Faces of Death (1978)

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

Director:

John Alan Schwartz (as Conan Le Cilaire)

Writer:

John Alan Schwartz (as Alan Black)

Stars:

Michael Carr, Samuel Berkowitz, Mary Ellen Brighton

Cast

Credited cast:
Michael Carr	...	Dr. Francis B. Gröss
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Samuel Berkowitz
Mary Ellen Brighton	...	Herself - Suicide Victim
Thomas Noguchi	...	Himself - Chief Medical Examiner Coroner

Storyline

A 'mockumentary' hosted by Dr. Francis B. Gross, a coroner. He is trying to show you the different 'faces' of people while dying. There are faked scenes of people getting killed intermixed with footage of real accidents. There are executions by decapitation (in an unknown Arab country) and the electric chair. One scene shows a group of tourists in Egypt smashing a monkey's head while still alive and eating its brains. There are shots of animals eating people and Satanic orgies using dead bodies. There is a segment that deals with an alligator that accidentally entered 'residential' waters. The local warden goes in his boat to get the alligator back into the sea when he accidentally falls over and becomes gator bait. The film ends with newsreel footage of people jumping off buildings and major accidents.

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Plot Keywords:

video nasty | blowpipe | death | alligator | mockumentary | 

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Taglines:

Banned in 46 Countries!

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Genres:

Documentary | Horror

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Gorgon Video

Country:

USA

Language:

English German

Release Date:

10 November 1978 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Original Faces of Death

Filming Locations:

Guanajuato, Mexico

Box Office

Budget:

$450,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$35,000,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

F.O.D. Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

John Alan Schwartz came up with the electrocution scene by reading an article in Hustler Magazine on electrocution.

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Goofs

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.

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Quotes

[last lines]
Dr. Francis B. Gröss: During the past 20 years I know that my compulsion to understand death was much greater than just an obsession. My dreams have dictated my mission. But now it is time to witness the final moment, to discover the circle that forever repeats ifself. The end of the beginning or the beginning of the end? I'll leave that decision to you.

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Crazy Credits

At the end of the film, the credits say "Special thanks to the mummies of Guanajuato, Mexico"

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Connections

Referenced in The Good Wife: Pilot (2009)

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Soundtracks

Burning Soul
Written by Gene Kauer
Performed by Gene Kauer

User Reviews

Awful, but undeniably intriguing

I first watched this film when I was twelve. I had nightmares for weeks. Nightmares about dying, of course. This film left such an indelible impression in my mind that eight years later, when presented with the option to purchase this movie, I jumped at the chance. After the second viewing I no longer was frightened by the film itself. The thing that scared me was the fact that I paid 15 bucks for it. I somehow felt guilty, disgusted with myself. But I watched the whole thing. No matter how bad I felt, I just kept on watching. Granted, just because you can't turn yourself away from what you're watching, doesn't always mean that what you're watching is quality entertainment. This, by no means, is quality entertainment. This is bottom of the barrel, no doubt about that. But it's still in my collection and it's hands-down, the most borrowed film out of my library.