In addition to “Cannibal Holocaust”, “Man-Eater” and “Zombie”, the sacred quartet of the “Video Nasties” list drawn up in the 1980s with films banned due to depictions of violence also included this (partial) mockumentary with unclear origin of content: Which of executions, autopsies, accidents, and atrocities against humans and animals are real, which are fake? Today there are expert forums for evidence, and director LeCilaire has also become more talkative over the years about the authenticity of individual scenes.
At that time, however, you had to judge for yourself whether the “documentary images” that went down in the horror story were real: the man on the electric chair, whose eyes were boiling under the bandage, the disembowelment of a cult victim in a ritual murder, the killing of a little monkey , whose brains are being spooned out of his skull by enthusiastic restaurant patrons.
They are disgusting scenes that, under the pretext of criticizing the abysses of civil society, only serve our desire for sensation. Dares are always silly – no one who didn’t want to see “Faces of Death” back then has to do so today. The 1978 film grossed $35 million and spawned three sequels through 1990. So there were a number of people who voluntarily sucked their trash, their greed was served.
“Faces of Death” is a perverted prequel to “Oops! – The Pannenshow”, however, has a value as a contemporary document. He reveals the need to scrutinize sources, especially when it comes to material that news channels would never show. Bungee jumping failures are free on YouTube today, but fake news and deepfakes are harder to spot. The film is released uncut, with no youth release. The distributor had to fight a battle with the FSK to get it out. The correspondence was documented on Facebook (and is not a fake document). (DigiDreams, from 12.5.)