Five months later, "Fiend Without a Face" created a public uproar after its British premiere at the Ritz Theatre in Leicester Square in London's West End. The British Board of Film Censors had demanded a number of cuts before its release and finally granted the film an "X" certificate, but newspaper critics were still aghast at its horrifying special effects. Questions were actually raised in Parliament as to why British censors had allowed "Fiend Without a Face" to be released, notably: "What is the British film industry thinking by trying to beat Hollywood at its own game of overdosing on blood and gore".