CURSE OF THE FACELESS MAN (1958)
Another day, another z-movie that isn't worth the punctilious scrutiny you've come to expect from me. I promise I'm not phoning it in; I'm just surveying a barren landscape. Today's landscapegoat (ha!) is from the late 50's, which means it's worth tracking down. I know I sound defeated, but Curse is imaginative enough to watch on a slow weekend. An archeological dig exhumes the petrified corpse of a noticeably robust slave, an unfortunate victim of the Mt. Vesuvius eruption. His features have been obscured by time and erosion, but his heart...ah, his heart. It still beats to a rhythm of terror (wow, I should have been a marketing consultant in the 50's).
Scientists are reticent to entertain the notion that our faceless man could still be alive. Understandable, but how to explain the muckle of crushed skulls in the presence of the supposedly dead body? The titular mugless chap is a fantastic villain. Sure, he's basically a mummy, but hey, I'll play ball. It's fun watching him cause havoc, and the slim running time makes it hard to stay bored. Having said that, I did get bored. Curse is a dull, long-winded sit. Director Edward L. Cahn manages to cram a profusion of exposition into several tight spaces, resulting in fairly repetitive dialogue. I prefer his other creature feature, the iconic It! The Terror From Beyond Space. Man, 1958 was a banner year for horror and science fiction. Animated courtroom dramas? Not so much.
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