Faces of Death (1978)

A collection of death scenes, ranging from TV material to homemade super 8 movies.

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	...	Self - Suicide Victim
Thomas Noguchi	...	Self - 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 | psychotronic film | death in title | shock value | 

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Taglines:

Experience the graphic reality of DEATH, close-up...

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Genres:

Documentary | Horror

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

This film contains real stock footage of accidents, suicides, autopsies and animal killings. It also contains many deaths that have been proven as staged.

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Goofs

Numerous continuity and logic errors, casting doubt on the validity of the movie's claim to be authentic.

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Quotes

Dr. Francis B. Gröss: The capacity to hate is a frightening human reality. We are always ready to blame another if the circumstances can free us from our own self-guilt.

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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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Alternate Versions

Home video versions added a recreation of a gas chamber execution which wasn't in the original theatrical print. Since film elements of this scene were unavailable for remastering in HD, the Blu-ray Disc includes this sequence as a stand-alone "deleted scene", taken from a VHS source.

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Connections

Followed by Faces of Death II (1981)

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Soundtracks

Faces of Death Theme Part 1
Written by Gene Kauer
Performed by Gene Kauer

User Reviews

Brilliant Marketing!

The movie itself is horrible, but if you look at it from a marketing standpoint it's brilliant! "Faces of Death" is in all of our collective conscience. The infamous "monkey brain scene" has been talked about in this forum ad naseum. Most everyone has seen or at least heard about this movie. It WAS a right of passage from when I was a teenager. "Banned in 46 Countries" made me HAVE to see this as a 15 year old in the late seventies. Look how the country is transfixed by "reality television" of today. This was definitely a precursor. The makers of this movie were not concerned about how the movie looked artistically, they wanted to get your attention, they wanted, no, dared you to watch. I'm sure the people that made this are all retired now and living on private islands with all the money they've made off the FOD series. As well they should! The curiosity of people and the word-of-mouth strategy used worked perfectly for them all over the world (This was well before the internet world we live in today). Masters of marketing they all are. Movie makers today only wish they can get this sort of buzz and interest in a movie. And to all of you that say that the people who watch this are sick and depraved, you know what? They got you too! Your curiosity made you look and watch. That's what the makers of this film wanted all along and you took the bait. It is people's curiosity that got them watching, not their morales. BRILLIANT!

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English German

Release Date:

10 November 1978 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Original Faces of Death

Filming Locations:

6404 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$450,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

F.O.D. Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color