robertguttman
In 1957 Hollywood produced "The Brain from Planet Arous" so, in 1958, the British replied with several brains from Manitoba.A number of mysterious murders have occurred in a small town in Manitoba which, naturally, the locals blame on a nearby U.S. Air Force Base. Why an American Air Force base should happen to be in Canada in the first place, when Canada has an Air Force of it's own, is not explained. But then this is a British production, and perhaps the British were unaware of that fact. In addition, since this is a British production, the Canadians are depicted as a bunch of ignorant, superstitious yokels who scarcely have a brain between them. Well, actually they do. The problem is that they are unaware of that fact because the Townies cannot see them, because the brains are invisible. Those invisible brains, which have been committing all the mayhem, are the creation of a mad scientist (English, naturally), who also has settled down in the remote Canadian community in order to pursue his irresponsible scientific experiments unhindered. Without a Face is classic 1950s sci-fi horror at it's best (or worst, depending upon your point of view). Either way, check your brains at the door, and enjoy.
Adam Peters
(28%) While it does have something to offer in its final quarter, this is too dry and badly paced to be anything other than a 1950's B-movie sci-fi fan's favourite. The cast are quite capable, but they play every scene so damn seriously that they almost deserve a medal for keeping a straight face during some of the more clunky writing and quite stupid monster attacks. The monsters themselves are for a good portion of the movie totally invisible, but when they actually do show up in visible form the movie finally becomes something to enjoy as essentially human brains with spines attached start attacking the main characters making this almost worth watching. Anyone with any interest in bad old movies (Robot monster, Manos, etc) should give this a look, even if it is actually a lot better made than the lower end and therefore less fun.
Robert J. Maxwell
This particular monster, who sucks out brains and spinal cords through two little holes in the back of your skull, resembles the first appearance of the monster from the id in "Forbidden Planet", in that it's invisible and leaves footprints, or slime prints. It's clumsy too. It knocks over pails of milk, pokes holes in wondows, and promotes entropy generally. And it makes a noise too, like some sort of ravenous bum gobbling down a big bowl of cioppino.He eats the brains and spines of a couple of peaceful Canadians in Manitoba, near an American Air Force Base that is experimenting with a new kind of nuclear-powered radar. The villagers ignorantly blame the deaths on the Air Force. To be honest, the Americans are pretty cavalier about their damned nuclear reactor. "Remove ten more rods from the reactor." "But, sir, that exceeds the design specifications." "Do it anyway; we've GOT to make this radar work or we'll be in trouble with the Pentagon!" And we watch the needle on the instrument palpitate as it rises past neutral, into high, then overload, and finally nudges "dangerous." It's like one of those submarine movies where they have to take her down below the allowable number of fathoms.The concept borrows heavily from "Forbidden Planet". A professor tries to "materialize" his thoughts and succeeds all too well. When his thoughts, which turn out to be evil, blood-sucking, brains, take over the atomic reactor and turn it up well into "overload" -- well, I'll tell you. It's not a pretty picture.Nor is it any good. It must have had a minuscule budget otherwise everything about it wouldn't be so bad. That includes the sets, the plot, the dialog, and the performances. Okay, with one exception. Kim Parker is the scientist's assistant. Every scientist in these movies must have a toothsome assistant for the hero to win at the end. And she qualifies, despite those traffic-cone brassieres that all the girls wore in the 1950s. She may or may not have any talent. Who can tell? But her voice has a charming, fey, botched quality that makes it easy to listen to. She'll do in a pinch.
ShadeGrenade
Arthur Crabtree's 'Fiend Without A Face' used to play a lot on late night '70's television ( along with 'The Night Caller' and 'The Earth Dies Screaming' ). It scared the hell out of me the first time, and even now manages to elicit the odd shudder.It is set in Canada, where an experiment is underway at an Air Force Base to develop long-range radar with nuclear power. A sentry on guard duty is attacked by an invisible creature which sucks his brain out through two holes in his neck. Similar deaths occur in the village. Major Jeff Cummings ( Marshall Thompson, later to star in Ivan Tors' hit television show 'Daktari' ) investigates, and the trail leads to one Professor Walgate ( Kynaston Reeves ) who has been experimenting with thought power. He has inadvertently unleashed the 'fiends' - invisible for most of the film ( hence the title ) but when we get to see them they are truly horrible, resembling nothing less than human brains with waggling antennae and which propel themselves along the ground like caterpillars. The creatures were realised with stop motion animation, and are impressive for their time. What really makes them scary though is the ghastly sound effect which accompanies their attacks - a slurping combined with what sounds like a man with a wooden leg clumping upstairs. Once heard it cannot be forgotten.The climax has the main characters barricaded in a room while the fiends endeavour to break in by coming down the chimney and the window and so on. The film was shot in the U.K. hence the presence of British actors such as Reeves and Michaerl Balfour. The story has its absurd side, of course, such as Barbara ( Kim Parker ) embracing Jeff at the end, seemingly forgetting her father has just died.A nice little British sci-fi B-movie then. Joe Dante must have been a fan as his 'Looney Tunes Back In Action' ( 1998 ) features a cameo from the fiends!
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