Each October, the Unsung Horrors podcast does a month of themed movies. This year, they will once again be setting up a fundraiser to benefit Best Friends, which works to save the lives of cats and dogs across America, giving pets second chances and providing them with happy homes.

Today’s theme: Lina Romay

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Adam Hursey is a pharmacist specializing in health informatics by day, but his true passion is cinema. His current favorite films are Back to the Future, Stop Making Sense, and In the Mood for Love. He has written articles for Film East and The Physical Media Advocate, primarily examining older films through the lens of contemporary perspectives. He is usually found on Letterboxd, where he mainly writes about horror and exploitation films. You can follow him on Letterboxd or Instagram at ashursey.

I really do not have the expertise to write anything about a Jess Franco film. It’s not going to stop me though. 

Faceless is only the sixth Franco film I’ve watched. And the ones I have watched may not be the ones that spring to mind. Venus in Furs and Bloody Moon seem to be popular (at least according to Letterboxd). My favorite film of his has been The Other Side of the Mirror. And then I’ve watched some really random ones: Night of the Skull and Bahia Blanca. So I do not have a great handle on Franco’s filmography.

I have seen Eyes Without A Face. And I’m not the only one apparently. Faceless owes a lot to Georges Franju’s classic tale of a doctor trying to successfully graft another person’s face onto the face of his daughter. I’ve never really tried to make a ranking of my favorite horror films of all time, but if I did, this one would surely be high on the list.

Apparently, Jess Franco uses this motif a good bit in his films about Dr. Orloff (played by Howard Vernon). Again, I’m really at a disadvantage because I just have not watched these films. But I really want to. And after watching Faceless, I feel a great need to prioritize these Franco films.

In Faceless, we are treated to Helmut Berger as a plastic surgeon who has made an enemy in a former patient who blames him for a botched procedure. When this patient tries to throw acid on his face, he ducks and unfortunately his sister receives the burn. So one does what one has to—get his assistant (Brigette Lahaie, an actress whose films I should also prioritize) to start kidnapping models, and contact the infamous Dr. Orloff to perform face transplants. Unfortunately for them, one of the models they kidnap is the daughter of Teddy Savalas (criminally underused here). He hires Christopher Mitchum (of all people) to go to Paris and find his daughter.

Faceless has pretty much everything I look for in a horror movie this time of year. A stellar cast. An interesting enough plot to keep my interest. Some over the top gore. I really cannot ask for much more.

This selection feels a bit like a cheat since it was supposed to highlight Spanish actress Lina Romay, long time collaborator and eventually the wife of Jess Franco. In Faceless, she only appears in a cameo as Dr. Orloff’s wife. There were definitely plenty of other films to choose from. If nothing else, this day has been a good reminder that I really should focus on more Jess Franco in the new year. Maybe I will make a goal to have Franco be my most watched director of 2026.