Fiend Without a Face
Encyclopedia
Fiend Without a Face is a 1958 British black-and-white
science fiction film
directed by Arthur Crabtree
. It tells the story of mysterious deaths at the hands of an invisible life-form that steals human brain
s and spinal columns. The film was based upon Amelia Reynolds Long
's 1930 short story entitled "The Thought Monster" that was originally published in Weird Tales
magazine.
airbase in rural Manitoba
, Canada
. Mysterious deaths begin to occur in the small town near the base, and postmortems reveal that the brains and spinal cords of the victims are somehow missing; only marks on each victim's neck are left as a clue. But the locals become convinced that nuclear fallout
from radiation at the base is causing the strange deaths.
Jeff Cummings, an Air Force major
, soon becomes suspicious of Professor Walgate, a British scientist living near the airbase, who has been experimenting with telekinetics; Walgate, it is soon revealed, has succeeded in developing telekinesis. The nuclear power experiments at the nearby base have enhanced it well beyond his intentions, and in the process created a new, malevolent, invisible life form that has developed its own intelligence and escaped his laboratory.
This intelligence soon begins to multiply its numbers by claiming more local victims. These creatures later become visible while continuing to feed on the higher levels of power now being generated at the airbase. Their mutated "bodies" are revealed to be the missing, now enlarged brains and connected spinal cords removed from their victims; the spinal cords have become very flexible and have sprouted feelers. These mutations allow the creatures to move quickly and even to leap; each brain has also developed a pair of small eyes on extended eye stalks.
The film climaxes with the visible creatures attacking an isolated house, where most of the film's main characters have gathered to discuss the growing crisis. Having come armed, the defenders soon discover the creatures can be easily dispatched with well-aimed gun shots to the exposed brains. But it is Major Cummings who saves the day by blowing up the airbase's nuclear power plant machinery, robbing the creatures of their high-energy power source, causing them to die quickly and then dissolve away.
. Its Canadian setting was chosen because it would appeal to both American and British Commonwealth movie audiences, while still being easy to replicate using the English shooting locations. U. S. Air Force stock aviation footage was also used to establish the military base setting and to pad-out the film's meager running time. The producers used primarily expatriate
American and Canadian actors working in the United Kingdom
, plus a few British actors dubbed by Americans.
Screenwriter Herbert J. Leder
was originally set to direct the film, but being American was unable to obtain a British work permit in time, so Arthur Crabtree replaced him as director.
The film's visible brain creatures were created using stop-motion animation, very unusual on such a low budget science fiction
thriller of this era. The director of these effects sequences was Baron Florenz Von Nordoff, while the actual stop-motion animation was done in Munich by German special effects artist K. L. Lupel. Peter Neilson headed-up the British effects' crew.
confirmed to Fangoria
on 22 March 2010 that he would produce a remake of the film in 2011.
Black-and-white
Black-and-white, often abbreviated B/W or B&W, is a term referring to a number of monochrome forms in visual arts.Black-and-white as a description is also something of a misnomer, for in addition to black and white, most of these media included varying shades of gray...
science fiction film
Science fiction film
Science fiction film is a film genre that uses science fiction: speculative, science-based depictions of phenomena that are not necessarily accepted by mainstream science, such as extraterrestrial life forms, alien worlds, extrasensory perception, and time travel, often along with futuristic...
directed by Arthur Crabtree
Arthur Crabtree
Arthur Crabtree was a British cinematographer and film director....
. It tells the story of mysterious deaths at the hands of an invisible life-form that steals human brain
Human brain
The human brain has the same general structure as the brains of other mammals, but is over three times larger than the brain of a typical mammal with an equivalent body size. Estimates for the number of neurons in the human brain range from 80 to 120 billion...
s and spinal columns. The film was based upon Amelia Reynolds Long
Amelia Reynolds Long
Amelia Reynolds Long was an American detective fiction and science fiction writer and novelist. Her story, "The Thought-Monster" was made into the 1958 film Fiend Without a Face. She co wrote the 1936 novel Behind the Evidence with William L. Crawford under the combined pseudonym Peter Reynolds....
's 1930 short story entitled "The Thought Monster" that was originally published in Weird Tales
Weird Tales
Weird Tales is an American fantasy and horror fiction pulp magazine first published in March 1923. It ceased its original run in September 1954, after 279 issues, but has since been revived. The magazine was set up in Chicago by J. C. Henneberger, an ex-journalist with a taste for the macabre....
magazine.
