Scalpel

A murderous surgeon (Robert Lansing) concots a twisted scheme to win his missing daughters inheritance money, by transfroming a Jane Doe (Judith Chapman) into her double. Twists within twists make the rather convoluted plot entertaining. Lansing's character is a real creep, and Chapman who plays both the daughter and Jane is superb. Over all this movie is a fun little Hitchcock wannabe that amuses till the closing credits.

So many times since I bought this Blu-ray, I've picked it up and then put it down again. A low budget film featuring facial surgery, maybe not. And then I watched it! Great film, full of surprises, not least of which is that the early exposition is dealt with so smoothly. From the brutal and explicit beginning, through the background story, the surgery and all, we are skilfully informed as the pictures fade into each other and we have arrived at the beginning of the tale that we expected to be the ending. Set in Georgia we get wonderful pictures of green and gold burial grounds and overgrown ruins. An atmosphere of creepy otherness develops alongside shades of incest. More a dramatic tale with tinges of the Italian gallo than a horror, this is nevertheless horrific and not without surprises. One particular surprise towards the end really caught me off guard and is followed quickly by the chase through the woods of a skimpy bikini clad women that almost as surprising as it is stunning. And then surprising again! It is a tragedy that director John Grissmer only made one other film and that almost a remake of this. Robert Lansing is effective as the leading man but Judith Chapman is an absolute revelation. Her career seems to have been more in TV and it is true that the interiors here sometimes look more like TV but Chapman is marvellous in a difficult role and always convincing. This is an underrated film that seems to offer little but does quite the opposite with great location shooting, some stunning key scenes and some real shocks.

First, there was Vertigo...then, there was Eyes Without A Face...and now, there is Scalpel...

A plastic surgeon has become estranged from his daughter, after murdering his wife, and his daughter's long time boyfriend.

By his own admission, he does the devil's work...changing the ugly, maimed, and deformed, into the beautiful.

Though, clearly...he indulges in more gruesome aspects of the job.

The motives behind his actions are to secure his father's fortune.

As he knows his father had written him out of his will and left everything to his daughter.

Thus, he needs to keep her close, so that he could cash in on the inheritance he feels is rightfully his. . But this only acts to push her away.

So, having lost his daughter, when his father dies, he must come up with a new plan.

Which comes to fruition when he finds a battered stripper hobbling down the street.

Her face has been destroyed...so he recreates it in the likeness of his daughter.

Planning to use the woman, as his daughter's doppelganger, in order to trick his father's estate into handing over the money.

Little did he suspect, though, that his daughter would discover his plot...and return to try and foil it.

In a twist of fate, the two women start to work together, figuring he would resort to try and eliminate one of them.

Leaving them with only one option.

To fashion a scheme of their own...and turn the tables on him...

When you sell your soul to the devil...there's always a price to pay...and the time to pay it always comes before you think it will.

Just ask the not-so-good doctor...he's living proof.

Because he's now trapped in one hell of a bad trip...from which he'll never escape.

As the two women become the beneficiaries of everything he so desired to possess.

Such being the cost of playing games with the devil, on his terms.

Judith Chapman does an excellent job in both roles as Heather (his daughter) and Jane (the stripper).

And despite it's budget, VHS-quality format...the film is actually much better than one would suspect.

With a storyline that takes inspiration from, the aforementioned films, and then combining that with the plot from De Palma's Sisters.

Though all with an air of originality.

The whole thing was shot in Atlanta and Covington, Georgia...incorporating lots of beautiful scenery, and some great locations.

Exceeding all expectations I had going in.

It's definitely worth a watch.

7 out of 10.

An old man has died, cutting out his only son from his will, as well as his other relatives, leaving five million to his granddaughter Heather. Uncle Bradley, the only son, is understandably angry. So is Dr. Reynolds, the old man's son-in-law and father to Heather. Dr. Reynolds is a plastic surgeon with definite psychotic tendencies when it comes to his family. He evidently had killed his wife, making it look like an accidental drowning while swimming, and also killed his daughter's boyfriend, making it look like an accidental drowning as a result of drunkenness.

Heather, however, isn't around to claim the inheritance. No one has seen her for a year.

Bradley and Dr. Reynolds almost run over a go-go-dancer with their car. She'd been ejected by a bouncer from a club in only her panties and high heels, and the bouncer had smashed her face into a wall several times for reasons unknown. The two men don't know where she came from, and take her to the hospital. Without telling Bradley, the Doctor rebuilds her face so she looks like his daughter, books a phony airline flight for her, then takes her home and teaches her how to impersonate Heather. They'll split the five million evenly. They begin a sexual relationship as well, making the Doc quite the pervert for being able to do that with his daughter's exact likeness!

Complicating things are the fact that the phony Heather can't play piano like the real one, Bradley grows suspicious, and the real Heather quietly shows up again.

Curiously, the other film directed by John Grissmer, Blood Rage, also deals with identical twins - though the characters are actual identical twins played by one actor, here they're identical by virtue of surgery and played by one actress. The fake twins are more or less act the same in False Face (which I saw on video as Scalpel), while in Blood Rage they're more pronouncedly different.

One of the chief problems with the movie for me was that it felt overlong. It was fairly engrossing, but at the same time nothing terribly special.

"Scalpel" follows a deranged plastic surgeon in the southern U. S. whose daughter has gone missing, preventing him from accessing an inheritance in her name. When he comes across a battered stripper in the city, he saves the woman, transforming her into the likeness of his daughter in the process.

This little-seen effort from "Blood Rage" director John Grissmer is a surprisingly captivating slice of Southern Gothic sleaze, with heavy influences ranging from Hitchcock's "Vertigo" to the French classic "Eyes Without a Face," with dashes of Italian gialli. Though it's nowhere in the same league as either of the two aforementioned films, "Scalpel" (originally titled "False Face") is still a nervy, twisting psychothriller that offers ample entertainment and commendable suspense despite its most absurd narrative gymnastics.

Stylish cinematography from Edward Lachman, as well as solid lead performances from Robert Lansing and Judith Chapman (the latter playing a dual role) help bolster this low-budget effort to rise above. The film's cynical finale is done a bit haphazardly, but it goes out on a note that will leave the audience smiling. All things considered, "Scalpel" is a commendable effort with enough creative flourishes to stand out from your typical low-rent '70s horror flick. 7/10.