Faces of Death (1978)

Directed by

John Alan Schwartz

Genre

documentary film, horror film, snuff film, exploitation film, cannibal film

Country

United States

Runtime

1h 45m

Rated

R

Rating

4.6 of 10 from 220 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A pathologist shows footage of people dying in various gruesome ways. The film mixes fake scenes with real footage of death.

shockinggrislysensationalizedrawgrotesqueunnervingmorbidexploitative

What happens

Faces of Death (later re-released as The Original Faces of Death) is a 1978 American mondo horror film written and directed by John Alan Schwartz, credited under the pseudonyms "Conan Le Cilaire" and "Alan Black" respectively. The film, presented as if it were an actual documentary, centers on pathologist Francis B. Gröss, played by actor Michael Carr, who presents the viewer with footage showing different gruesome ways of dying from a variety of sources. Many scenes were faked for the film, but most portions include pre-existing video footage of real deaths and their aftermath. Faces of Death received generally negative reviews from critics but was a success at the box office, reportedly grossing over $35 million worldwide. It gained a cult following and spawned several sequels, the first of which, Faces of Death II, was released in 1981. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

More like this

• Faces of Death VI (1996)
• Faces of Death III (1985)
• The Worst of Faces of Death (1987)
• Dawn of the Dead (1978)
• Faces of Death V (1995)
• Beyond and Back (1978)
• The Song of the Canary (1978)
• The Silence of the Lambs (1991)