Plot synopsis
The film is set on an AmericanUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
airbase in rural Manitoba
Manitoba
Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. Mysterious deaths begin to occur in the small town near the base, and postmortems reveal that the brains and spinal cords of the victims are somehow missing; only marks on each victim's neck are left as a clue. But the locals become convinced that nuclear fallout
Nuclear fallout
Fallout is the residual radioactive material propelled into the upper atmosphere following a nuclear blast, so called because it "falls out" of the sky after the explosion and shock wave have passed. It commonly refers to the radioactive dust and ash created when a nuclear weapon explodes...
from radiation at the base is causing the strange deaths.
Jeff Cummings, an Air Force major
Major
Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...
, soon becomes suspicious of Professor Walgate, a British scientist living near the airbase, who has been experimenting with telekinetics; Walgate, it is soon revealed, has succeeded in developing telekinesis. The nuclear power experiments at the nearby base have enhanced it well beyond his intentions, and in the process created a new, malevolent, invisible life form that has developed its own intelligence and escaped his laboratory.
This intelligence soon begins to multiply its numbers by claiming more local victims. These creatures later become visible while continuing to feed on the higher levels of power now being generated at the airbase. Their mutated "bodies" are revealed to be the missing, now enlarged brains and connected spinal cords removed from their victims; the spinal cords have become very flexible and have sprouted feelers. These mutations allow the creatures to move quickly and even to leap; each brain has also developed a pair of small eyes on extended eye stalks.
The film climaxes with the visible creatures attacking an isolated house, where most of the film's main characters have gathered to discuss the growing crisis. Having come armed, the defenders soon discover the creatures can be easily dispatched with well-aimed gun shots to the exposed brains. But it is Major Cummings who saves the day by blowing up the airbase's nuclear power plant machinery, robbing the creatures of their high-energy power source, causing them to die quickly and then dissolve away.
Cast
- Marshall ThompsonMarshall ThompsonMarshall Thompson was an American film and television actor.He was born James Marshall Thompson in Peoria, Illinois. In 1943 Thompson, known for his boy-next-door good looks, was signed by Universal Pictures...
as Major Jeff Cummings - Kynaston ReevesKynaston ReevesKynaston Reeves was christened Philip Arthur Reeves, and was an English character actor who appeared in numerous films and many television plays and series.-Career:...
as Professor R. E. Walgate - Michael Balfour as Sergeant Kasper
- Kim Parker as Barbara Griselle
- Terry KilburnTerry KilburnTerry Kilburn is an English-American former child actor. He is sometimes credited as Terence Kilburn or Terrance Kilburn.Kilburn was born in London in 1926...
as Captain Al Chester - Gil Winfield as Captain Warren, M. D.
- Shane Cordell as a nurse
- Stanley Maxted as Colonel G. Butler
- James Dyrenforth as Mayor Hawkins
- Kerrigan Prescott as an atomic engineer
Production
The film was made entirely in EnglandEngland
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. Its Canadian setting was chosen because it would appeal to both American and British Commonwealth movie audiences, while still being easy to replicate using the English shooting locations. U. S. Air Force stock aviation footage was also used to establish the military base setting and to pad-out the film's meager running time. The producers used primarily expatriate
Expatriate
An expatriate is a person temporarily or permanently residing in a country and culture other than that of the person's upbringing...
American and Canadian actors working in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, plus a few British actors dubbed by Americans.
Screenwriter Herbert J. Leder
Herbert J. Leder
Herbert J. Leder was a college professor at Jersey City State College of the Media Ecology Department.His accomplishments were numerous in the world of film and movies. He produced the Captain Video Show, Loretta Young Show, Meet the Press, and wrote scripts for New York TV soap operas...
was originally set to direct the film, but being American was unable to obtain a British work permit in time, so Arthur Crabtree replaced him as director.
The film's visible brain creatures were created using stop-motion animation, very unusual on such a low budget science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
thriller of this era. The director of these effects sequences was Baron Florenz Von Nordoff, while the actual stop-motion animation was done in Munich by German special effects artist K. L. Lupel. Peter Neilson headed-up the British effects' crew.
Remake
Roy FrumkesRoy Frumkes
Roy Frumkes is an independent filmmaker. Frumkes directed the 1985 documentary Document of the Dead, a film detailing the production of Dawn of the Dead.-Biography:The cooperation of George A...
confirmed to Fangoria
Fangoria
Fangoria is an American magazine devoted to horror and exploitation films, which has a number of associated brands:* Fangoria Comics* Fangoria Films* Fangoria RadioFangoria may also refer to:* Fangoria , a Spanish electro pop band...
on 22 March 2010 that he would produce a remake of the film in 2011.