Doctors perform delicate surgery on a patient. Immediately afterwards, the head surgeon, Dr. Francis B. Gröss (Michael Carr) leaves the theatre and discards his scrubs in the trash as he walks down a corridor. He begins to explain to the viewer his lifelong obsession with the nature of violence and death and mankind’s relation to it. With the use of narration, Gröss attempts to explore aspects of violence in all cultures around the world, from state-sanctioned executions and farmyard beheadings to suicides and war atrocities. He also describes a recurring nightmare that he has had for many years that had first begun his curiosity with death. Amongst the various sequences were Adolf Hitler and Samuel Berkowitz, who died in California at the age of seventy-six and was then cryogenically frozen.

Faces of Death is one of the infamous movies that has built up an urban legend and has been the cause of debate for many years due to rumours that the footage was fake. The lack of recognisable stars seemed to add an element of authenticity to it but it was clear that something was not right. After decades of speculation, it was eventually revealed that the elusive LeCilaire was in fact John Alan Schwartz, who had since wrote episodes of such shows as The Fall Guy, Knight Rider and Street Hawk. This discovery only further fuelled discussions on whether or not the movie was fiction, specifically with the discovery that the supposed ‘creative consultant’ and presenter Gröss was really an actor.

The mondo sub-genre is one of the most disturbing to have penetrated the mainstream and would become a prominent influence on the Italian cannibal and zombie cycles of the 1970s and early 1980s. Whilst the hype surrounding Mondo Cane had long since died down by the time of the release of Faces of Death almost twenty years later, interest in this type of film still thrived and so LeCilaire’s picture became a phenomenal success, allegedly being banned in over forty countries (inevitably it found its way onto the UK’s ‘video nasty’ list). With the public believing that the footage was one hundred percent real (as they had done several years earlier with Michal and Roberta Findlay’s tedious splatter Snuff), word-of-mouth transformed the low budget feature into a sensation.

Faces of Death is by no means the most disturbing movie ever made and most likely does not deserve the reputation it has gained, but it is not as bad as many of its detractors have stated either. The way in which the film has been compiled suggests that it is a scientific exploration on violence and man’s taste for blood. The narration Gröss provides is delivered in a professional manner and sounds at times genuine, although you can’t help but be sceptical with some of his tales. Carr gives a monotone performance which makes him seem less like an actor and more like a doctor, clearly LeCilaire’s intention. Those scenes that are real do shock, including the beheading of livestock, only to watch the headless bird run in circles around the farmyard. This sequence may convert a few viewers to become vegetarian.

Schwartz should be applauded for his ingenious ability to convince the world for so many years that the movie was authentic, something that the makers of The Blair Witch Project tried more recently. Allegedly, acclaimed makeup artist Allan A. Apone worked on many of the special effects and whatever work he provided proved to be effective enough. The main problem with Faces of Death, and indeed the mondo cycle in general, is that it is just not that entertaining or enthralling. Perhaps as a morbid curiosity it works for a while, but the novelty eventually wears off and the film becomes somewhat tedious and repetitive. Carr’s voice also becomes annoying, remaining at the same droll pitch throughout and thus losing the interest of the viewer. Certainly an interesting and bold movie but not necessarily a classic.

Purchase Faces of Death here:

Share on Facebook

Tweet This Post

• REVIEW – Four of the Apocalypse
• CULT – Mansion of the Doomed