For horror film buffs...

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My mum loves horror films, y'see, but there is one particular film she refuses ever to see again and claims to have forgotten what it was called. All I know is that it's an Italian flick from the (probably early) 70s and that it's a collection of four short films - the one that scared poor old Mrs G had a bit with an old woman in a rocking chair, and then someone goes to speak to her (or something) and it turns out she HAS NO FACE! Does this ring any bells? I have to know what scared her so badly.

― DG, Saturday, 19 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

New creepy answers!

― DG, Saturday, 19 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

DG i am involved in important necessary unrelated research watching species ii at the moment, but a quick flick thru phil hardy's horror encyclopaedio reveals NO portmanteau ital movies between 68 and 78.

― mark s, Saturday, 19 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

result of reearch: species ii = quite silly

― mark s, Saturday, 19 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Species II = utter garbage. I like silly horror films, but that was just poo. The beasts looked nice though.
But anyway, there's crossed wires here somewhere, this un-named film was almost definately a portmanteau and Italian and 70s.

― DG, Saturday, 19 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

It was certainly foreign anyway as it was 'badly dubbed', they recall.

― DG, Saturday, 19 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Was Karen Black in it? There was some Trilogy of Terror in the 70s.

If it's Italian, it probably is a Dario Argento related thing. IMDB his name, and you'll probably find what you're looking for.

― David Raposa, Sunday, 20 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

It's not Argento, that much I know. The Aurum bk is prob. the best horrah ref on the market, but it is still a) far from complete, and b) full of errors.

Was it in black and white or colour, DG? I'm wondering if you have the time period slightly wrong - it sounds a little like Mario Bava's 'Black Sabbath' from 1963. Where did she see it?

― Andrew L, Sunday, 20 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

It sounds a bit like "Quiet as a nun", shown as part of the "Armchair thriller" series on TV in the late seventies. Except it's not Italian and it's a nun that has no face rather than an old lady. But virtually everyone my age or thereabouts remembers how it scared the living crap out of them at the time.

― Tag, Sunday, 20 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

It's in colour, and they saw it in some 'London fleapit', apparently.

― DG, Sunday, 20 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

and it turns out she HAS NO FACE!

isn't this all horror films?

― DV, Sunday, 20 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I used to have a children's stories LP narrated by Michael Aspel that included THE BOY WITH NO FACE. Perhaps it is the plot of everything.

― N., Monday, 21 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I like the bit in Gone With The WInd where it turns out that Rhett Butler HAS NO FACE.

The bit in Moulin Rouge after Nicole Kidman died and it was revealed that she HAD NO FACE AS WELL.

The bit in Eyes Without A Face where - oh.

― Pete, Monday, 21 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

the no-face landlord/photo demon in sapphire and steel.

― Alan Trewartha, Monday, 21 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

two months pass...

I agree with the person who said "As Quiet As A Nun" - this was part of the "Armchair Thriller" series produced by Thames TV in the late 70's. I think she was referred to as the "Black Nun" in the program and lived in a belfry I think. I just remember the first time you saw her, it was at the end of the 1st program I think (in a series of 6). You saw this woman rocking in a chair and then it zoomed in on her with dramatic music and you realised she had no face. Because of the lack of budget, I think it was just a bit of black cardboad underneat the habit where the face should have been. It scared the bejaysus out of me, though, being only 9 or 10 years old at the time!

― Paul Rooney, Sunday, 31 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

The no-face photo demon in "Sapphire & Steel" was very scary IIRC. I remember the womyn getting trapped in a photo - you could see her looking out of a window - Steel managed to get in contact with her, but the demon GOT HER! (her face vanished from the pic). At the end, the demon got trapped in a kaleidascope, and Steel explained that the demon could not be destroyed, and would someday escape - the original woman who awakened the demon (by photo retouching IIRC) had to track down every photo of herself and destroy it. Think about that next time yr pissing about in "photoshop", eh?

― Norman Phay, Sunday, 31 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

one month passes...

The nun in Armchair Thriller was without doubt one of the scariest things i ever saw. Does anyone know where you can get hold of a copy, i would love to see it again to see if it really was that scary?

― tom kellett, Sunday, 5 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

two months pass...

I THINK YOU ARE THINKING OF 'ARMCHAIR THRILLER', PRODUCED BY THAMES TV BACK IN APRIL 1978. 'QUIET AS A NUN' 6 EPISODES. I AM HAPPY TO HELP IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO VIEW THE PROGRAM CONTENT, AS I RECENTLY PURCHASED THE TV MASTER TAPES FROM 'CARLTON/POLYGRAM TV ARCHIVE. YOU CAN HAVE ALL SIX EPISODES FOR £1,500!!!

― DAVID EVANS, Monday, 15 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

what a bargain!!

― mark s, Monday, 15 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

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