Faces of Death IV

Every once in a while I google Faces of Death just to see what's out there, and I found this site. I was working one of the god-awfullest jobs in my EMT career in NYC one morning in 1988 at around 6:30 when we got the call for a "space case" in the subway at W. 66 and Broadway. This poor unfortunate trying to cross from the Uptown side to the Downtown side via the tracks, and didn't quite scramble up to the platform quickly enough before the train rolled in. Well, it was rush hour, and we were surrounded by freelance photographers and videographers trying to catch their last footage of the night (or first of the day) for the TV news, and our "patient" was still alive, although unconscious, so we had to offer advanced life support and remove him with the help of ESU. Apparently whoever took this footage couldn't sell it to the news in time, so he sold it instead to this monster who does the Faces of Death videos. You know, this was a serious call. I had the smell of that victim on me for days. But it was a public place, blah blah blah...fair game. P.S. He lived long enough to make it to the ER where he hung on even longer. Jesus, his torso was so twisted around, how did he last as long as he did!!!? It was grueling for us all the way to the bitter end. Oh, by the way, one of those paramedics working with me on the subway platform is Joe Connelly who wrote the book (which became a movie) Bringing out the Dead.

As a Pathology/Histology Technician I have the ability to both see and experience the most saddest aspect of life, and that is the passing of a fellow human being. As such, I think not only should Faces of Death be revealed as it truly is, an insensitive exploitation of those unable to speak for themselves, it should also be banned for the violation of their rights as fellow human beings. In the industry of death, we all hold dignity, respect and compassion as our first priority to those who have crossed over and that death being a personal experience should not be mocked for the purposes of advancing ones own financial interests...the producers should really contemplate their intents, and people who are not registered Pathologists should not call themselves as such.

I'd say about 90% of this movie is fake. It's not shocking or anything. The doctor was pretty fun. I love it when he pulls out the gun and says that he defends his rights, and the other goofy things he says. The real footage is just brief clips of news footage of people getting beat and stuff, nothing really gory. It's insane it's considered so shocking...I'd say it's only PG-13.

Mindless direct-to-video continuation of the "Faces of Death" series, basically this is just a remake of the highlights from the first movie, but this time there is a new narrator in the bald, bug eyed "Dr. Louis Flellis" talking about his obsession with death and the afterlife all the while sitting in front of a bright glowing lava lamp(!). Did the original narrator really die, like it says in this movie? Or did he just not want to do another sequel and this is just part of the story? The guy in the auto yard that supposedly had his leg severed when a car fell on him doesn't make any sense: wouldn't the car have fallen on top of him, crushing his entire body, not just his leg? I also liked the mental patient that was wearing a bright yellow jumpsuit with the word "FELON" clearly written on the back of it.

Curiously, the thief that was locked in the airtight bank vault for over 40 hours and supposedly suffocated also looked strangely like this series' writer/ director/ producer etc. John Alan Schwartz. Can it be another one of his cameos? Who knows?

This movie is a perfect example of where curiosity leads us in life. Faces Of Death 4, like the previous films, dares to shock us with more violent images of (supposed) true life horror. It did it for me.....and will forever leave an impression on my mind that I'd rather not have.