Curse of the Faceless Man (1958) User Reviews

Not without its amusements.

[Hey_Sweden · 6/10 · 30 April 2016]

Indeed, the title character of this patently ridiculous schlock feature does not have a face. Incased in stone, he was a slave named Quintillus Aurelius in the days of ancient Rome, when Mount Vesuvius erupted and caused the destruction of the city of Pompeii. He's discovered in modern times by archaeologists, and goes about crushing the skulls of people unlucky enough to merely be in his way. What he really wants to do is reunite with the long ago noblewoman he loved, who's conveniently been reincarnated as the movies' leading lady, Tina Enright (Elaine Edwards).

There's nothing particularly special here, but undemanding fans of low budget genre fare could find enough to keep them interested. It's cheaply made like so many other movies of its kind, and devotes too much of its time to exposition. There's also some pretty silly but endearing narration, which was spoken by the great and prolific character actor of the period, Morris Ankrum. The characters are entertaining (bravo to Felix Locher as Dr. Emanuel; he really looks like he's having fun reeling off that exposition). Edwards is a hell of a screamer, and both she and Adele Mara are definitely pretty ladies. Luis Van Rooten as Dr. Carlo Fiorillo and Jan Arvan as the requisite police inspector are solid. Richard Anderson is a jut jawed, decent enough hero as Dr. Paul Mallon, but man, oh man, is Paul a stubborn dummy. He remains hard headed and skeptical for too long.

In the end, this is an okay update of Mummy type stories, if not too memorable overall. Writer Jerome Bixby, producer Robert E. Kent, and director Edward L. Cahn truly hit paydirt with a subsequent joint effort, "It! The Terror from Beyond Space", the movie that many people regard as the principal inspiration for "Alien".

Six out of 10.

How do we kill it! What gives it life!

[sol-kay · 5/10 · 12 January 2009]

(There are Spoilers) Found in the ruins of ancient Pompeii is this mummified man with a box of jewelry buried next to him. It's soon discovered by the eminent historian Dr. Emenuel,Felix Locher, of ancient Roman Greek and Egyptian times that the body is that of a Roman slave and gladiator named Quintillus Aurellus, Bob Bryant. Aurellus was killed, along with thousands of fellow Romans, when Mt. Vesuvious blew its top in 79 AD and destroyed the city of Pompeii!

After spending some 2,000 years in limbo the ancient Roman slave/warrior Aurellus came to life, with the help of a modern x-ray machine, looking for his long lost love a daughter of a Roman aristocrat Lucila Lucia. As we'll later find out Lucila has been reincarnated and is now American artist Tina Enright, Elaine Edwards, who's fiancée Dr. Paul Mellon, Richard Anderson, is involved in the archaeological expedition that dug up the long dead and buried Quintillus Aurellus!

The faceless man, Quintillus Aurellus, suddenly comes to life and cause havoc all over the Italian city of Naples, the sister city to ancient Pompeii, in looking for his lost love the now pretty American artist Tina Enright. Tina does have an inkling to just who this stone man, or mummy, is in a number of dreams she has of him. This causes her to paint a portrait of the stone man without actually knowing who he is and what she has to do with him!

The stone, or faceless, man himself is so slow and uncoordinated that it's miracle that he could catch up with, as well as kill, anyone in the movie. Yet he's responsible for at least a dozen attacks that results in some two, a truck driver and museum security guard, deaths!

Finally getting what he wanted, his his long love Tina/Lucla, the stone man ends going up the river, or Mediterranean Sea. This has to do with the stone man miscalculating the time that he's living in: 1958 AD not 79 AD. That cause him to self -destruct by not realizing that his escape plan, with Tina, was the wrong path for him to take! Since the long inactive Mt. Vesuvious is no longer a danger to him and the woman, together with the population of Naples, he's so insanely in love with!

Nothing that out of the ordinary for a 1950's horror movie if that's what "The Curse of the Faceless Man" is supposed to be. What's really good about the movie "the Curse of the Faceless Man" is its opening and closing soundtrack together with the stock footage of exploding volcanoes that are supposed to show Mt. Vesuvious' 79 AD eruption! There's also actor Filex Locher as ancient historian Dr. Emenuel who that same year-1958-will achieve motion picture immortality in him staring as the daffy and overzealous Dr. Carter Morton in that all time bad movie classic "Frankenstein's Daughter".

