Faces of Death

Pathologist Francis B. Gröss states to the viewer that he has become interested with the transitional periods of life and death thanks to a recurring dream. He has accrued footage from several parts of the world in an effort to better understand and study the many "faces of death". In Mexico, Gröss has captured the mummified corpses of the deceased inhabitants of Guanajuato, as well as video of a dog fight. He next examines the natural predators of the Amazon rainforest and the ways in which they kill their prey. Footage of a live monkey being killed and its brain being eaten by guests of a banquet is also shown. A man is killed by an alligator, an act that Gröss calls a "violent retaliation from a creature who has suffered continued abuse from mankind".

Gröss next narrates over recordings of human deaths, the only species who kill for "greed". Assassin François Jordan is interviewed, admitting that he kills solely for payment, not for "political" or "social value". However, Gröss next introduces "another type of killer", "the one who kills for no apparent reason". A gunfight ensues between an armed murderer and a SWAT team; Gröss questions if the man's actions were caused by society. Soon after, Gröss exhibits video footage of criminal Larry DeSilva being executed by electric chair.

Footage of several more tragic accidents is shown, both animal and human. Gröss introduces his next topic, the idea that supernatural forces could exist. He meets with architect Joseph Binder, whose wife and son both died under tragic circumstances. He confides in the viewer that he believes that his deceased family remain as ghosts in his house and attempt to communicate with him. Gröss enlists the services of parapsychologists to verify this, and the team later manages to spot footprints and take photographs of the two apparitions. Binder later communicates with the spirits of his family through a medium, seemingly confirming the existence of life after death.

Gröss remarks that after studying Binder's case, he has concluded even "when we die, it isn't really the end", "the soul in each of us remains a traveller forever". Gröss ends by questioning if death is "the end of the beginning or the beginning of the end" and leaves the footage that he has shown to the viewer's interpretation.

• Michael Carr as Francis B. Gröss
• Samuel Berkowitz as victim
• Mary Ellen Brighton as suicide victim
• Thomas Noguchi as Chief Medical Examiner Coroner

The movie was written and directed by John Alan Schwartz (credited as "Alan Black" for writing and as "Conan LeCilaire" for directing). Schwartz also took credit as second unit director, this time as "Johnny Getyerkokov". He also appears in one of the segments of the film, as the leader of the alleged flesh eating cult in San Francisco and has brief appearances in several other movies of this series. This movie features Michael Carr as the narrator, and 'creative consultant' called "Dr. Francis B. Gröss", whose voice is reminiscent of Leonard Nimoy in the popular TV show In Search of.... John Alan Schwartz has said that this movie's budget was $450,000 and there are estimates that it has grossed more than $35 million worldwide in theatrical releases, not including rentals.[2]

According to Schwartz, the scene in the film wherein a murderer is executed by electric chair was achieved with the use of a fake chair built in a friend's loft and toothpaste to emulate saliva. Electric "zapping" sounds were added in post-production.[4]

The movie is often billed as "Banned in 40+ Countries", but this claim is doubtful. Although several of the human death scenes and one depicting a monkey being killed are obvious fakes[5] (with Allan A. Apone, make-up and special effects artists for the movie saying that about 40% of it is fake),[6] some of the footage is genuine. In their book Killing for Culture, authors David Kerekes and David Slater note that the nadir of the movie is the inclusion of an extreme fatal accident; "the shattered remains of a cyclist are seen under a semi-tractor trailer. The camera pans long enough to capture paramedics scooping up blood clots, brain matter, and clumps of hair from the tarmac – this incident is authentic and culled from newsreels."[7]

In June 1985, mathematics teacher Bart Schwarz showed the film to his class at Escondido High School in Escondido, California. Two of his students, Diane Feese and Sherry Forget, were so traumatised by the film that they both "developed an unnatural fear of dying and suffered emotional distress." The families of the two girls sued the school district and received a combined $100,000 settlement ($57,500 for Feese and $42,500 for Forget). Schwarz was suspended from the school for 15 days without pay, but was not fired.[15]

