Faces of Death (1978)

User Rating:

3.3/10   

Director:

John Alan Schwartz

Writer:

John Alan Schwartz (writer)

Release Date:

24 May 1980 (Japan)

Genre:

Documentary | Crime

Tagline:

Banned in 46 Countries!

Plot:

A collection of death scenes, ranging from TV-material to home-made super-8 movies The common factor is death by some means.

Plot Keywords:

Death | Mockumentary | Alligator | Execution | Monkey

Cast

Michael Carr	...	Dr. Francis B. Gröss
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Samuel Berkowitz	...	Himself; Cryogenics patient
Mary Ellen Brighton	...	Herself; suicide victim shown jumping out of a window
Thomas Noguchi	...	Himself

Also Known As:

The Original Faces of Death (USA) (video box title)

Runtime:

105 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | German

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

New Zealand:(Banned) | West Germany:18 (cut) | Australia:(Banned) (original rating) | Australia:R (re-rating) (2007) | Australia:R (uncut) | Netherlands:16 | Finland:(Banned) | South Korea:18 (heavily cut) | UK:18 (cut) | USA:Not Rated | UK:(Banned) (1984-2003) | Norway:(Banned) (video rating)

Filming Locations:

Guanajuato, Mexico

Company:

F.O.D. Productions

Trivia:

The electrocution scene was faked in a loft of one of the filmmakers' friend's house. The foam from the mouth was toothpaste.

Goofs:

Continuity: After the farmer chops off the roosters head, she hacks the ax back into the stump and it sticks in at a perfectly straight angle. Then it is suddenly sticking out at a horizontal angle.

Quotes:

Dr. Francis B. Gröss: Watching this man in his last moments of life I began to feel guilty. True, he had commited murder, but wasn't there some other alternative?

Movie Connections:

Featured in Amoklauf (1994)

Soundtrack:

Faces of Death Theme Part 1

Interesting for it's time, horribly dated today

Ah yes, Faces of Death, that infamous movie that boasts how it was banned in "46 Countries". That one movie that kids of a young age at around the time it came out (late 70's) would whisper to each other about, how it was that movie "you weren't allowed to see." My, how times have changed huh? For starters, as reviewers before me have stated, yes, most, if not all, of the footage in this movie was faked (some of it rather badly too). However, on the other hand, one also has to keep in mind that way back in 1978,79,80, the news of it being faked was not known, so people were being treated too, what they thought, was a controversial, pull no punches look at death. It was a fascinating and original concept/idea/movie at the time of it's inception, but sadly, FOD, as well as it's sequels, just looks terribly dated and lame by 2005 standards.