Pretty silly...though enjoyable.

[planktonrules · 5/10 · 11 July 2019]

"The Curse of the Faceless Man" is a rather inconsequential yet enjoyable horror film from the 1950s. It stars Richard Anderson of "The Six Million Dollar Man" fame.

The story begins with a body and a box of jewels being found in the ruins of Pompeii. This isn't that unusual. But the body itself is silly because it looks exactly like the ones they have on display there...but those are actually plaster casts of the bodies which had long disintegrated. Inexplicably, this is supposed to be an entire person....and looks exactly like one of the casts. However, it holds a secret...it's not quite dead! And, it has a murderous appetite if anyone comes between it and his beloved...much like in the old classic horror film "The Mummy".

So is it any good? Well, I must say that the costume looked really good. As far as the plot and dialog go, they are, of course, quite silly. But many folks (like me) like schlocky old 50s horror pictures...and it's well worth seeing and reasonably entertaining. Far from perfect, and with needless narration, it's worth seeing if you like this sort of nonsense.

I like it, so there!

[reptilicus · 25 May 2003]

Watching CURSE OF THE FACELESS MAN transports me back to the days of "Chiller Theatre" on Saturday nights. The premise of a man saturated with Egyptian embalming fluid and then sealed in volcanic ash and preserved by the radiation from deep within the earth is certainly an unusual one. (Notice how they sneaked "radiation" into the plot once again?) It is also a movie you have to think about. Quintillus "sees" through a sort of ESP and recognises the reincarnation of the woman he loved. Alas Richard Anderson is a little too hard headed as the hero. Even after he sees Quintillus alive he refuses to believe his fiancee could have had a past life as the stone man's beloved. Gar Moore, who had worked with Roberto Rossellini in the late 1940's, does not have much to do apart from spount some scientific jargon and looked concerned. Bravo to Felix Locher as Dr. Emmanuel. Mr. Locher, real life father of actor Jon Hall (Charles Locher) did not begin acting until he was 76. Look for him also in HELL SHIP MUTINY and in his most famous film, FRANKENSTEIN'S DAUGHTER. The Faceless Man is played by Bob Bryant who usually did westerns. The narrator sounds a lot like Morris Ankrum, could someone tell me if it is really him? The "Museo di Napoli" is actually Griffith Observatory and a stretch of beach in Venice, California not Europe, stands in for the Cove of the Blind Fisherman. Okay so it is not full of CGI and the plot is predictable. We watch B-movies to have fun, right? So let's watch it have fun like we did when we were kids.

The Bay of Naples is played by Southern California.

[scsu1975 · 4/10 · 16 November 2022]

Be warned, this film could scare young kids; it certainly horrified me when I was young. Today, it would probably horrify the general public and movie critics alike.

A workman digging in the debris around Naples unearths a small chest with valuable artifacts, all of which can be found on QVC. Just by coincidence, a stone creature is found nearby, an obvious victim of Vesuvius. While the creature is being transported to a laboratory, it suddenly comes alive and kills the truck driver. The truck driver's agent is to be congratulated for getting him removed very quickly from this film. Meanwhile, the scientists, led by Richard Anderson (over a decade before his scientist-stint in "The Six Million Dollar Man") try to make sense of all this. Anderson is joined in this incompetent pursuit by Luis Van Rooten, playing Dr. Fiorillo, and Adele Mara, playing Van Rooten's daughter. Van Rooten's attempt at an Italian accent sounds more like Tim Conway's Mr. Tudball character. He keeps pointing his pipe at everyone. I liked him much better as Ralph Kramden's landlord. Swiss-born Felix Locher joins the fray as another scientist; his accent is beyond description. Locher has the pivotal job of translating an inscription which lets us all know the identity of the stone guy. He is Quintillus Aurelius (no relation to Marcus). Quintillus is Latin for "Five illus." Apparently, Quintillus placed a curse on a family, almost 1900 years before the Corleone's thought of it.

Enter Anderson's fiancée, Tina, played by Elaine Edwards, who looks like Judy Holliday less the annoying voice. She is a painter and has dreams about a stone man (or perhaps it's Rock Hudson). She has dreamt about his discovery, about the truck driver being offed, etc. We also learn that Mara and Anderson had a thing for each other years ago. This has the makings of a romantic triangle; unfortunately, there is no onscreen chemistry between anyone, so the triangle reduces to a line segment, and ultimately, a point.

Anyway, if you're still reading this, Quintillus turns out to have been a slave who was in love with his master's daughter - and since there are only two women in the cast, and one of them is dreaming about him, I'll let you figure this one out.

There are several implausible scenes in this movie, even if you can get beyond a stone man walking around Naples. For instance, Van Rooten devises a clever plan to see if the creature is alive. With Anderson and Mara at his side, he places a brooch near the creature's prone body; naturally, the big guy awakens and goes for the brooch. It is at this point that all three realize they don't know how to stop the creature. Idiots! Can you say "Exit Strategy?" Later, the creature stalks Edwards, who inexplicably is left alone in her apartment, suffering from shock. And you thought your health care plan sucked. The creature breaks down the door of the building. No one hears this. Then he breaks down her apartment door. Edwards hears this, gets up, and puts on her nightgown. Yes, you want to look your best if you're about to be carried off by a monster. Finally, she screams when she catches sight of stone boy. Anderson, Van Rooten, et al, who are standing next to the building, manage to hear the scream, but were oblivious to all the prior crashing noises. Interestingly, everyone in Naples speaks English, even the Polizia.

Quintillus throws a few tantrums, belts some people around, and gives us the obligatory monster-carrying-the-girl scene, as he ultimately tries to take his true love into the sea to save her from Vesuvius. Anderson cleverly deduces that today's date is the same day that Vesuvius erupted ("2000 years earlier"). Well, it's more like 1,879 years. Maybe Anderson decided to round up the nearest millennium. But why nitpick?

Bob Bryant plays the stone Quintillus; at least no one can accuse his performance of being wooden. Horror and Sci-Fi actor Morris Ankrum narrates, and tells us what everyone in the cast is thinking. I didn't need this. The Bay of Naples is played by Southern California.

Man Of Stone.

[AaronCapenBanner · 3/10 · 17 October 2013]

Richard Anderson stars as Dr. Paul Mallon, who is studying a recently unearthed stone-encrusted man from Pompeii, wearing a bronze medallion with Eutruscan symbols on it. Despite the superstitious fears surrounding it held by the locals, Paul proceeds with his study, when people mysteriously start dying, having been crushed by powerful hands. Could it be the stone man, or is it just a coincidence? Edward L. Cahn once again directs a fondly remembered cult classic(by some) but film is pretty weak really, with a clichéd and predictable plot, and little credibility. Richard Anderson is good though, but to think he went from "Paths Of Glory" to this in just one year!

Turn to Stone

[BumpyRide · 5/10 · 16 December 2005]

The name of this movie eluded me but I was fortunate enough (I guess) to have seen it once or twice on "Doctor Shock Theatre" that we picked up out of Philly. Looking at some of the stills online, the walking statue is kinda ominous looking. I wouldn't want to see it following me home. It also looks like a costume the creature wore from the Lost In Space episode, "Wish Upon A Star." I wish I could remember more about the movie but it's been too many years since I last saw it. I remember it was supposed to take place in Italy. Written by Jerome Bixby who wrote many stories for episodic TV including the original Star Trek. If you happen upon this gem by all means add your review here.

Rather engaging and enjoyable adaptation

[kannibalcorpsegrinder · 7/10 · 14 October 2017]

Excavated from an expedition at Pompeii, a professor and his assistant find that the recovered mummy of an ancient guardian believes that she is the princess he loved reincarnated and sets out to reclaim her forcing them to protect her while trying to find a way to stop him.