In November 1986, fourteen-year-old Rod Matthews bludgeoned classmate Shaun Ouilette[16] to death with a baseball bat. The idea to kill Ouilette was apparently conceived after Matthews viewed Faces of Death, curious what it would be like if he were to kill someone.[3]

Despite the film's reputation, it was received relatively poorly by critics. Review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reports that Faces of Death received a 25% critical approval rating of 12 surveyed critics; the average rating was 2.55/10.[17] Writing for the Kansas City Kansan, reviewer Steve Crum denounced the film as "crude, tasteless exploitation footage. Filmed carnage." He ended his review urging the viewer to "be ashamed to watch this garbage."[18]

Joshua Siebalt of Dread Central had mixed feelings about the film: "as a curiosity piece, Faces of Death is well worth a look, especially if you've not seen it in a very long time. As for its place in horror cinema history, well, that remains to be seen. As I said it's not a film that holds up very well at all, but considering how groundbreaking it was for its time, I doubt anyone will ever forget it. And while it is nice to have all of the myths about Faces finally addressed by the people who created it, it also takes some of the fun out if it, too."[19]

Christopher Kulik of DVD Verdict wrote, "The YouTube generation will be unable to comprehend what purpose the film served thirty years ago, and thus it's difficult to ignore how hopelessly dated Faces of Death really is. In short, it's a cinematic experiment which has long outlived its effects, although it remains compelling for film and horror buffs viewing the film in the proper perspective. For the curious virgins, I say give it a shot only if you can handle what has been described up until this point; if you can get through Faces of Death, then you can get through just about anything. Feel free to judge for yourself."[20]

In his review, Screen Anarchy's Ard Vijn was dismissive of the film, remarking that "many of the segments have lost their ability to shock, or can easily be recognized as fake by today's more media-savvy audience. Interesting as a curious bit of film history, but nothing more."[21]

It was ranked #50 on Entertainment Weekly's "Top 50 Cult Films of All Time" in 2003.[22]

A number of sequels were made. Faces of Death II, III, and IV, as well as Faces of Death: Fact or Fiction? (a "documentary" on the making of the series) were written and at least partially directed by John Alan Schwartz. Faces of Death V and VI were released in the mid-90s, and are compilations made up entirely of highlights from the first four movies, with no new footage, released in some countries where the original movies were banned. The first three featured Carr as "Dr. Gröss", although The Worst of Faces of Death (released between installments III and IV and consisting of highlights from the first three installments) instead featured Schwartz's brother, James Schwartz, as "Dr. Louis Flellis". Flellis explains that he accidentally killed "Dr. Gröss" while operating on him the prior week. However, in Faces of Death IV, Flellis explains the absence of Dr. Gröss by stating that he had killed himself, having been driven insane as a result of witnessing so much death.

Also released with the title Faces of Death VII, was a condensed version of Anton LaVey's 1989 film Death Scenes; and another assemblage of stock footage titled Faces of Death part 7 was released as an online file sometime during the late 1990s.

Faces of Death 8 followed soon after. Released only in Germany, and made by unknown individuals, it is a collection of mostly unrelated gore scenes from around the world, with no narration, and no on-screen credits, aside from its title.

In 1993, a copycat film, Traces of Death, was released. This movie contained significantly more real footage of actual deaths, including footage of the televised suicide of R. Budd Dwyer.

The rock music group Sonic Youth featured film clips from the electric chair and morgue scenes in the music video for the song "Mote" from their 1990 album Goo.

American singer-songwriter Amanda Palmer refers to the movie in her 2008 song "Guitar Hero" with the lyric "I'd rather pick up right where we left/ Making out to Faces of Death."

Rock group Cymbals Eat Guitars reference the movie in their 2014 song "XR" with the lyric "Here I am again at Ben's MySpace grave / And then out of nowhere the smell of his basement / Where we watched Faces of Death, and we regretted it".

• Official website
• Faces of Death on IMDb
• Faces of Death at AllMovie
• Faces Of Death: Fact Or Fiction?