Smoreni Zmaj Extremely disgusting, somewhat interesting and even informative, but terribly done and completely ruined with spirit rapping at the end.Movie is full of real footage of dead bodies, catastrophic accidents and body parts scattered all around. So, only for those with strong stomach and serious excess of free time.I don't know why did I even watch this at all, but at the other hand I'm not sorry that I did. I have completely mixed feelings about this.And again I need more lines to submit...And one more... And one more...Still isn't enough...Here we are :D

cherootvendors This is one of the few Video Nasties that fully deserved its place on the final DPP list. As an individual who ideologically opposes censorship, I found myself surprisingly shocked by the BBFC's decision to pass this (albeit with minor cuts) for DVD, and even today it is one of the few Video Nasties that I cannot watch without needing to turn it off. While I agree that adults should have the right to view whatever they wish (as long as the work in question does not break the law), I do find myself wondering what kind of person enjoys watching this sort of material. (Even as I write I cannot help but shake my head at my own hypocrisy...) This grisly, macabre compilation of both real-life and faked death footage belongs to a subgenre of the documentary film known as 'mondo', initiated in 1966 by the Italian exploitation film Mondo Cane (although the recording of actual human death goes right back to the dawn of cinema). Along with the video Executions, Faces of Death represents the most extreme and disgusting end of this subgenre (that I'm aware of at any rate), and presents a string of death-themed scenes including suicide, accidents and execution. The fact that some scenes (most famously a death row electrocution and the eating of 'live' monkey brains) are faked does little to reduce the impact of this film, which from start to finish reeks of both death and exploitation. What surprises me is not so much that Faces of Death presents itself as a serious documentary (complete with a bogus doctor narrating in serious tones), but that the BBFC's regulations allow for the use of real-life death footage in this clearly exploitative context. And yet they ban video documentaries such as Hooligans and Terrorists, Sickos and Other Wackos for having no discernible educational context. At least such material has the courage (stupidity?) to present itself for what it is: sick morons stringing together repugnant images for the entertainment of other sick morons. Indeed, such a distinction marks hard-core pornography and the Lovers' Guide style of 'sex education' videos that emerged during the late 1980s, when 'documentarians' realised they could make '18' rated sex tapes as long as the action was interspersed by some 'expert' providing an academic commentary. Unsurprisingly, Faces of Death does not illuminate the subject of its title; rather than revealing historical, cultural and spiritual truths about mortality, it merely serves to emphasise the ugly faces of humanity.Film: * (out of 5) Nastiness: ***** (out of 5)

BA_Harrison Of all the titles to make it onto the official UK DPP Video Nasties list during the video witch-hunt of the 1980s, Faces of Death has got to be one of the most disturbing. Presented as a factual documentary by pathologist Dr. Francis B. Gröss (Michael Carr), the film is, in reality, an exploitative combination of graphic, real-life violence and simulated scenes of nastiness designed to cash in our morbid curiosity about violent death; those looking for an educational experience will no doubt feel let down by the lack of in-depth insight, but those wishing to test their limits will not be disappointed by the catalogue of atrocities on display.Bona fide news reports of limb-strewn disasters, bloody shootings and suicides, authentic footage of autopsies, and disgusting scenes of animal cruelty rub shoulders with staged accidents, faux wild animal attacks, and fake executions (most of which fail to convince, but a few of which are brilliantly executed using excellent effects). The result is a thoroughly nauseating trawl through a world of blood, guts and sudden, violent death—frequently shocking, sometimes laughable, often rather tedious (the film drags on for 105 bloody minutes!), but undeniably powerful and fully deserving of its notoriety.

Rapeman Faces of Death is one of the most well-known Mondo films out there. Over the years many a teenager has rented / downloaded this film or one of its sequels and sat down with some buddies, some beer 'n' weed and tried to gross themselves out. It's almost like a rite of passage for many horror fans and is often the catalyst in opening the door to the darker, more extreme side of cinema.After an intro of graphic autopsy footage we are introduced to Dr. Francis Gross, who in his own words, has a "compulsion to understand death", he has travelled all around the world looking into the various faces of death in his attempts to comprehend it. Dr. Gross' introductory monologue and narration for the duration of the film is pseudo-intellectual bullshit extolling the value of life and how death should be looked in the face if we wish to understand and not be afraid of it. His dialogues true purpose is to serve as an acceptable excuse to show us some exploitive, gory, and mostly fake death scenes.The first quarter of the film is mainly made up of animal violence / cruelty - we see pit-bulls fighting, tribesmen killing and eating cattle, slaughterhouse stock footage, some dude shooting seals with an M-16 (!), and the 'infamous' (and once again fake) monkey brain eating scene where at a restaurant some rich folks crack open a live monkey's skull and eat his brains which are supposedly a delicacy. Most of the animal stuff isn't shocking and is really nothing worse than what you'd see on the National Geographic channel.The remaining three quarters of the film mostly involves humans: we witness a gator attack; an assassination and subsequent interview with the assassin, executions, suicides, death, religious & cannibal cults, a bear attack, concentration camp and holocaust images & stock footage, stunts gone wrong, car & train crashes, etc. etc. Pretty much all this footage is obviously simulated and the stuff that isn't is basically the kinda stuff you see on the news daily anyway (aside from the autopsies of course).Overall I found Faces of Death has dated really badly and seems like nothing more than tired (and really boring) shock tactics, which is exactly what it is. The simulated scenes which make up 85% of the film are atrociously acted, the gore looks obviously fake and the "creepy" synth and sometimes jolly jazz score just add to the schlock. Purely for stoned teenagers looking for some cheap thrills but even then, they'll probably be disappointed when nowadays films like August Underground and the like are so easily accessible.