This here wasn't all that bad of a drive-in feature. One of the films' better features is the fact that there's quite a lot of work here on the build-up to the reveal of the mummy and its condition. The connection to ancient Roman history, setting the whole affair around the eruption of Vesuvius which is carried out rather nicely through the discovery of the mummy, and it's contents from the dig site which leads rather well into the dreams she has about the mummy coming for her which comes off as the vast majority of the first half here. When it gets to the point about him being alive and coming after the medallion, this one gets even more fun as these are where the film really offers its best scenes as the first resurrection in the museum in front of her is quite the impressive offering, while the main attack in her apartment after it chases them out after it's chamber and goes on stalking her throughout the building which is a really fun and exciting sequence which remains a nice highlight. Even the finale is rather nice, from the final abduction out of the museum and the trip through the countryside where they arrive at the beach when the police arrive and engage in the final confrontation with the creature which is a rather nice and unexpected finish that ends this on a rather fun note. Along with the great look and imposing features of the mummy, these here are what make this one fun enough to hold over the flaws. The issue here is the fact that a vast majority of the film has an annoying and utterly irritating voice-over narration that is completely unnecessary as a whole. The voice-over tells us absolutely nothing important about what's going on since it merely describes the action playing out on-screen or shoots off a quick blurb following up on what was just learned which renders the exercise quite comical as well as irritating. Since it's carried on throughout the whole film, oftentimes just for a line or two, it's pointless needling on the story really gets old, and becomes a hindrance due to its continuation while it stayed only for the beginning this wouldn't be an issue. Likewise, the only other problematic issue is the overall cheap and quickie feeling to it as there's just not a whole lot here that denotes too much went into this, from the cheap look and cramped sets to the flimsy look of everything which makes this look incredibly cheap. That does tend to lower this one, although there's still plenty to like overall here.

Today's Rating/PG: Violence.

"Rubble Without a Cause!"

[csdietrich · 3/10 · 28 March 2001]

CURSE OF THE FACELESS MAN (1958) is little more than a low-budget rehash of "The Mummy" story set in Griffith Park Observatory doubling as the Museo di Pompeii and Malibu locations doubling as the Bay of Naples. Though the film clocks in at sixty-three or so minutes FACELESS MAN plods along at a snail's pace. Quintillus Aurelius is an Etruscan buried in the volcanic eruption of Vesuvius who returns to the 1950's to reclaim his lost love (who has superhuman lung power - when this girl screams, she SCREAMS!) Not completely without charm but not a memorable moment in horror film history either. With Richard Anderson (FORBIDDEN PLANET, SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN) and Wolf Barzell (FRANKENSTEIN'S DAUGHTER). This flick is probably best enjoyed by Baby Boomers who were frightened by it as kids.

Cahn!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[ferbs54 · 7/10 · 9 September 2014]

"Curse of the Faceless Man" was hardly the first film to deal with the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in A.D. 79, and the subsequent destruction of the city of Pompeii. Indeed, following English author Edward Bulwer-Lytton's 1834 novel "The Last Days of Pompeii" (itself based on a painting by Russian artist Karl Briullov entitled "The Last Day of Pompeii"), no fewer than six versions of the book appeared on film (in 1900, 1908, 1913, 1926, 1935 and 1950) prior to the "Faceless Man"'s release in August 1958. But unlike those earlier pictures, this one was set in modern-day Pompeii, and dealt with a centuries-old survivor of that ancient cataclysm. The film initially appeared as part of a double feature, paired with the sci-fi cult favorite "It! The Terror From Beyond Space," and although its status and renown are hardly in the same league as its co-billed item, it yet has much to offer to the viewer of today. And thanks to the fine folks at Cheezy Flicks, a nice-looking DVD of the movie just might find the Faceless Man a new legion of admirers.

In the film, the petrified, stone-encrusted body of a victim of the Pompeii disaster is excavated in the Egyptian section of the ruined city. The head of the Naples Museum, Dr. Fiorillo (Luis Van Rooten), calls in American doctor Paul Mallon (Richard Anderson) to examine the body, and for good reason: The truck driver who had been transporting the body had been mysteriously murdered, and his blood is soon discovered to be on the stone man's hands! Even more strange is the fact that Mallon's artist girlfriend, Tina Enright (Elaine Edwards), has been having dreams about the so-called Faceless Man (the disinterred body in truth looks very much like a stone mummy), and is being compelled by some agency to paint his portrait. Before long, it is revealed that the Faceless Man is nothing less than a 2,000-year-old Etruscan slave named Quintillus Aurelius, brought back to life by dint of ground radiation, Egyptian preservation methods and volcanic heat (!), who believes Tina to be the reincarnation of his Roman beloved, Lusilla Helena! And he will do just about anything to get his stony mitts on her....

