USA, 1979
85m
colour
mono, English
An American mondo movie, banned in many territories, including the UK where it was designated a “video nasty”. Directed by John Alan Schwartz (using the pseudonym Conan Le Cilaire), its end credits contain a curious and ambiguously worded statement that suggests that some of the supposedly genuine footage was faked. Three official sequels followed, along with three compilations and a “making-of” documentary.
Premise
Coroner Dr Francis B. Gross presents a collection of footage showing the various horrible ways in which people (and sometimes animals) can die. Executions, tourists eating monkey brains and satanic orgies are all included (all faked) along with possibly real newsreel footage of accidents and disasters.
Credits
* = uncredited
Crew
Director: Conan Le Cilaire [real name: John Alan Schwartz]
© MCMLXXIX [1979] F.O.D. Productions
Executive Producer: William B. James
Producer: Rosilyn T. Scott
Associate Producer: Herbie Lee
Production Manager: Derek Walsch
Writer: John Alan Black [real name: Alan Schwartz]
Creative Consultant: Dr Francis B. Gross [real name: Michael Carr] [opening credits]
Creative Consultant: Dr Francis B. Gross portrayed by Michael Carr [closing credits]
Director of Photography (American Unit): Michael Golden
Director of Photography (European Unit): Dimetri Fermo
Editors: James Roy, Henri Ivon Simoné, Lauri Cushman
Music by: Gene Kauer
Make-up Effects Supervisor: Peter Knowlton *
Art Design: M.E.L.
Exiguous scenes within this motion picture have been reconstructed to document and further clarify their factual origin
Cast
Dr Francis B. Gross [real name: Michael Carr] (narrator)
Thomas Noguchi [himself] *
John Alan Schwartz [leader of flesh-eating cult] *
Alternative Titles
O anthropos, afto to ktinos – Greek title
Las caras de la muerte – Argentine video title
Le facce della morte – Italian title
Face à la mort – French title
Gesichter des Todes – West German title
Gesichter des Todes Vol. 1 – West German title
Junk – Shi to sangeki – Japanese title
The Original Faces of Death – US video title
Wei shi da jie shu – Hong Kong title
Sequels
Faces of Death 2 (1981)
Faces of Death 3 (1985)
Faces of Death 4 (1990)
Faces of Death 5 (1996)
Faces of Death 6 (1996)
Extracts included in
Tesis (1996)
The Worst of Faces of Death (1987)
See also
Death: The Ultimate Mystery (1975)
Faces of Death: Fact or Fiction? (1999)
References
Periodicals
The Dark Side September 1995 pp.8-9 – article
Books
Art of the Nasty by Marc Morris and Nigel Wingrove – credits, note
Hoffman's Guide to Science Fiction, Horror and Fantasy Movies 1991-1992 p.129 – credits, review
Killing for Culture: An Illustrated History of Death Film from Mondo to Snuff by David Kerekes, David Slater pp.142-146, 190-196, 331 – article
The Seduction of the Gullible (2nd edition) by John Martin pp.81-83 – credits, review
