Is Faces of Death a cult classic? It definitely fits the “cult” part, but I’m not sure if this seedy “horror movie” ever graduated to classic status. In any case, Faces of Death is getting a collector’s edition in the form of a Blu-ray steelbook. It’s up for preorder now (see it at Amazon) for $39.98 and is set to release March 5.
Faces of Death - Collector's Edition
This collector’s edition is a new release of the original 1978 film, directed by John Alan Schwartz. Some of the deaths are real and others are fake. The whole thing is presented as a documentary, hosted by the fictional Dr. Francis B. Gröss, who shares his fascination with death with the audience.
According to Wikipedia, “Approximately 60% of the film was real footage bought from news stations, medical researchers, witnesses of the Flight 182 crash, graphic war footage, deleted footage from other documentaries, and/or filmed by the actual crew in morgues or on a beach.” The rest is fake, including one scene in which the director himself plays the leader of a flesh-eating cult.
Bonus Features
- New: “Many Faces of Death”
- Commentary with Director Conan Le Cilaire
- “Choice Cuts” featurette with Editor Glenn Turner
- “The Death Makers” featurette with FX creators Allan A. Apone and Douglas J. White
- Deleted Scenes
- Trailer
- Outtakes
I was a teenager in the 1990s – a simpler time. This was before cameras were recording everything, and also before a curious teen could navigate to the seedy side of the internet to see gross videos. In other words, many people had never seen anyone die.
For my friends and me, Faces of Death was a series of VHS tapes that offered just that. Each installment was a collection of otherwise unrelated videos of people and/or animals meeting their doom in a variety of ways. The footage was often grainy, the camera work unstable. It all seemed real, and it was ugly. Watching it made you feel bad.
But you were also sort of intrigued. You definitely watched it with friends, and it was like a game of chicken: you didn’t want to be the first to lose your nerve and turn it off. The movie had a seedy, cultish, morbid grotesque air to it – and for good reason. The marketing for the movie boasted that it was "banned in 46 countries." So even though I now know some of it is fake, it's still wild to me to see it getting a steelbook collector's edition.
Faces of Death is very much a product of its pre-internet time. But pop culture is cyclical, and so it’s no surprise that a 2026 remake is in the works. It stars Barbie Ferreira and Charli XCX. We'll see if the name can still pull an audience to a movie that will surely be a much different beast than the original.
Chris Reed is a commerce editor and deals expert for IGN. He also runs IGN's board game and LEGO coverage. You can follow him on Bluesky.
Continue reading...