"Curse of the Faceless Man," though preposterous sounding in synopsis, is actually a well-put-together little film (and I do mean "little"; the entire affair clocks in at a brief 66 minutes) that manages to maintain its dignity, as well as a serious tone. Though the film features a cast of relative unknowns, it is surprisingly well acted by one and all. The picture is a bit on the talky side but is never dull, and the Faceless Man himself is a very pleasing creation; again, like the Mummy, but with a rocklike crust. He is at once both sinister and mysterious, and more than capable of engendering chills. DOP Kenneth Peach has done a marvelous job of shooting this B&W affair; the scenes captured by the ocean (the so-called Cove of the Blind Fisherman) look especially fine, and his use of extreme close-ups is inspired. And director Edward L. Cahn does a terrific job at keeping the mood both eerie and tense, which should really surprise no one; Cahn, in the period 1955 - '59, helmed a remarkable number of these "psychotronic"-type films, including "Creature With the Atom Brain," "The She-Creature," "Zombies of Mora Tau," "Voodoo Woman," "Invasion of the Saucer Men," "It! The Terror..." AND "Invisible Invaders"! His film here provides the viewer with any number of chilling moments. In one, the Faceless Man slowly, creepily comes to life as Tina draws it in her sketchbook. In another, arms stiffly held out, the Faceless Man crashes into Tina's apartment while she sleeps. And in still another, Tina flashes back to her previous life while gazing out at the sea. And then there is that wonderful line of Dr. Fiorillo's: "It is not dead...not as we know death...."

Good as it is, "Curse of the Faceless Man" is hardly a perfect film, dependent as it is on not just coincidence, but on double coincidence. I mean, it's almost too much to believe that American artist Tina should be visiting Naples just at the moment when Quintillus is dug up; the odds of her being there would seem to be incalculable. But then add in the fact that a good part of the film's action transpires on August 24th, the anniversary of the Vesuvius eruption, and you've got a double coincidence of truly mind-boggling proportions. Somehow, though, these two highly unlikely juxtapositions of time and place don't seem to make a difference, and the film remains a modestly entertaining, moody, and professionally made little picture that just might surprise those expecting a campy shlock fest. Despite the name of the outfit putting out the DVD, this is hardly a "cheezy" affair. Like the titular character himself, "Curse of the Faceless Man" would seem ripe and ready for a modern-day excavation....

Missed opportunity

[grnhair2001 · 4/10 · 15 February 2017]

I am predisposed to like 1950s B-movies. And this one had a lot of potential. It was basically the mummy story, set in the shadow of Vesuvius. Standard scientists and pretty girl who screams. There were two major flaws though. One was that the dialogue was full of exposition – "as you know, your specialty is… " And "as you know, you were once engaged to him." This is not only clumsy but easily remedied.

In a strange twist, this movie actually made me scream aloud – but not for the reasons that the filmmakers would have wished. It was the voice-over narration. The film begins with it … All well and good. And then it goes away for 12 or 15 minutes and the next time it came back it surprised me so much I literally screamed. And it was ludicrous: the shot was of the scientist looking concerned for his girlfriend and the narration said something like " he was concerned for his girlfriend." It is as if they didn't trust their own actors, who were actually conveying the emotions quite well.

The ending is very strange too. This could've been a solid seven star film for people like me who like old black-and-white horror and science fiction … But the two flaws were serious.

Love Through the Ages

[masibindi · 10/10 · 16 January 2007]

I guess the age of Camelot is dead. Modern viewers don't seem to appreciate a love story about a petra-fried beau trying to save his gal from Vesuvius. Ah! His love was hotter than the volcano; but, unfortunately, he was combustible. The artist feels drawn to her centuries old beau and murder ensues in this awesome-effect B movie. The film is reminiscent of the mummy genre. The title character is hideous and scary. There is a love triangle that is quite poignant. Performances are acted with affection and the cast is solid. Direction is typical for the 50's (and that's a good thing!) Excuse the pun; but, this film is definitely not a 'potboiler'.

