The Most Notorious Shockumentary of All Time Is Now in 4K UHD
Watch Faces of Death on 4K UHD—if you dare!
In Shudder and IFC’s recent, surprisingly great update on Faces of Death, the characters talk about the original film with a contradictory combination of dismissal and awe. To them, it’s both “some old horror movie” and a dark talisman that, while it’s not quite supernatural, brings out the worst in everyone who watches it. It certainly inspires the film’s villain, played by Dacre Montgomery, who takes scenes that were faked for the original movie and redoes them “for real” — within the fictional world of this movie, of course. It’s all very meta.
It also serves as an effective advertisement for the original film. If a movie was so controversial that video-store clerks had to keep it under the counter, forcing the morbidly curious to ask for it by name, then surely it must be worth watching, right? Yes and no.
So what is Faces of Death? Put succinctly, it’s a primitive supercut, a “documentary” made up of clips claiming to show “real” animal and human death. (Some scenes are real and some are staged, but we’ll get to that in a minute.) It’s presented with faux-scientific voiceover from a “pathologist” with the amusing name of Dr. Frances B. Gröss, and purports to be a sober-minded exploration into “the mystery — and terror — of death.” Really, it’s just a grossout reel.
How Was Faces of Death Received Upon Its Release?
Faces of Death was originally released in theaters in 1978. It was trashed by critics, who called it tasteless and exploitative (fair enough). But it made big money at the box office, proving that human beings are far more intrigued than they are repelled by graphic evidence of their own mortality. In 1983, it was released on VHS and Betamax (now there’s an old-school format for you), prompting censors in the U.K. and Australia to either demand cuts to the film or ban it outright. In both cases, it only added to the legend.
Almost immediately, debate began over whether what we see in Faces of Death was real. In the nearly 50 years since its release, this question has been revisited over and over again, and the short answer is: Both. The newsreel footage — featuring surgery, skydiving accidents, war, and famine — was all real, but the film’s centerpiece “documentary” scenes, which include a “cannibalistic cult orgy” (led by the director himself, under the fake name 'Conan Le Cilaire') and an “execution by electric chair,” were staged.
Similarly, most of the animal death in the film was real, although a notorious scene where a group of diners “kill” a monkey and “eat its brains” a lá Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom was, thankfully, fake. Either way, Faces of Death is definitely not recommended for animal lovers.
Why Is It Important to See Faces of Death Now?
Faces of Death is mostly infamous for being banned from many major countries.
Largely because of the remake, along with nostalgia value for old-school horror fans who remember the days when Faces of Death was the stuff of schoolyard legend. Beyond that, it’s primarily important for its historical context. As the new movie points out, in the age of YouTube death compilations and gore forums, Faces of Death is a relic.
Faces of Death is an example of a “Mondo” movie, a type of film that was invented in Italy in the 1960s, was popular in the grindhouse era of the ‘70s, and was irrelevant by the time YouTube came around in 2005. Ostensibly, they’re documentaries, although much of the footage in them is fake. Either way, they stitch together a series of loosely related scenes that are organized around a theme — usually something provocative, like witchcraft or nudist colonies — and held together by narration from a “scientific”authority figure like good old Dr. Gröss.
They’re very weird movies, and worth looking at for their historical context, if not their entertainment value. Ironically, in some ways, Faces of Death is one of the more palatable examples of the subgenre, compared to some of the racist trash Italian mondo directors were putting out around this time. And it’s not palatable at all!
What New Features Does Vinegar Syndrome’s 4K UHD Disc Have?
Vinegar Syndrome is the perfect label to re-release Faces of Death — it’s a company built on taking obscure cultural artifacts and giving them the deluxe physical-media treatment. That being said, this may be one case where restoring a film actually does it a disservice: If you can’t tell which scenes were faked for the “documentary” on VHS, you certainly will be able to in 4K. (Then again, the crudeness is part of the charm.)
Instead, the main draw here is in 14 minutes of never-before-seen outtakes, as well as a new documentary featuring interviews with filmmakers and genre scholars about their personal relationships with the film and its larger cultural context.
Here’s the full list of special features:
- 2-disc Set: 4K Ultra HD / Region A Blu-ray
- 4K UHD presented in Dolby Vision High-Dynamic-Range
- Newly scanned & restored in 4K from its 35mm and 16mm original camera negative
- Commentary with director Conan Le Cilaire, moderated by Michael Felsher
- “Buried Footage” – newly discovered, never-before-seen outtakes
- “Choice Cuts” – an archival featurette with editor Glenn Turner
- “The Death Makers” – an archival featurette with effects creators Allan Apone and Douglas White
- “Many Faces of Death” – scholars and genre experts examine the controversial origins and lasting cultural impact of Faces of Death
- Isolated music track
- Archival outtakes
- Trailer
- Reversible sleeve artwork
- English SDH subtitles
