Outside of Paris, a mysterious scene unfolds as a woman discards a corpse into the river. This body comes to be recognized by Dr. Génessier as his daughter, Christiane, who had been reported missing following a tragic automobile accident that left her face disfigured.
However, the chilling truth is that Christiane is very much alive, hidden away in her father’s mansion, adjacent to his private clinic, and fiercely guarded by German Shepherds and other large dogs. The cadaver that was cruelly disposed of by his assistant, Louise, actually belongs to another young woman whose skin Dr. Génessier had attempted to graft unsuccessfully onto his daughter.
With a heavy heart and wearing a mask to conceal her disfigurement, Christiane calls her fiancé, Jacques Vernon, who also happens to be Dr. Génessier's assistant. Unable to voice her feelings, she hangs up, leaving their conversation unresolved.
Dr. Génessier's insatiable quest for perfection leads him to his next victim, Edna Grüber. Alongside Louise, he sedates Edna and transports her to the lab, while Christiane watches secretly, unable to intervene. In a grotesque procedure, Génessier removes Edna's facial skin and successfully attaches it to Christiane. However, tragedy strikes when the masked and faceless Edna, in a desperate bid for freedom, falls to her death from an upstairs window. After getting rid of Edna's corpse, Dr. Génessier finds that the graft is rejected within days, forcing Christiane to don her mask once again. A brief moment of hope rises when she calls Jacques and speaks his name, yet their connection is thwarted by Louise's interference.
Determined to end the cycle of disappearances plaguing the community, Jacques informs the police, who are ever-watchful amidst reports of young women with similar features going missing. He deduces that one victim bears a resemblance to Louise. Inspector Parot commands Paulette Mérodon, who has recently been caught shoplifting, to enter Dr. Génessier's clinic. In a twist of fate, Paulette is soon picked up by Louise and brought before the doctor, just as the police arrive at the clinic seeking answers.
While Dr. Génessier speaks with the authorities, Christiane, overwhelmed by guilt and the isolation her father's actions have caused, decides to take matters into her own hands. In a striking moment of bravery, she frees Paulette and becomes an agent of retribution by murdering Louise with a stab to the neck. Christiane doesn't stop there; she releases the dogs and doves that Dr. Génessier uses for his heinous experiments.
In a shocking turn of events, the police, oblivious to the true nature of the doctor's intentions, exit the clinic, leaving him alone in his lab. In an unexpected twist, a newly acquired German Shepherd attacks him, inciting a savage frenzy as the other dogs follow suit, ultimately mauling him to death. Christiane, returning to a sense of freedom and emotional detachment, walks out into the serene woods outside, a dove cradled gently in her hands as she finally finds peace away from the horrors of her father's legacy.
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