Back in the 80s and 90s, when the mom and pop video stores were thriving and the internet was basically science-fiction, the Faces of Death films were these taboo films that teenagers and gore-hounds would seek out as a way to gross out and shock friends. These films were in a category on their own, and not for the faint of heart. It was considered a part of “Mondo Cinema”, a style of film that came out of Italy in the 60s that were pseudo-documentaries or “shockumentaries” that were a collection of bizarre and often violent acts pieced together to look like an educational video. The 1978 film and the films that followed had everything from animal cruelty to executions, and for the longest time there was a debate about whether the films were real or fake or somewhere in between. When I first saw these films, I viewed them as a bit of a challenge. I loved horror and gore, and thought I could handle it at the ripe old age of fifteen. Let’s just say I’ve seen the films and the knock-offs, and my pupils have been scarred ever since. There are images from those films that still haunt me. This brings me to the new Faces of Death. Sure, I know horror has been thriving at the box office, and remakes along with nostalgia remain strong draws to the box office, but I just couldn’t imagine this was a film anyone was clamoring for. How could they even make this film in today’s environment? Well, now that the film is on Shudder, I decided to strap in and give this film a chance, and I’ll say this was not the experience I was expecting.
Let me start of by saying, this “reboot” of Faces of Death is a very big departure from the original films, Rather than following the format of an educational video, this film actually has a narrative, and the original films are more of an inspiration for this film. The film is about Margot (Barbie Ferreira). She is a content moderator for a social media company. We see her work day is basically sitting in a cubicle watching videos and flagging them for content. It’s only when she comes across a video of an execution that she hesitates for a moment before letting it pass under the assumption that it is fake. As we get to know Margot, we discover that she at one time was attempting to be a content creator before a tragedy occurred and she became dubbed “the train girl” by society. Now if this was just a story about Margot and her dealing with her life after going viral on social media for all the wrong reasons, I would have been on board with this film, and to my surprise the film dared to go even deeper with its story. Margot discovers that there may be a killer posting his kills online, only to have people mistake them as being fake. Margot seems to be the only one who believes the murders are real, and everyone else thinks she’s either on drugs or is just trying to create a conspiracy, and it gets to the point where her job is in jeopardy if she pursues it any further.
It’s when Margot discovers that the murderer is using Faces of Death as inspiration to kill and is recreating scenes from the film that my enthusiasm for the film started to fade. The first 2/3 of this film I would say I was on board. Sure, it was a drastic change from the source material, but it seemed like this film actually had something to say. I liked how it was exploring how we see people who become famous on social media for all the wrong reasons and how they try to live a normal life while trying to move on from a tragedy. I also love the idea of exploring how people will do vile things just for clicks … but when we discover the killer’s true motivation, it turns out the film measures up to be a cheap imitation of Saw and Human Centipede 2. If the film was self-aware enough to acknowledge this, I could give it a pass; unfortunately, this film’s final act just fumbles everything good it had going for it. Dacre Montgomery plays the villain, and for most of the film I liked what he was did with the part, but again, when we get to his motivations for his actions, it just feels cheap and not fleshed out.
Another missed opportunity with this film is how tame it is. I mean, we’re talking about a reboot of one of the most vile films in history, and this film plays it way too safe in the violence and gore. Really. this film does not bring anything extreme to the table. This is more frustrating when you consider how much gore, sex, and nudity you can see in films now. I mean, just look at the Terrifier films, and this looks like a Marvel film by comparison. This was a huge missed opportunity to either just be gore-exploitation or become a commentary about our consumption of sex and violence, and it seemed this film wanted to have something to say, but it lost its message in the third act. It’s frustrating, because the film came in with a title that has cult status and immediately sets expectations. It’s one thing to subvert expectations, but this almost feels like a middle finger to those wanting something closer to the source material. As conflicted as I am about calling this Faces of Death, I still enjoyed most of the film, and it really could have been great if they took some bigger swings in the third act. While I still recommend this, I think if you’re wanting a film that explores extreme violence and the internet while telling a great story in the process, I recommend checking out Red Rooms and having a fun horror double feature.
Faces of Death is now streaming on Shudder.
