Faces of Death (1978)

Director:

John Alan Schwartz

Writer:

John Alan Schwartz

Release Date:

10 November 1978 (USA)

Genre:

Documentary | Horror

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 | Execution | Brain | Mockumentary | Alligator

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
Adolf Hitler	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
John Alan Schwartz	...	Leader of Flesh Eating Cult (uncredited)

Directed by
John Alan Schwartz		(as Conan Le Cilaire)

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
John Alan Schwartz		(as Alan Black)

Produced by
William B. James	....	executive producer
Herbie Lee	....	associate producer
Rosilyn T. Scott	....	producer

Original Music by
Gene Kauer

Film Editing by
Laurl Crushman
James Roy
Ivon Simoné

Makeup Department
Allan A. Apone	....	special makeup effects artist (uncredited)
Peter Knowlton	....	makeup effects supervisor (uncredited)

Production Management
Derek Walsch	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
John Alan Schwartz	....	assistant director (as Johnny Getyerkokov)

Sound Department
Spary Dauterman	....	sound effects editor

Camera and Electrical Department
Adal Aboul-Hosn	....	contributing camera operator
Alberti Cerna	....	camera operator: second unit
Stephan Crowder	....	camera operator
Daniel De LaSantos	....	camera operator: second unit
Dimetri Fermo	....	director of photography: Europe
Don Gilberg	....	camera operator: second unit
Michael Golden	....	director of photography: America
Shelly Kurtz	....	contributing camera operator
Phillippe La Croix	....	contributing camera operator
Lester Markham	....	contributing camera operator
Wolfgang Offenbach	....	camera operator
Andrew Winston	....	contributing camera operator

Editorial Department
Gary Finlan	....	assistant editor (as Sean MacDonald)

Other crew
Michael Carr	....	creative consultant (as Dr. Frances B. Gröss)

Thanks
John Freeman	....	acknowledgment of still photographs: British Museum Photo

Production Companies

• F.O.D. Productions

Distributors

• Fuji Eiga Company (1980) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Shochiku Company (1980) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Aquarius Releasing (1981) (USA) (theatrical)
• Titanus Distribuzione (1981) (Italy) (theatrical)
• Sai Enterprise (1985) (Japan) (VHS) (as Orange Video House)
• V&R Planning Co. Ltd. (1988) (Japan) (VHS) (as Mad Video)
• Gorgon Video (1999) (USA) (DVD)
• MPI Home Video (1999) (USA) (DVD)
• MPI Home Video (2002) (USA) (DVD) (on 'Faces of Death Collection')
• International Trading (2003) (UK) (VHS)
• Geneon Entertainment (2005) (Japan) (DVD)
• Zeyliv (2005) (Japan) (DVD)
• Umbrella Entertainment (2007) (Australia) (DVD)
• Gorgon Video (2008) (USA) (DVD) (Blu Ray) (special edition)
• Gorgon Video (2008) (USA) (DVD) (special edition)
• Cinéthèque (????) (France) (VHS)
• Gorgon Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Standard Video (19??) (Netherlands) (VHS)

Special Effects

• Makeup & Effects Laboratories (MEL) (special make-up effects) (uncredited)

Other Companies

• Aldus Books  acknowledgement of still photographs (British Museum Photo copyright)
• Animatoon  opticals
• British Museum  acknowledgement of still photographs
• Cinema Research  image enhancement (as Cinema Research)
• Image Transform  video conversion
• Independent TV News Ltd.  we gratefully acknowledge the cooperation of
• Los Angeles County Morgue  special thanks
• Makeup & Effects Laboratories (MEL)  art design (as M.E.L.)
• Massachusetts State Police  acknowledgement of still photographs
• National Archives  we gratefully acknowledge the cooperation of (as National Archives, Washington, D.C.)
• Post-Transfer Services  sound supervision
• Rigler Research Center, Department of Medical Sciences, U.C.L.A.  special thanks
• Trans-Time Inc.  we gratefully acknowledge the cooperation of
• United Press International (UPI)  we gratefully acknowledge the cooperation of
• Wm. Stetz Design  title design (as Wm. Stetz)

Also Known As:

"The Original Faces of Death" - USA (video box title)
"Faces of Death: Junk 1" - Japan (English title) (DVD box title)
"Junk" - Japan (English title) (poster title)

Runtime:

105 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | German

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

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

Filming Locations:

Guanajuato, Mexico

Company:

F.O.D. Productions

Trivia:

One sequence involves cryogenic patient Samuel Berkowitz, who was frozen in July 1978 and stored in northern California. The relatives who were funding the suspension began to lose interest and/or wherewithal, an offer was made to continue the suspension as a neuro (head-only) free of charge, but it was turned down. Instead in October 1983 they had Berkowitz thawed, submerged in formaldehyde, given a proper funeral and buried. No attempt was made specifically to preserve the brain.

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:Many of those who witnessed the crash and the aftermath which followed are still to this day under psychiatric care. Living through this nightmare is an experience one cannot easily forget. When a woman heard the crash and went through her door a body came flying through the window covering her in blood. There would be a long time before the people of this area would ever board a plane again.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Chuck: Chuck Versus the Break-Up (#2.3)" (2008)

Soundtrack:

Faces of Death Theme Part 1

50-50

Half of this was sickening reality. The other half was a pathetic sham.

This is worth a look for the freak value alone.

The autopsy footage was gut-churning. This was one of the few real spots. Seeing real faces of the dead wasn't easy. The fact that said faces weren't deformed in any real way made it all the more chilling. The lady's suicide was also tough to watch.

The faked footage (executions, croc attack) almost subverted the intention of the film. Dealing with death. If they wanted to show executions, show something that can be verified.

The bear attack was probably influenced by the fake lion attack in 'Great Hunting.' And the middle eastern restaurant (with a white staff) serving the fresh monkey for killing was ripped off of 'Man From Deep River.' The scene with the grieving father trying to raise his dead son & wife through a medium may have been hard to watch for all the wrong reasons.

Most people see this...just to say they've seen it.