The Horror Chamber of Dr. Faustus Rating: Sorry, this product is not currently available. Cast: Guerin Claude Brasseur Alida Valli

The Horror Chamber of Dr. Faustus Reviews

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A Memorable Foreign Horror Film
I had never seen this film before and thought I would try it solely based on the customer reviews and AMAZON.com recommendations. I was not disappointed. This is a truly striking film. The movie is French with English subtitles which in no way detracts from its enjoyment for English-speaking viewers. The film is about a guilt-ridden plastic surgeon seeking suitable skin grafts for his horribly disfigured daughter. The daughter's disfigurement was due to an automobile accident that was the fault of her surgeon-father. The "doners" for the skin grafts are unsuspecting, attractive young women. I will leave you, the reader, to take it from there. The acting is superb. The photography is crisp black and white and is rather "artful" in a way. I am not the biggest fan of foreign horror films but this one is good and easy to follow. As far as the quality of the video itself, it is excellent. I obtained the new release from Kino Video and I have no complaints. The video was struck from an excellent quality print with only very minor and very infrequent "speckles of age". The videotape is quality superb and well worth the price.

Horror Poetry
When I first saw this film as a young man, those releasing it in the States were obviously trying to cash in on the hard-core horror market so they released it under the unconcionable title "Horror Chamber of Dr. Faustus." This is probably why I laid my $.25 down and walked in to see it. I had a pentient for trashy horror flicks that I don't seem to have entirely outgrown. Anyway...it was obvious even to me that this was a cut above what I was used to seeing. Yes, there were some graphic scenes that would make most peoples' skin crawl, but it was more than that. As I was able to see it again some 40 or so years later I realized why. This movie gets under your skin with haunting imagery and sadness. The story, about a doctor who uses his assistant to kidnap young woumen so he can remove the skin from their faces in order to restore the face of his own daughter, actually started a small sub-genre in horror films. This is by far the best I've seen. The black and white cinematography is beautiful. Few films use light and shadow to the effect they are seen here. And when the daughter is first seen with her featureless, white mask it is one of the creepiest and saddest moments in film. These aren't shallow, evil people we're witnessing here. These are people driven by guilt and dedication, carrying out acts that make sense to them in their circumstances. The mechanics of the plot, particularly those involving the police, are somewhat pedestrian, but there is more than enough here to overcome the minor shortcomings. When the viewer reaches the end of the film, to see the shot of the daughter outside her house on a windswept night, few moments in cinema ever reach the same degree of power, horror and poetry as those caught here.

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