Classic Horrors Club

Although I can’t remember where I’ve seen it before, the plot of The Face of Fear (1971), while a good one, is not original. Since the source material, the novel, “Sally,” by E.V. Cunningham (aka Howard Fast) was written in 1967, maybe this is just another in a long line of films based on the book.

The one thing that might distinguish The Face of Fear from other stories is the reason that Sally Dillman (Elizabeth Ashley) hires someone to kill her, then decides she wants out of the contract. She’s been told that she has leukemia and a few weeks to live, but then is told it was a mistake. She’s not sick at all.

Mistaking Sergeant Frank Ortega (Ricardo Montalban) for the killer she’s never seen, her suspicious behavior causes him to intervene. He believes her story, although his superior, Lieutenant George Coy (Jack Warden) does not. This unlikely duo must conduct their own investigation to locate the killer and cancel the contract.

If there’s anything unique about the characters, it’s that Frank has a temper. He repeatedly raises his voice and snaps at Sally. When she asks why he’s not very nice to her, he explains that he wants to scare her so that she’s ready and alert at all times. When she thinks on her own, she creates more trouble and he scolds her.

Guess what, though? She falls in love with him. He explains that it’s fear causing those feelings. What’s his excuse, then? By the end of the movie, they’re holding hands and walking off into the sunset together. This development is implausible, yet inevitable. It’s simply what happens in stories like this.

Ashley is good at playing the character in such a situation. With his emotional extremes, Montalban is not. However, Warden comes off the worst. Before this, I would say I’ve never seen a movie in which Jack Warden was not good. Never say never. I don’t blame him, though, his character is poorly drawn and serves no real purpose.

Writer Edward Hume broke into television with an episode of The Fugitive, then, after The Face of Fear, created and/or developed the hit shows Cannon, The Streets of San Francisco, and Barnaby Jones. His career reward came with late in his career award winning achievements The Terry Fox Story (1983), The Day After (1983), and Common Ground (1990.)

Director George McCowan crossed paths with Hume from time to time and is at least successful in keeping the story moving. The Face of Fear is entertaining enough, if not more than a little irritating. McCowan gets a pass for this because a year later he directed a true classic of horror cinema and one of my favorites, Frogs.