Nonureva Really Surprised!

Catangro After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

Bumpy Chip It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Haven Kaycee It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

hwg1957-102-265704 A mysterious killer called The Wolf is responsible for several killings in Paris. A bank clerk who is suspected of robbery and murder tracks down the killer. The plot doesn't really hold together but if you want full-blooded melodrama this has it all; lecherous chevalier, misunderstood hero, mad scientist, lovely heroine and the eponymous malformed face at the window. It looks good with great sets, The Blind Rat tavern being particularly good and appropriate plangent music accompanies the mayhem. Very enjoyable.The lead is played by the unique Tod Slaughter and he outshines the rest of the cast. It depends of course on how you view a Slaughter performance. Some think it is silly and laughable but others (like myself) take great delight in the unparalleled ham of his acting. His characters are unashamedly villainous and his unbridled libido when near a pretty young woman seems startlingly daring for the time. His proper surname really was Slaughter. Considering the roles he played it was a definite case of nominative determinism.

Leofwine_draca Tod Slaughter was well set in his career of playing movie villains by the time this film was produced and his familiarity with the role he plays is easy to see. Plotting, cackling, and eventually going mad are all trademarks of Slaughter's creations throughout his life and the elements are in abundance in his character of the Chevalier here. Standing head and shoulder over the other cast members – who are all admittedly decent themselves – Slaughter steals his scenes and makes the film his own. This time around, he's a French aristocrat – complete with top hat and tails and goatee beard – who falls in love with the daughter of a bank manager.The plot is familiar stuff to anybody who has seen the likes of previous Slaughter fare like MURDER IN THE RED BARN and NEVER TOO LATE TO MEND. However, what makes this film seem different are the plot elements that are more in line with a Universal horror film from the period than the previous British murder-thrillers that the actor starred in. Ingredients of this film include a mystery killer nicknamed 'Le Loup', who may or may not be a sinister werewolf; a hideous, half-human monster that lumbers around like Frankenstein's Creature; and a laboratory in which a scientist is using electricity to bring murder victims back from the dead so that they can identify their killers – complete with the scientific apparatus familiar from many horror films, including Hammer's THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN.Scenes involving the courtship between the young lovers are very predictable and lacking in interest, but the film-makers wisely choose to focus on the horror and mystery aspects of the plot instead. There's some fun action to be had involving the young male lead, who is falsely accused of murder and forced to go on the run from the authorities. The River Seine also puts in an appearance, particularly at the climax that is as rousing and entertaining as you would hope. THE FACE AT THE WINDOW may be familiar fare for melodrama fans, but it pushes all the right buttons and the change of scenery from rural England to 19th-century Paris is an interesting one. Recommended.

Red-Barracuda Tod Slaughter has to be one of the most reliably entertaining screen actors of the 30's. I've seen most of this guys films and he never disappoints. There's no doubt that his acting style is hammier than a hammy thing but there's nothing wrong with that surely? It takes considerable charisma and skill to overact as compellingly as Slaughter. This film follows a very similar narrative path to many of his other vehicles, i.e. Slaughter plays a rich pillar of the community who lives a double-life as an evil criminal, he lusts after a woman half his age who is not interested in him, so he sets about framing her fiancé with a crime he did not commit leaving the poor girl easy prey for him. Almost all his movies could be described thus. But it doesn't really seem to matter very much as Slaughter is always terrific as the leering cad and is easily the best thing about the films he stars in.Slaughter's films were all Victorian melodramas first and foremost but this one definitely moves into more definite horror and even science fiction territory. The monster who is the face of the title is an effective looking baddie although he doesn't really get to do much and his presence in the movie doesn't make an awful lot of sense. But not to worry because, as I mentioned earlier, this is Slaughter's film and he delivers the goods as usual.

Michael_Elliott Face at the Window, The (1939) ** 1/2 (out of 4) A deranged killer known as "The Wolf" strikes terror into 1880's Paris. Is it the poor banker out to get money or the rich playboy (Tod Slaughter)? This is the best film from Slaughter that I've seen but his hammy performance, while getting laughs, makes it a bit hard to take the film too serious. The Wolf is a pretty good character and certainly a step up from Werewolf of London but the ending is wildly out of control. An interesting film nonetheless. The look and howl of the "wolf" here is a lot more effective than Universal's Werewolf of London.