Listonixio Fresh and Exciting

InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Casey Duggan It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

Logan By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

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.

MrGKB ...from the paranoid Fifties, "Fiend Without a Face" never achieved quite the iconic status of films like "Forbidden Planet," from which it cribs unashamedly, or "Invaders From Mars" or "Invasion of the Bodysnatchers," ditto, but its disembodied stop-motion brain monsters left an indelible impression on countless young viewers, myself included. The vantage point of a half century renders its script bemusing at best, right from an opening scene of an Air Force guard sneaking a smoke while on duty to the climactic attack of scads of carnivorous flying brains whose repeatedly flatulent expirations by bullet serve well to illustrate the silliness of the goings-on. The cast is mostly competent, the contrived romance has the good sense to stay out of the way of things, and the production does fairly well with its slim budget. Like others, I am bemused that Criterion picked this one up, but thankful they did a nice job with it. Notable for its themes of military incompetence, fear of atomic energy, and the hubris of scientists. Recommended.

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

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!