When the topic of shockumentaries arises, you'll always hear about the classics like Faces of Death and Traces of Death as the general alphas that lead the pack for others like Executions, Inhumanities, Faces of Gore, and Death Scenes. These generally have a running theme with notable scores and soundtracks; as well as narrations to provide exposition, backstory, or in the case of TOD and FOG, snark, deadpan humor, and macabre jokes at the expense of those caught in the crosshairs. However, Extreme Life & Death is a bit different from the others to come out towards the end of the shockumentary popularity hype with Banned! From Television and Banned!In America soon proving to overstay its welcome.
Extreme Life & Death: The Blair Witches of Shockumentaries is a three-part series released by DMP Entertainment, a now presumably defunct company, showcasing reels of accidents and atrocities caught on film; such as boating and aviation accidents, natural disasters, car accidents, terrorism, and much more. Like with other titles, much of the footage appears to be that of home video or unused news footage left on the cutting room floor, in addition to seeing reoccurring material that isn't a stranger to other films - including that of a firing squad execution smuggled out of Iraq. There's also a fair deal amount of footage that has likely never been used in other similar films, which does give it a leg up in comparison to some films whose footage consists of a compilation of other, oftentimes better, films. However, one of the most glaring differences is that there's no narrator supplied to help provide exposition like that of Dr. Francis B. Gross or Brain Damage. Instead, we just get what was supplied and sourced with the archived footage which takes the form in incidental music, news narration, or nothing at all beyond the raw background audio. It can make for a tough watch if you aren't paying attention since the clips are shown randomly with no major context tied with them. On one hand, this isn't bad since it can immerse you into the scenes more, but on the other, it slows it down some without much explanation for what's taking place if it's not directly stated from a previous source in the form of captions or narration.
Is it a great shockumentary film? No. Is it the worst of them all? Also no. It's definitely a more unique take on things with thrusting the viewer into what they came here for, rather than pad it out with nonsense that doesn't add much to it. If you choose to skip past this one, then you really aren't missing much at all nor will you lose sleep over it. But, if you choose to embark on this one, then be prepared for some mild confusion, a touch of whiplash, and the knowledge that maybe you really haven't seen everything yet from this oftentimes depraved subgenre that doesn't hold back on the punches.
3.8/10
Extreme Life & Death: The Blair Witches of Shockumentaries is a three-part series released by DMP Entertainment, a now presumably defunct company, showcasing reels of accidents and atrocities caught on film; such as boating and aviation accidents, natural disasters, car accidents, terrorism, and much more. Like with other titles, much of the footage appears to be that of home video or unused news footage left on the cutting room floor, in addition to seeing reoccurring material that isn't a stranger to other films - including that of a firing squad execution smuggled out of Iraq. There's also a fair deal amount of footage that has likely never been used in other similar films, which does give it a leg up in comparison to some films whose footage consists of a compilation of other, oftentimes better, films. However, one of the most glaring differences is that there's no narrator supplied to help provide exposition like that of Dr. Francis B. Gross or Brain Damage. Instead, we just get what was supplied and sourced with the archived footage which takes the form in incidental music, news narration, or nothing at all beyond the raw background audio. It can make for a tough watch if you aren't paying attention since the clips are shown randomly with no major context tied with them. On one hand, this isn't bad since it can immerse you into the scenes more, but on the other, it slows it down some without much explanation for what's taking place if it's not directly stated from a previous source in the form of captions or narration.
Is it a great shockumentary film? No. Is it the worst of them all? Also no. It's definitely a more unique take on things with thrusting the viewer into what they came here for, rather than pad it out with nonsense that doesn't add much to it. If you choose to skip past this one, then you really aren't missing much at all nor will you lose sleep over it. But, if you choose to embark on this one, then be prepared for some mild confusion, a touch of whiplash, and the knowledge that maybe you really haven't seen everything yet from this oftentimes depraved subgenre that doesn't hold back on the punches.
3.8/10
