Eyes Without A Face - Plot

Plot

At night just outside Paris, a woman (Valli) drives along a riverbank and dumps a corpse in the river. After the body is recovered, Dr. Génessier (Brasseur) identifies the remains as those of his missing daughter, Christiane Génessier (Scob), whose face was horribly disfigured in an automobile accident that occurred before her disappearance. Dr. Génessier lives in a large mansion, which is adjacent to his clinic, with numerous caged German Shepherds (Alsatians) and other large dogs.

Following Christiane's funeral, Dr. Génessier and his assistant Louise, the woman who had disposed of the dead body earlier, return home where the real Christiane is hidden. The body belonged to a young woman that died following Dr. Génessier's unsuccessful attempt to graft her face onto his daughter's. Dr. Génessier promises to restore Christiane's face and insists that she wear a mask to cover her disfigurement. After her father leaves the room, Christiane calls her fiance Jacques Vernon (François Guérin), who works with Dr. Génessier at his clinic, but hangs up without saying a word.

Louise lures a young female student named Edna Grüber (Juliette Mayniel) to Génessier's home, by promising her accommodation from friends of hers. Génessier chloroforms Edna and takes her to his secret laboratory, where he performs heterograft surgery, removing her face. The doctor successfully grafts the skin onto his daughter's face and holds the heavily bandaged and faceless Edna against her will. Edna escapes, but falls to her death from an upstairs window. After disposing of Edna's corpse, Génessier notices flaws on Christiane's face. Her face grows worse within days; the new tissue is being rejected and she must resort to wearing her mask again. Christiane again phones Jacques and this time says his name, but the phone call is interrupted by Louise.

Jacques reports the call to the police, who have been investigating the disappearance of several young women with blue eyes and similar facial characteristics. The police have gained a lead concerning a woman who wears a pearl choker, whom Jacques recognizes as Louise. Inspector Parot (Alexandre Rignault), an officer investigating Edna's disappearance, asks a young woman named Paulette Mérodon (Beatrice Altariba) to help investigate by checking herself into Génessier's clinic. After being declared healthy, Paulette leaves for Paris and is promptly picked up by Louise, who delivers her to Dr. Génessier. Génessier is about to begin surgery on Paulette when Louise informs him that the police want to see him. While the doctor talks with the police, Christiane, who has long been disenchanted with her father's experiments, frees Paulette and stabs Louise in the neck. She also frees the dogs and doves that her father uses for experiments. Dr. Génessier dismisses the police and returns to his lab, where the dogs attack him, brutally disfiguring his face. Christiane walks slowly into the woods outside Génessier's house with one of the freed doves on her hand.