Its body resembles a spinal column, flanked either side by a pair of spindly, insectoid legs.
They demand that the case and its prisoner are removed from view.
So away it goes.
Gore spattered up and down walls.
Monstrous bodies collapsed in great puddles of goo.
Its little wonder that some critics were so shocked.
In terms of plot,Fiend Without A Faceis a typical example of atomic era sci-fi.
At the same time, scientist Professor Walgate (Kynaston Reeves), is conducting experiments into telekinesis.
To quote Major Cummings: Its as if some mental vampire were at work!
Their stop-motion sequences of crawling fiends would soon become the most celebrated in the movie.
Ruppel and Nordhoffs effects revel in every gunshot wound and exploding brain.
The bloodletting was such that Gordon had a hard time getting the movie past the censors of the day.
[The gore effects] did cause some problems with the censors, yes, Gordon later admitted.
The controversy didnt harmFiend Without A Faces box-office appeal, then, and the movie was a hit.
If anything,Fiend Without A Facehas aged better than the Karloff movie it supported.
Theyve certainly made their impact on other filmmakers; special effects geniusRick Bakerpraised them in aTrailers From Hellvideo.
The melting, exploding, oozing creatures inGremlinsappear to be influenced by the histrionic deaths inFiend.