A Twist On The Mummy Kharis

[Rainey-Dawn · 6/10 · 24 May 2016]

Watching this film you will easily be reminded of the Universal classic mummy films on Kharis (which starred Tom Tyler & Lon Chaney as the mummy Kharis). But instead of being a mummy this is a man made of stone that was found at the ancient site of Pompeii. It is very much like the Universal Kharis series.

I like this film - it's not nearly as good as the mummy series but it is a fun horror film like any of the Kharis films. It's just one of those movies you can really turn off your thinking cap and just kick back and enjoy the craziness on screen.

6.5/10

Interesting though flawed reworking of The Mummy

[Stevieboy666 · 5/10 · 12 April 2022]

During an archaeological dig on the site of ancient Pompeii in Italy a box of jewellery is uncovered, quickly followed by what looks like a faceless statue but is in fact the calcified body of a 2,000 year old Roman gladiator. He comes to life and seeks out the reincarnation of his lover. She is an American who happens to be in the area, what are the odds of that happening!!?? Despite his size the police in the Naples area struggle to find the plodding stone man, the plot is rather silly at times. Essentially this movie is The Mummy (1932) but instead of bandages we get stone, and to be fair I found the creature quite good. The movie does have a few suspenseful moments but, like the Faceless Man, it also plods along at times too. Although set in Italy it was filmed in California but the cool European cars did help it look like the Mediterranean. Classic science fiction/horror this most definitely is not but for fans of these genres from this period it is a perfectly watchable 67 minutes.

Brief review

[boris-26 · 19 November 1998]

A citizen of Pompeii, entrapped by lava during the historic volcanic blast has turned into a solid stone mummy. It comes to life, and assumes the film's leading lady is his lost love. The usual fast paced, but cheaply made thrills by prolific genre director Edward Cahn (1899-1963). The usual drive in stuff from that period. The scenes where the stone man menaces the girl (who's one helluva screamer!) are a bit chilling.

Curse of the Forgettable Movie.

[BA_Harrison · 3/10 · 7 June 2023]

A worker at an archaeological dig at Pompeii unearths a jewel box and the calcified body of a man, a victim of the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 A. D.. At the Museo Di Pompeii, Dr. Emanuel (Felix Locher) translates the writing on a medallion found inside the box: it's a curse placed by Etruscan slave Quintillus Aurelius, the faceless man found with the box, who comes back to life to find the reincarnation of the woman he loved and kill anyone who gets in his way.

Curse of the Faceless Man is yet another '50s horror in which a character is hypnotically regressed to a past life (others I have seen recently include The She-Creature, The Undead, I Was A Teenage Werewolf, and The Aztec Mummy). This time around, it's artist Tina Enright (Elaine Edwards) who is regressed, back to Pompeii in 79 A. D. when she was a member of Roman nobility. By an amazing coincidence, Tina is the reincarnation of the woman Quintillus had the hots for back in the day, which means that her fiancé Dr. Paul Mallon (Richard Anderson) has to try and find a way of stopping the stone man from carrying away his gal.

Similar in many ways to a mummy movie, Curse of the Faceless Man is a sloppy, derivative low-budget B-movie that requires regular exposition via narration (by Morris Ankrum) to keep the film from stalling completely. The monster is a man in a manky rubber suit who moves slower than a sloth with bad knees, meaning that any fatal attack is laughable, since victims could have simply walked away at a brisk pace (rather than standing their ground). The end of this unexceptional piece of schlock horror sees the faceless man carry Tina into the sea (believing that he is rescuing her from the eruption of Vesuvius), where he dissolves.

Getting stoned in Pompeii

[bkoganbing · 3/10 · 23 December 2016]

Curse Of The Faceless Man tells the story of a man encased in stone after the lava hit him at the destruction of Pompeii. He's been that way for almost 2000 years until an archaeological dig found him. But he's as dead as an unstaked vampire and he's carrying a 2000 year old itch that needs scratching.

I'm sure a lot of viewers spotted the parallels between this film and the classic Boris Karloff version of The Mummy. Both Karloff's Im Ho Tep and Quintillus Aurelius the gentleman caught in that lava flow are staking claim to a currently alive woman who is the reincarnated beloved of their ancient crushes.

