The main reason I picked this title because I was under the impression this was the film about a crazy father on the hunt for eyes he could implant on his daughter. Except this clearly is not the one I was looking for. And no, it's not Eyes Without a Face (1960) I am looking for, either.
This being directed by Jesus Franco is another reason I wanted to check out. Mere out of curiosity. I wish I hadn't. Apart from the gore, there is very little to this film. Don't get distracted by the names in this film, although a few will stand out for sure. Caroline Munro is a pivotal character and lovely as ever but doesn't get to do much. She is just there for Christopher Mitchum to step in. Let's just say that he definitely has inherited his father's swagger, but not his acting chops. Then there is Telly Savalas who calls upon Chris Mitchum to look for his daughter (played by Carlone Munro). They probably had him for a couple of minutes because there are two scenes with him in the same room. Another fun fact is that he is supposedly so worried and concerned about his daughter he is willing to do anything but be interrupted by urgent phone calls and reschedule his holiday. Such a good dad! I do get why he is like he is, because it ties into the dark ending Jesus Franco has though up.
Brigitte Lahaie is another big name that had drawn to this production. I know her from her work as an adult actress. There have been some actors from that world who tried to jump from porn to conventional filmmaking, and very rarely they have been successful. Surprisingly, while she is clearly intended as a femme fatale, she won't get out of her clothes that much. Still, she is incredibly deadly. I think she was decent as an actress, but unfortunately did very little to make an impression.
In the whole film, like in Bloody Moon, there is one scene filled with tension when one of the clinic's employees decides to do some investigating of her own. Another scene that proves Franco does have a talent to do good horror, but for some reason can't be bothered. The main attraction is the gore, and I guess for most this seems to be enough. I don't get it. I can appreciate blood in gore as longs as it is in combination with good story telling or other elements. Just gore, doesn't do it for me. The ending is insulting. If you didn't realize it before you will at the end, you, the audience, have been duped. Franco went out of his way to make this ending happen instead of the one they had filmed initially. I can appreciate darkness if it's earned, which is not the case here.
Overall, I won't bother with this one. It's mostly a bore fest, with occasional gore and one tense scene. That is not enough for me.
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