Pyro... The Thing Without a Face (1964)

Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??

It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

Made in Spain just before 'Blood and Black Lace' but remarkably little known today considering the amount of attention perennially lavished upon Italian gialli. I've been keen to see this film for over forty years, but ironically just found it on YouTube at the very moment when the London papers are full of the Grenfell Tower fire disaster in North Kensington last month and a revolting spate of gratuitous acid attacks by thieves in East London less than ten days ago.Like Takashi Miike's 'Audition' (1999) this film is - if you'll pardon the description - a slow burner that has almost hit the halfway mark before the key plot development that most viewers will already have known about in advance finally kicks in; especially when the film has a title like 'Pyro'.Aided by a literate script and good performances, the early scenes are actually working extremely well purely as an engrossing marital drama in its own right. (It also casually throws in occasional bombshells such as the paternity of Hyer's young daughter which make you wonder what else was in the original script or didn't make the final cut.) But anticipating what is coming inevitably makes it feel like watching an episode of 'Casualty', steeling yourself for what in this context you know is coming.Sullivan is excellent both before and after the life-changing injuries he suffers. While later lying low the way Sullivan carries himself, his subtly immobile face and obvious wig disturbingly suggests the wreckage concealed beneath his disguise; although as usual what we eventually see when he pulls his mask off - although pretty well done - doesn't come close to the horror promised us earlier by the doctor describing his burns. Hyer is excellent too, her handsome blonde-maned good looks - enhanced by leather gear provided by Mitzou of Madrid - seeming in this context almost indecent.

This is a strange story of infidelity, horror and revenge. I wouldn't say it was a great movie, it did hold my interest and there were some very scary moments in it. After a certain point when the revenge started...it was predictable. I'd compare it to 'House of Wax' in some ways. I rate it a 5 out of 10 for the acting by the leads and the off-beat story. Barry Sullivan was good and he delivered some very chilling lines, especially when he was telling his former mistress to run while she could. It's a film with the type of plot more often found in Spanish, Mexican or Italian made films of that time. It's not like the standard run of the mill USA/UK type horror films made back then.

Engineer Vance Pierson moves to Spain, where he will oversee the construction of his invention: a generator shaped like a ferris wheel. He meets a desperate young woman, Laura, who is trying to burn down her home for the insurance money she so badly needs. He stops the woman and they become passionate lovers. But soon Vance wants to end the affair he's having with Laura and go back to his wife and daughter. The jilted mistress flares up into a jealous rage and gets revenge on Vance...and he makes it his mission in life to get his own revenge on her. Barry Sullivan and Martha Hyer are excellent as the leads. Cult star Soledad Miranda appears as Liz, the daughter of a carnival worker, who falls for a mysterious older man. This was the first movie to have a $50 million set (Spain's Belesar Dam). Additionally, it was the first horror suspense movie filmed in Spain. It also was the first movie ever to be filmed in the province of Galicia, which is in northern Spain.

Low budget, odd little movie has some chills, and good performances by MARTHA HYER and BARRY SULLIVAN. Laura Blanco (HYER) is a divorcee with a young daughter who has a fling with family man Vince Pierson (SULLIVAN). When his wife finds out, Vince tries to break off from Laura. She, however, has other ideas and believes that if Vince's wife & daughter are out of the way, she'll have him all to herself. Seeing Vince leave his house with wife & daughter still inside upstairs, Laura slips in and splashes gasoline around and sets the house ablaze. She even goes so far as to cut the water off, and attach a container of gasoline to the plumbing. Vince comes back and runs into the burning house to save his family. I can't say anymore without giving away the ending, but the rest is a pretty good thriller. HYER is very good as pure evil Laura. SULLIVAN also does well as Vince. In some ways this movie might remind you of FATAL ATTRACTION 20 years earlier. A stern warning to married men seeking greener pastures. This was one of AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL pictures, low on production dollars, and yet with its creepy plot, still a worthwhile thriller!!!