Though it gets going slowly (the "fiends" remain invisible throughout most of the movie, putting in a corporal appearance only toward the end, when gorged on atomic power), it's the stop-motion animation siege at film's end that makes this one so noteworthy. The fiends (referred to as "mental vampires" by their creator) certainly rank as some of the most unique monsters in the annals of fright films. (Ask the folks who "borrowed" the look for the "face-huggers" in the ALIEN films.) FIEND WITHOUT A FACE is also surprisingly graphic for its time: when the fiends are shot, they gush buckets of blood before dissolving into a steaming puddle of... fiend... Marshall Thompson (who'd battled the title It in IT!, THE TERROR FROM BEYOND SPACE) is solid (as ever) as the hero, despite a limp-wristed attempt by the filmmakers at a '50s style "touch and go" romance (she's spoken for, thankfully, so it doesn't go beyond the "in passing" phase- until the very end). It's the aforementioned stop-mo siege that makes this one a must-see.
Review of Fiend Without a Face
