The idea behind "Corruption" was VERY common in 1960s films--so common that the film is basically a reworking of these previous films. The French movie "Eyes Without a Face" (1960) and Japanese "The Face of Another" (1966) are basically the same film as "Corruption" and Ztracená Tvár (1965) was very similar. So, when it comes to originality, "Corruption" is hardly unique or groundbreaking. This is, however, as far as I know the first English language movie about crazed doctors stealing folks' faces to graft onto a loved one.
When the film begins, Dr. John Rowan (Peter Cushing) is going to a party with his girlfriend, Lynn (Sue Lloyd). At the party, an obnoxious photographer begins taking photos of Lynn and the party gets wild-- and he tries to get Lynn to take off her clothes in front of everyone. Dr. Rowan naturally objects and he and the photographer get into a tussle--and a very hot lamp falls onto Lynn- -badly scarring her face. The Doc is naturally upset and blames himself--and creates a way to temporarily restore her looks and it involves killing women and extracting their pituitary glands!
One thing that makes this film unique is that unlike the other films, this victim who is receiving the benefits of murdered girls knows full well what is happening and actually pushes the doctor to kill MORE girls! She's a complete sociopath and her own looks and needs are all that matter--making her a sick but very interesting character. Heck, she's even more than willing to go out and get her own victims! Also, her disfigurement ISN'T that bad--it's all about vanity as opposed to other films where there really isn't much face left. I loved these angles. Sick...but really interesting in its awfulness.
So what don't I like about the film other than the lack of originality? The music is, at times, very distracting, loud and awful. A few times it totally dominates the picture and is more of an annoyance than enhancement. Also, the killings would have been VERY bloody and it isn't like you can easily get to the pituitary-- yet the film made it all look too bloodless and simple. Finally, the film's ending was a bit too long in coming and the film completely loses its momentum as a result of this and crappy ending. Otherwise, it's a creepy little horror picture--more about the evil in human nature than anything else. And the good far outweighs the bad.
When the film begins, Dr. John Rowan (Peter Cushing) is going to a party with his girlfriend, Lynn (Sue Lloyd). At the party, an obnoxious photographer begins taking photos of Lynn and the party gets wild-- and he tries to get Lynn to take off her clothes in front of everyone. Dr. Rowan naturally objects and he and the photographer get into a tussle--and a very hot lamp falls onto Lynn- -badly scarring her face. The Doc is naturally upset and blames himself--and creates a way to temporarily restore her looks and it involves killing women and extracting their pituitary glands!
One thing that makes this film unique is that unlike the other films, this victim who is receiving the benefits of murdered girls knows full well what is happening and actually pushes the doctor to kill MORE girls! She's a complete sociopath and her own looks and needs are all that matter--making her a sick but very interesting character. Heck, she's even more than willing to go out and get her own victims! Also, her disfigurement ISN'T that bad--it's all about vanity as opposed to other films where there really isn't much face left. I loved these angles. Sick...but really interesting in its awfulness.
So what don't I like about the film other than the lack of originality? The music is, at times, very distracting, loud and awful. A few times it totally dominates the picture and is more of an annoyance than enhancement. Also, the killings would have been VERY bloody and it isn't like you can easily get to the pituitary-- yet the film made it all look too bloodless and simple. Finally, the film's ending was a bit too long in coming and the film completely loses its momentum as a result of this and crappy ending. Otherwise, it's a creepy little horror picture--more about the evil in human nature than anything else. And the good far outweighs the bad.