atomic monsters attack a U.S. Armed Forces base and the local residents.The screenplay by Herbert J. Leder was based upon Amelia Reynolds Long's 1930 short story "The Thought Monster", originally published in the March 1930 issue of Weird Tales magazine. Forrest J. Ackerman represented Long and brokered the sale of her story to the film's producers. Having not read the original story, I wonder what changes were made. Presumably a 1930 story would not have atomic power be such a central focus as its 1958 variation.The stop-motion, while somewhat cheesy, is quite effective at bringing the creature to life. It also happens to make the film quite memorable, because it is likely the only film of its kind using such effects. This creature is not one of Ray Harryhausen's lumbering beasts!
Theo Robertson
This has a very impressive opening hook that I can remember from childhood . A sentry stands guard at an American air force base in Canada where he hears strange noises followed by a man's screams . He leaves his post to go running in to the woods and finds a man's body and the expression on the body's face says that he's died a terrible and unnatural death From the outset FIEND WITHOUT A FACE bludgeons the audience in to letting it know that the setting for this film is Canada . There's absolutely no geographical reason for this because being a British film it could easily be set in an American air force base in the UK but since all the locals are either very dumb or very cowardly that would be unpatriotic . In many ways this film is similar to the later British film FIRST MAN INTO SPACE which also starred Marshall Thompson and disguised itself as an American movie . The major difference is that FIEND is enjoyable nonsense whilst FIRST MAN is banal nonsense The narrative itself is very silly and much of the premise is ripped off from the classic FORBIDDEN PLANET . Like so many films from the era radiation gets blamed for everything . But where as films like THEM has an internal logic as to giant ants stalking the countryside here it fails to make any sense . The fiends themselves are brought to life via telekinses and radiation from a nearby nuclear power plant but surely the fiends would need access to the radiation ? Unless there's been a leak at the power plant ala Chernobyl how on earth can they get radiation ? Clumsy thinking on the part of the screenwriter What stops this ruining the film is the director Arthur Crabtree . He's a director who started off as a cinematographer and the way the movie is lit is very impressive . Notice the right amount of lighting and shadow in key scenes . There is some obvious day for night filming but this isn't enough to ruin the audiences enjoyment and the scene where the two hunters split up only to go missing is very effective . Despite ripping off an aspect of FORBIDDEN PLANET the attacks by the invisible fiends do have a genuine impact to them . When they are finally revealed you might them somewhat laughable and obviously created via stop frame animation but you'd need a heart of stone not to be caught up in all the fun And FIEND WITHOUT A FACE is a lot of fun . Okay no one is claiming it's a great movie but as far as science fiction B movies go this is a film I enjoyed very much watching one Friday night many years ago . It's also one of these movies Hollywood is rumoured to be remaking every few years but to be honest it's fine as it is
