Faces of Death III

Faces of Death 3 (1985) D: Conan le Cilaire (John Alan Schwartz). Michael Carr, John Alan Schwartz. Incredibly fake third entry in the FACES OF DEATH series is nothing more than a collection of re-enactments and cheesy acting in supposed `death footage.' The piece on `serial killer' Michael Lorenzo (played by director John Alan Schwartz, credited here as Conan le Cilaire) is especially dumb (and badly acted). What's worse is the budget looks larger this time around, proving that you don't have to be low budget to create cinematic trash (if you even want to describe this monstrosity as `cinematic'). Being a subject in a death clip (being burned alive or hell, why not getting my throat slashed) would be preferable to having to sit through this junk. RATING: 1 out of 10. Not Rated (MATURE AUDIENCES ONLY).

Faces of Death III (1985)

1/2 (out of 4)

The third entry in the series is without a question the worst and what makes it so bad is the fact that the filmmaking is just embarrassing. There's only one "real" bit of footage here and that's a brief sequence inside a chicken slaughterhouse. Outside of that everything here is poorly re-enacted sequences that actually try to pass themselves off as being real.

FACES OF DEATH was a success because it tried to claim it was 100% real but it did a very good job for the most part and the viewer couldn't tell what was real or fake. It's sequel was poorly made but had a few interesting clips throughout. FACES OF DEATH III is about as poor as you can get because of how poorly filmed these re-enactments are. I mean, did John Alan Schwartz really expect people to believe what they were seeing was real? The only thing that saves this from a BOMB rating is that some of it is so bad that you can't help but laugh. Check out the guy cracked out on PCP who doctors try to force medicine into.

The most memorable sequence here is one where a parachute jumper accidentally lands in a crocodile pit. This sequence is once again poorly filmed but there seemed to be a bit more attempt at doing something real. Other sequences like the police shoot outs and a really bad bomb explosion are just downright embarrassing. FACES OF DEATH III might appeal to bad movie lovers but everyone else should just stay clear.

If you are expecting this to be another mondo shock-u-mentary, than you are very wrong. This is just a collection of reinactments from various stories, from serial killers to drug busts. The only real life footage shows workers in a chicken factory preparing birds for consumption. Hmm, anyone for kfc. I cant believe i watched this from start to finish. After about 10 minutes i couldnt wait for this to end. Avoid at ALL costs!

Okay, first of all, if a man is being convicted for the rape and murder of a woman, and the main piece of evidence against him is a hand-held video of the assault, one would think the law might also want to go after the guy holding the camera. This "documentary" is populated with shaggy-haired mustachioed police men and soldiers who all look alike and spout such incredible kitchen sink moments as, "this place is going to hell!" and "I hope someone gets those bastards!" And I swear to god that the narrator said a cut could become "infested".

If you're looking for wild animals attacking sides of beef dressed in coats and hats (the beef, not the wild animals - that at least would be a curiosity) make this your first stop.

The "Faces of Death" series nearly bottoms out here, with nothing more than one video-taped reenactment after another. The original film dealt with various cultures preparing for death. Part II dealt primarily with stunts gone wrong. This film focuses largely on serial killers, or mock serial killers. A lengthy sequence involving a supposed killer on the loose in what was called 'a major city in the United States' goes on forever and is obviously fake - why don't they ever mention where this crime supposedly took place?

I don't think that any of this footage is real, except for the scenes in the slaughterhouse, but you can watch the first movie to see that. The sequence allegedly depicting the serial killer/ rapist (played by the writer/ director John Alan Schwartz) looks like it was filmed in someone's garage, and it probably was. The tired, sickly looking narrator only appears on screen for a few minutes in the entire movie, and his scenes look like they were shot on a camcorder.

The German version of this one includes a couple of sequences not shown in the US version: a guy in an ape costume is supposed to be Bigfoot, "proving his existence". A clergyman, possibly played by writer/ director John Alan Schwartz's brother, James, in a ridiculous looking beard, driving and speaking German poorly, on his way to perform an exorcism, in the following scene. After the suicide jumper's death, police speak to his wife, before putting her in a squad car (with absolutely no identifying markings or names, pretty much showing us that the sequence is faked)