Faces of Death 4K Blu-ray delivers stunning video and great audio in this exceptional Blu-ray release
It began as a graphic exploration of the one destiny we cannot escape. It would soon become the most controversial, critically reviled and fastest selling documentary in home video history. Parents tried to stop it. Video stores had to hide it. Yet across the nation, millions found ways to secretly watch it...if they dared. Renowned pathologist Dr. Frances B. Gröss is your guide to the most bizarre and grisly death scenes ever recorded, from executions, assassinations and mass murder to suicide, disease and disasters. Three decades later, is it hardcore gross-out, elaborate hoax or still the ultimate forbidden movie? One thing is certain: you will never forget the original Faces of Death!
For more about Faces of Death 4K and the Faces of Death 4K Blu-ray release, see Faces of Death 4K Blu-ray Review published by Brian Orndorf on April 30, 2026 where this Blu-ray release scored 4.5 out of 5.
1978's "Faces of Death" is one of the most notorious cult films around. While it enjoyed a theatrical life during its initial release around the world, the
endeavor really exploded when it hit home video, allowing renters to enjoy a strange intimacy with a documentary that explores death. The original
feature became secret handshake cinema, notably with younger viewers, who treated the picture with caution, testing personal bravery to sit through
an endeavor specifically designed for maximum grisliness. The reputation of "Faces of Death" was positively nuclear, but the reality of actually sitting
through the offering is another story. While a documentary aiming to inspire horror and reflection on inhumanity, the viewing experience gets old quite
fast, with director "Conan Le Cilaire" (a pseudonym for John Alan Schwartz) making a shapeless slog at times, especially when the novelty of the
premise wears off.
Dr. Francis B. Gross (Michael Carr) is the host of "Faces of Death," with the pathologist sharing his interest in the ways of expiration. He's offering a
"tour" of his encounters, looking to deliver the realities of death through footage from his experiences. What's actually present here is a mix of news
footage and recreations that jump around the world, exploring the many ways of death, with Dr. Gross providing interpretation and explanation as
the endeavor tours finality. "Faces of Death" isn't messing around, opening with a display of open heart surgery before detailing the particulars of an
autopsy, delivering incredibly graphic imagery to snap viewers to attention, giving them a taste of what's to come.
What eventually follows is a fairly random assortment of scenes in "Faces of Death," which initially works with news footage, exploring a dog fight,
tribal activity in South America and Africa, and there's an extended visit to an American slaughterhouse. The carnage contained within these walls is
enough to turn Dr. Gross into a vegetarian. Reality is a major component of the documentary, and there are stretches of real-world horror, including
the beating and skinning of seals in Alaska (animal fans, this isn't the movie for you). Soon enough, "Faces of Death" starts to add recreations and
staged scenes to the mix, blurring the lines of authenticity in some ways. A sequence involving a middle eastern restaurant that permits customers
to bludgeon their own monkey and eat their brain is about as close to competent trickery as the production gets, using decent special effects to sell
an evening of culinary viciousness. Other attempts to pass off extraordinary danger as the real thing tend to fail, especially moments when animals
attack humans. And a trip to the electric chair for a prison execution brings amateur acting into the film, which kills the illusion.
The image presentation for "Faces of Death" is listed as "presented in Dolby Vision HDR and newly scanned and restored from its 35mm and 16mm
original camera elements." While never a pretty film to begin with, "Faces of Death" is successfully refreshed for its 4K debut, delivering a good amount
of detail, always reaching as far at the original cinematography allows. Textures are everywhere in the movie, especially with loving close-ups of dead
things, and gory events are preserved. Footage shot for the production looks the best, delivering reasonably deep backgrounds, and Dr. Gross's office is
dimensional. Color is vivid at times, with rich red blood the dominant hue throughout most of the feature. Greenery is also a major element, and looks
quite nice. Skin tones are natural. Blacks are deep. Highlights are tasteful. Grain is nicely resolved. Source is in decent shape, but elements of damage
are found along the way. And there's some blue discoloration on the right side of the frame during the desert beheading sequence.
The 2.0 DTS-HD MA provides a straightforward listening experience for "Faces of Death." Narration carries throughout the picture, and varies in quality,
with age noticeable. However, intelligibility is never threatened. Scoring supports with basic instrumentation and dramatic support. A few soundtrack
selections are encountered along the way, offering fresher vocals. Sound effects are basic in design.
"Choice Cuts" (16:14, SD) is a 2008 interview with editor Glenn Turner, who began his career in documentaries, receiving
an opportunity to work with director Conan Le Cilaire, who wanted to go "way beyond" other films on the subject of death. The interviewee recalls the
intensity of the news footage acquired for "Faces of Death," trying to satisfy Japanese investors, who wanted to make sure the picture would be as
graphic as possible. This required a plan of recreations to expand on the footage, with Turner even appearing in a few sequences, pulled into the
action by Le Cilaire. Technical achievements are highlighted, and personal stamina is recalled, with the footage becoming too much for the editor, who
considered leaving the project. Turner also reflects on actor Michael Carr, who enjoyed his association with the franchise.
"The Death Makers" (21:56, SD) is a 2008 interview with makeup FX artists Allan A. Apone and Douglas J. White, who
were hired to join a highly unusual project, handed newsreel footage to help study authentic death to aid in their efforts to recreate such horrors. The
interviewees detail work on several sequences in the picture, putting in a major effort to sell extremity, sharing mistakes, oddity, and anecdotes
encountered during the shoot. Apone and White also offer memories of a real dead body discovered on a beach during the shoot.
"Buried Footage" (13:54, HD) is a collection of outtakes from "Faces of Death," and the footage here provides valuable
insight into the creative process as the production team labored to generate "real" grisly moments. Included are clips from a bear attack sequence
and an alligator encounter, with the beast chained up and pulled into its "victim." There's more with the infamous monkey brains sequence as well.
"Archival Outtakes" (11:23, HD) provides more blood and guts from the "Faces of Death" shoot.
"Many Faces of Death" (19:57, HD) is an appreciation piece, featuring interviews with various fans of the "Faces of Death"
series.
"Faces of Death" is all over the place (even surveying the supernatural), and not in a compelling way. The picture merely touches on subjects, grabbing
graphic content when possible, and moves on quickly, which leads to a fatiguing viewing experience. It's pure exploitation, but Schwartz attempts to
attach some meaning to the endeavor, using the character of Dr. Gross to make things clinical and even a bit philosophical, as the doctor muses that
death is "one reality we can't avoid." Of course, this isn't an educational film, but a B-movie made during an era when audiences were drawn to
exploitative, unchallenged documentaries, believing anything they watched. In 2026, there's much easier access to the true barbarity of humanity, with
the internet experience making Schwartz's offering quaint by comparison. It's easy to respect the exhibition and distribution power of the title (and its
eventual sequels), and there's retro appeal in its delivery of taboo material, looking to shock with its content, tempting the curious with P.T. Barnum-
inspired salesmanship. However, "Faces of Death" isn't particularly well-crafted or focused, and while it does supply access to grim events, most of the
feature is fairly goofy, giving its audience a frustratingly messy, and eventually life-affirming (inspiring unintended laughs), sit.
Vinegar Syndrome has announced its April batch of releases. They are: Mutant (1984), Escape from Death (1989), Faces of Death (1978), Ténèbres Françaises (1970-1977), and Eurocrime Rarities: Volume 1 (1977-1980).
Dark Sky Films and MPI Home Video are preparing a Collector's SteelBook Edition of John Alan Schwartz's Faces of Death (1978). The release is scheduled to arrive on the market on March 17.