The scientific explanations offered by Doctors Richard Anderson, Adele Mara, Luis Van Rooten, Felix Locher, and Gar Moore are really kind of sketchy. These players sure got nowhere near Naples on the budget this film had.

How did they destroy this man of stone? Here's a hint, he went the way of the Triffids.

Typical and cheap 50s science fiction.

Not very scary

[tonybanderson · 5/10 · 26 September 2008]

1950's Black & White, stilted acting exercise from some otherwise good character actors of the period headed up by Richard Anderson, featuring Adele Mara (40's and 50's second lead actress in Westerns, and "Wake of the Red Witch" with John Wayne). Notable also for appearance of character actors Luis Van Rooten as Dr. Fiorello, and Gar Moore as Dr. Ricci. Elaine Edwards (Tina) provides the obligatory "woman screaming" scenes. Supposedly shot in the vicinity of Los Angeles' Griffith Park Observatory, but very few exterior shots verify that fact, and it could have been a back lot production for any well-equipped studio. Plot involves a 2000-year old Gladiator who comes back to life searching for his reincarnated true love in order to be reunited with her in death. Tina (Elaine Edwards) is the candidate. Bob Bryant is the Gladiator, wrapped in bandages and paper mache "stone", ala "The Mummy" films, and in the end is dissolved in sea water. A very "talky" picture - lots of talk, explanation, and very little action.

The Son of Etruscan Gods

[richardchatten · 6/10 · 9 April 2022]

Not the Kafkaesque tale of dealing with beaurocracy the title suggests but actually a moronically enjoyable quickie about a marauding mummy.

Scripted by sci-fi veteran Jerome Bixby with a nod to the recent Bridie Murphy case it boasts cool location work on the California coast masquerading as the Bay of Naples, a jangling score by Gerald Fried and Adele Mara as a formidable lady scientist whose eyebrows look permanently arched in astonishment. As well they might.

Ashes to ashes.

[seance-64749 · 2/10 · 28 August 2018]

Curse of the faceless man 1958 I watched hours ago. B/w horror film which hadn't seen previously.

Users reviews already stated etc plot and opinions expressed!

I found myself slightly in different to film in general. The head leading lady Tina Enright played by Elaine Edwards I thought was about the best thing in film. A few scenes with her were among the better in entire film. It was two or possibly three separate scenes with Tina Enright which had potential atmospheric plausibility!

I gave 'Curse' low 2 stars but even though poor this horror isn't a bomb!

An undemanding low budget sci-fi / horror film with enough tension to keep audiences interested

[christopouloschris-58388 · 6/10 · 30 June 2019]

The Curse of the Faceless Man (1958) with its somewhat cliched and predictable plot does tend to repeat many of the elements contained in Universal Studios, The Mummy (1932), so we do feel that we're on a very well-trodden path and all too familiar territory. The premise of an embalmed man being sealed in volcanic ash and preserved by radiation deep within the earth is at least an interesting one.

Getting stoned can be a rocky experience.

[mark.waltz · 4/10 · 6 May 2021]

It took the mountains to move to turn this man into rock, but somehow, 2000 late years later, his joints can move when he is pulled out of his volcanic dust hole. It's obvious a man in a full body costume, and when he is discovered by someone digging at an old volcanic site as part of an excavation, a murderous rampage begins as a part of his attempt to reclaim jewels that were taken from his resting place.

Well structured with its introduction covering the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, this is a fun late '50s horror movie that in spite of some of the illogical details is easy to get into and enjoy. Richard Anderson, Elaine Edwards and Adele Mara are perfectly fine and some aging European character actors offer some enjoyable eccentric performances. The creature may not be as scary as Egyptian mummy's, but it certainly can induce nightmares as it stalks the streets of Pompeii looking for its jewels and claiming victims.

REMEMBERING THE ROMAN GLADIATOR!

[tcchelsey · 10/10 · 18 December 2021]

Back in the day when there was NO cable (only 10 tv channels with an antenna on your roof).... CURSE OF THE FACELESS MAN was a weekend fave. Still is. Direct from the school of super low budget horror, and loving it, also somewhat in the fashion of the MUMMY.

