Original Faces of Death Blu Ray review

The Film:

 

I think there comes a point in every horror movie fan’s life when they are confronted by Faces of Death. For some reason, most will scoff at the film saying it’s not horror just snuff, some are morbidly curious, and other run as far away as they can from it. Also of interesting note, is the myth of what this film is. For the most part, people think this film is what it is not. You’ll get the common answers like “it’s a snuff film” or “it’s all gore”. It’s a film they has survived time because of word-of-mouth. Ask anyone and I bet you a good percentage will say something about Faces of Death. It was one of those nasty films, always rented out at your favorite VHS store in the eighties or someone had someone else’s copy taped off. For all of this fuss, is it still justifiable after 30 years?

 The short answer is yes, but the long answer is for the reasons you wouldn’t think of.

 

I’ll freely admit that it took me a good while before I visited the film. I wasn’t interested in seeing a snuff film or animals getting killed for the purpose of entertainment. But when I finally saw the film, I couldn’t believe how wrong I was. There is nothing exploitative in this film. With all of the death and gore, the film contains nothing that exploits this fact. The film is more of a documentary of various ways to die as Dr. Gross travels around the world looking for and trying to find what is death.

I’ll freely admit that it took me a good while before I visited the film. I wasn’t interested in seeing a snuff film or animals getting killed for the purpose of entertainment. But when I finally saw the film, I couldn’t believe how wrong I was. There is nothing exploitative in this film. With all of the death and gore, the film contains nothing that exploits this fact. The film is more of a documentary of various ways to die as Dr. Gross travels around the world looking for and trying to find what is death.

 

The film has collected a nasty reputation for the scenes within the film and is famously banned in 43 countries. I was also amazed, as I began asking around to see if people have heard of this or what have they heard, by the answers they came up with. Many of them have heard of Faces of Death but many have also not seen a frame of this film. Or if they did, they caught one of its sequels or one of the films numerous imitators. The true standout scenes that people remember (assuming they actually saw the original) are the monkey brains scene and the execution scene. Both are a visual gut punch; one contains people clubbing a poor monkey in a restaurant to kill it, only to eat its brains for desert (this is a known treat in various places in Asia) and the execution of a prisoner by the electric chair for the other. Both scenes will haunt you.

 

But looking back at my preconceived perceptions on Faces of Death, I was sorely wrong about the film. Like I said, there is nothing exploitative in the film. Most films would love to have these types of ‘money shots’ but here they’re used for the purposes of examining death. Here in America we are too conservative on the subject of death and are often censored from it. Oddly enough, the news showcases just the similar types of footage as seen in Faces of Death and we don’t complain. PETA uses clips of dog fighting, seal hunts, and slaughter house for their purposes of knowledge but we condemn this. That’s one of the brilliant things this film tackles is that notion of what’s right and what’s taboo about death and how the media portrays it. 

 

The other brilliant thing is the film’s editing. Much has been made about what is faked and what is real and it’s funny to hear what people think about it. Most are incorrect on what’s staged versus what’s real and that is the success of the editing in Faces of Death. The line editor Glen Turner blurs is amazing and should be studied. Far too often, gore effects are ruined by the editing, the scare factor or realism ruined by editing it all wrong. Study Faces of Death, future horror movie editors.

 

I would be a fool to not say something about the feeling of watching Faces of Death. It isn’t a fun, popcorn-munching time at the movies. It’s an intense, scary, brutal watch. The animals being slaughtered in he slaughter house are my personal tougher scenes to bear, but the theme and the director’s point make it a little easier to witness. There is really nothing like Faces of Death and while, yes it is a product of it’s time, it still holds up well and is just as powerful as it was 30 years ago.

 

Most people have used this film as a ‘passage of rite’. Yes it really is that type of film, but I find a film like Cannibal Ferox to be highly exploitative in its use of gore and violence. The violence seen here in Faces of Death was ahead of its time. Most scenes are relevant today more so than in 1978. There is a scene were two pit bulls are fighting for sport, just last year Michael Vick was arrested for charges on dog fighting. We see a plan crash in a rural area with a high level of fatalities and we are quick to remember 9/11. This is the brilliance of Faces of Death-it will be always topical.

 

You can’t enjoy Faces of Death like any other horror movie out there. But I think you can enjoy it on a technical level and appreciation for a film still ahead of its time.

 

The Blu Ray:

 

Audio/Video: Outside of a few scenes shot in 35mm, which look great, most scenes are cobbled together from various times and stock given us a constant shift in quality. I’m not knocking it, as this is probably the best it has ever looked, but be advised this won’t look like a typical BD. Audio is fine, but even with the 5.1 mix, it used mostly for music cues.

 

Commentary: This track is perhaps on of my favorite extras of the year. Director Conan LeCilaire is helped by a moderator in which they discuss candidly about every facet of the film; the effects, the themes, the sequels and the imitators. I loved every second of this track and would highly recommend renting, if not buying this disc just for this extra.

 

Choice Cuts: This feature sits down with the editor and he explains how e got involved with the film and how hard it was to edit it. Great interview; compliments the commentary and my assessment of the editing in the film.

 

Death Makers: Allan Apone and Douglas White discuss their FX work in creating the staged scenes as well as fan favorites and reactions to the more infamous scenes. This is good stuff.

 

Deleted scenes, outtakes, and the trailer round out the extra features.

 

Faces of Death is many things and celebrating its 30^th anniversary is this amazing disc from Gorgon Video/Dark Sky. It’s a tough watch but a fascinating one to think about. Highly recommended…if you dare.

 

Rating: