Seconds.
I picked this up when it came out on blu-ray and I forgot about it. Finally got around to watching it over the weekend. Most of the stuff I've seen by Frankenheimer has been post-Prophecy, with only the Manchurian Candidate and French Connection II being his pre-Prophecy stuff I've got around to watching.
Seconds caps his "paranoia" trilogy. The movie begins with Arthur, a middle-aged man who is seemingly living a rather empty existence. He's done well for himself, is married, and has a daughter he doesn't see all that much anymore. He receives a phone call from a friend who, by all accounts, should be dead. His friend informs him of the Company; the Company can offer him a second chance--a new face, a new life.
Through unscrupulous means the Company gets him to follow through with the procedure. He's "reborn" as Tony, played by Rock Hudson, who's young, handsome, lives in a beach house, and is a successful painter. Painting is what Arthur subconsciously yearned to do for a profession.
Of course, things don't go all that well.
The movie is decidedly uncomfortable. It's bleak. It's hopeless. And you can't take your eyes off it. It's the only film I've seen Hudson in and he f***ing nails it. John Randolph's Arthur would get along get well with Willy Loman. The performances throughout are outstanding.
The score too is something else. It's infrequent but effective.
Anyway, if you dig existential horror films I'd definitely check it out. It's a great movie to pair with Eyes Without a Face (which is also brilliant) if you're interested in some macabre double feature at home.
Have you seen The Skin I Live In ?
that pretty f***in bleak