15. aug, 2014

Weird Movie Corner: Faces Of Death (1978)

It's hard to believe now that back in the 70's and 80's the jaded video viewer could settle down with movies like Headless Eyes, Bloodrace, The Corpse Grinders and Lady, Stay Dead, but indeed they could - which probably helps explain why the world is in such a mess today! But let's strike up the banned and talk about the mondo film - mockumentary Faces Of Death. A film that is often billed as Banned in 40+ Countries, but actually it has only been banned (at least temporarily) in Austria, Norway, Finland, New Zealand and The United Kingdom. Faces Of Death guides the viewer through explicit scenes depicting a variety of ways to die and violent acts. Although several of the ''human death'' scenes are obvious fakes, some of the footage is genuine. I first watched the film when I was thirteen years old. I knew of it's reputation and I simply had to see it. So, when my parents went out for the day, I ran to the local video store and rented the film. I remember I was really shocked by it. This film left such an impression in my mind that many years later I purchased the whole series. A number of sequels were made by then and the film had many rip-offs like Death Faces and Traces of Death. After viewing it again it no longer frightened me. Also, I knew by then that 40% of the film was fake. Actually I was kind of disgusted by myself for watching it. I think the reason why I watched it, is because of the fascination with violence and death that is in me and many of us. And although the generation of today will not understand why this movie stirred up so much controversy, Faces Of Death is definitely an interesting part of our movie history.