Traces of Death

Without a doubt one of the most atrocious movies (made for $18?) you're ever going to find, "Death" or otherwise. The great majority of the movie is still-photographs of murders, suicides, electrocutions, car crashes, and it's mostly SILENT FOOTAGE, so that little bonehead Damon Fox added in some horrendous, canned background music, and his own idiotic narration to fill that particular void. Damon has the personality of a toilet plunger, so why would we need to hear what he has to say? Why did Damon not address the allegations of his pedophilic convictions, alcoholism, and various other sundry affairs in his bone- gratingly bad narrative, or in his lengthy, and wholly fraudulent, bio?

By the way, to Damon Fox, clever title that you came up with for this. What did it take you, maybe all of about four seconds to think of that title? "Faces of Death" and "Traces of Death" may have similar titles, but they're nothing at all like each other. Faces of Death was a brilliantly marketed movie. Its tag "Banned in XX countries" made people believe that it really had been banned in many countries all over the world, which only made many people want to see this to see what the big deal was. It was largely fake, but was coherently put together, and told its mock story well enough to make it involving.. Faces of Death at least had a sleazy, trashy documentary feel to it, some attempt at a sequence or progression from one scene to the next.

None of that here though.

This is just one still-photograph of brains splattered on the wall after another, another silent video of someone crushed in a compactor after that, all edited together without any progression from one scene to the next, with that annoying hairball Damon providing a thoroughly obnoxious and grating narrative. His fraudulent bio on IMDb is pitiful, claiming to be a big time film producer, musician, alleging that he graduated high school when he was 12 years old, etc. Why did IMDb bother to add such nonsense? What a pathetic fraud Damon he is, and what a pathetic video this was. We can only hope that his death comes soon. Few times has a movie made me as angry as this, or has a worthless waste of life like Damon made me as angry as this has. Rot in Hell, Damon.

Damon, and every copy of this, should be burnt, and the ashes sent into deep space, to never be seen again.

Most human beings look at death with a sense of fear, but also of great interest, and this film caters to that interest. It speaks to the side of you that pays close attention when passing car accidents on the highway in the hopes of seeing as much as you can, that side of you that has always wondered what the process of an autopsy looks like, or what really happens in a gender-reassignment surgery. This film shows it all, and in gruesome, no-holds-barred detail. It showcases countless individuals' final moments, as well as freak accidents, among other things that can't really even be mentioned here. This film is ultimately nothing more than a compilation of footage from external sources. There's no plot; just a series of grotesque images and scenes playing out with a narration that tries too hard to be frightening. It is, without question, one of the most exploitative pieces of entertainment ever made in the sense that it makes a spectacle (even editing footage of a man shooting himself into the kind of early, pre-meme style editing you would see in the beginning days on YouTube) of other people's deaths, suffering and medical procedures. That being said, the medical procedures themselves are highly interesting, and feel a lot less exploitative. They take up a large chunk of the film, with music playing behind the procedures. Again, it speaks to that part of you that wants to wander behind closed doors and see exactly what happens. It satisfied a long-running curiosity, but at what cost? This is not a film that can really be recommended to anyone. In fact, it's best left forgotten as a product of its time, not given the time of day (I say as I sit here writing a review about it). It's blatant disrespect for the dead, and it's presented as one would expect a mockumentary of false events of peril to be presented; the entire film, while gravely serious in content, isn't particularly concerned with maintaining seriousness for the dead. It downplays the true tragedy of the loss of human life and, in turn, presents a message that "the reaper" is waiting for you and, one day, he's gonna catch you and you'll wind up like the people that were shown in the film. While that may technically be true, it's a tasteless message to drop in a film showcasing actual tragedies. Having watched everything they crammed into that 75-odd minute film, it does present an interesting perspective on mortality, and it's something that no modern horror film would ever give you (my thoughts immediately went to the recent, horrendous Stephen King adaptations that come a dime a dozen from the Warner Bros. and Netflix machines in these past few years... can we stop with those already?). This goes where traditional film refuses to go, and it feels as cheap as it is. On an estimated budget of only $18 (the footage must've all been public domain, so the budget was probably used to pay the voice actor for the 10 minutes or so of awful narration involved in the thing). One of the things that I cannot stomach in film, however, what needs to be talked about here, is animal cruelty. This film makes the ever-notorious Cannibal Holocaust look like a Disney film by comparison to this. At least in Cannibal Holocaust, the kills were relatively quick, according to animal rights reports. This has a too-long scene of a bound-up pig being torched alive. It has nothing to do with anything else you see on the screen; it comes out of nowhere, and it goes away with no purpose. It was one of the most uncomfortable scenes I've ever had the displeasure of sitting through, and something I can only pray to never have exposure to again.

Overall, this film is for the morbidly curious. It's sad in the sense that there have been VHS and DVD releases of this film that have been fairly successful, and that people have these tasteless exploitations of death proudly on their shelves. It's not something anybody can really enjoy. If anything, it's a harsh wake-up call to the realities of life. Part of life is death, and this film showcases that in a brutally blunt manner. It's something that's important to think about, but only the truly insane would dwell upon the content of this film, let alone suffer a second viewing and beyond. It's a one-and-done deal kind of movie.

I will not be viewing any of the subsequent entries into this "series."

Traces of death is the most disgusting film in the world. All the deaths in this movie are 100% real. This movie is not for anyone who can't handle blood and gore. The nature of this movie is really graphic. This is not one of those Horror films with actors pretending to get killed. No, this movie is beyond that. It's real video footage of people getting killed. Watch this movie at your own risk.

I give this film 5 out of 10 (because it grossed me out sooo much)

Adequate compilation of grotesque archive footage, including actual scenes of murder, suicide, animal attacks, surgeries, autopsies, and (unfortunately) a whole lot more. This poorly edited and atrociously narrated tape is a real endurance test for anyone who's never seen this kind of imagery, and despite its many negative points, it certainly succeeds where FACES OF DEATH doesn't: it's all 100% real. This particular volume features former Pennsylvania State Treasurer R. Budd Dwyer blowing his brains out on live television, a male to female sex change operation, Pit Durnet being eaten by lions at a drive-thru safari in front of his shocked family, and among other things, a pig being burned alive with a blowtorch. Quality entertainment for the entire family!

One of the most goriest movies I've ever saw, not for people who can't handle blood! It's very interesting to see how people die, the highlight of the movie is when the pitbull attacks the animal control lady. Various scenes from traffic accidents, murder, and gang violence! Another highlight of the movie is when they show a sex change operation, the person goes from woman to man! All in all, a very good video if you want to gross somebody out!