‘Eyes Without a Face’ – Horror Movies That Inspired Songs

'Eyes Without a Face,' or 'Les Yeux Sans Visage' in the film's native French, was a 1960 horror film adaptation of a novel by Jean Redon, directed by Georges Franju and featuring Pierre Brasseur and Alida Valli in the starring roles. Even with the film's level of gore minimized for the taste of French censors and the fact that they approved of it, its release still caused some controversy in France. The film debuted in American in an edited and dubbed form in 1962 under the title of 'The Horror Chamber of Dr. Faustus' and, despite not earning strong reviews initially, would go on to earn praise for its poetic style and influence on other auteurs.

Billy Idol's song 'Eyes Without a Face' appeared on his popular 1983 album 'Rebel Yell' and would become his first Top 10 hit in America. It showed another side of Idol, with more of a ballad-like sound than any of the other singles on 'Rebel Yell,' and featured British singer Perri Lister singing a repeated backing chorus of the film's title in both French and English: "Les yeux sans visage/ Eyes without a face / Les yeux sans visage/ Eyes without a face."

Check Out the 'Les Yeux Sans Visage' Trailer

Listen to 'Eyes Without a Face' by Billy Idol