Instead of Egyptian ruins, writers set the story in the ancient city of Pompeii where a dedicated team unearths a stone "faceless man" ---instead of a mummy. Fairly neat switch and even campier when the walking man of stone busts down doors, crashes through walls in search of his long lost reincarnated love. The curious angle is the Faceless Man goes in and out of a state of suspended animation. Bottom line... all the archaeologists would have to do is chop him up. THEY DON"T, which makes this thriller all the more wild. This one also borrows from the school of "just stand there and scream!." The Faceless Man walks about two steps an hour... so the victims usually just stand there instead of simply walking out the door!

The over the top music score by Gerald Fried, who worked on other chillers, adds to the atmosphere, and at the precise moment when the Faceless Man is about to crack someone's skull!

Good cast with reliable Richard Anderson leading the search and rescue team and veteran radio actor Luis Van Rooten playing an archaeologist and narrating the creepy adventure. Directed by sci fi master Edward L. Cahn, who was cranking them out in the 1950s about as fast as Roger Corman.

Out on dvd, the perfect addition for all us fans of 2000 year old Roman gladiators.

The Mummy, 50s style

[kevinolzak · 4/10 · 3 April 2019]

1958's "Curse of the Faceless Man" came from the same writer (Jerome Bixby), producer (Robert Kent), and director (Edward L. Cahn) of its United Artists cofeature "It! The Terror from Beyond Space." The decade had previously seen science fiction takeoffs on supernatural creatures with 1956's Columbia "The Werewolf" (scripted by Robert E. Kent) and 1957's United Artists "The Vampire," here it's The Mummy's turn with a twist (quite different from the 1956 "Pharaoh's Curse"), not the Egyptian kind but an Etruscan from Pompeii buried for 2000 years by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD (approximately 1000 people died). A love starved gladiator slave who placed a curse on those who came between him and the woman he loved, a senator's daughter, provides the far fetched reason for Vesuvius belching its fire and fury, and though he too failed to escape its destruction Egyptian embalming fluid enabled his stone encrusted body to remain alive beneath the ground through the centuries before being excavated in modern times. And as if one more cliché was needed, like Karloff's 1932 Mummy he finds a modern woman who just happens to be the reincarnation of his lost love. The mystery aspect of how the mummy kills was echoed by a 1966 Roddy McDowall vehicle titled "It!" which was a modern update of The Golem, radiation providing the meager sci/fi hook, hardly as effective as the Scroll of Thoth or tana leaves (makes one long for Lon Chaney stalking Mapleton residents in Massachusetts). Despite the rare starring role, a forlorn Richard Anderson ("The Night Strangler," THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN) spends the entire picture looking down with a fixed expression of mild concern. Felix Locher was the father of actor Jon Hall, his most substantial part coming up in Richard E. Cunha's "Frankenstein's Daughter" (sharp eyed viewers may remember the nondescript Gar Moore from 1949's "Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer Boris Karloff," here in his final screen performance).

Talk about being petrified ! wink

[Mikel3 · 4 February 2013]

We're expecting more snow and cold weather for the next few days. Sooooo...out came another Amazon Prime video pick for a cold winter's afternoon. This time we watched 'The Curse of the Faceless Man'. It wasn't bad, I was hoping for more. It's basically a mummy story with a twist taking place in Pompeii instead of Egypt. There is an Egyptian tie-in explained in the plot. Something convenient about the man being killed during the eruption as he was stealing a box of treasures from a temple in the Egyptian area of Pompeii. Never knew there was such an area...but whatever. Instead of bandages this creature is covered in a rock like crust somehow formed from his being trapped during the volcano's eruptions thousands of years ago. There is the usual mummy like plot of the creature searching for his lost love reincarnated in the present time. This time he was a gladiator slave in love with a beautiful girl from a wealthy family. The ending was a bit convenient, still the movie did have its scary moments. Like when the woman was alone in the museum late at night drawing the stone like creature as it was laying on a table. As she draws she notices slight changes in his position and at first corrects her drawing...finally she realizes it is not a mistake he is moving ! Eventually he gets up and walks towards her. She is so frightened at first she can not even scream. Moments like that made it worthwhile. I give it a 4 rating.