3/5 A True Horror Collectible
  by Brian Lueth (Chicago, IL United States)
Gorgon's newest Hi-Def release of Faces of Death looks great, sounds terrific and still manages to thoroughly disturb but the true beauty of this release is the audio commentary by writer/director John Alan Schwartz (as Conan Le Cilaire), a featurette featuring interviews with FX creators Douglas J. White and Allan A. Apone and a featurette on the editing. Folks, this is the absolute best reason to purchase this disc, period. If you're a true fan of this series, this is one release you should positively add to your collection. The information given by Schwartz on this series is priceless and it sheds an incredible amount of light on the creation of the series as well as the urban legends and legal issues that plagued the productions.

If you haven't seen FOD and you're wondering whether it's a good film or not, well, that's subjective. I'm passionate about Mondo films so my opinion of this film may be far more generous than some might feel it deserves but in the end you'll just have to see it for yourself and make up your own mind; you'll love it, hate it or not give a diddle either way. The clips of slaughterhouses, dog fights, seal hunts, autopsies, mass murder, animal attacks and natural disasters are still just as troubling as they were in the early-eighties so prepare yourselves and your fellow viewers before just jumping in blindly; it's not for the faint of heart.

You either both love and own this or you don't, if you do love this film and you don't own this, grab two copies, one on DVD and the other on Blu-Ray. I was so happy to see this release and the awesome extras that I recall giggling when I got it in the mail. Yeah, giggling. Faces of Death is a childhood memory that I'll never forget and Gorgon, along with Red Shirt Pictures, have done a commendable job on this release, showing it the love and attention it deserves.

4/5 Very nice release!
  by J. A Miller (Computer Chair)
A film like FOD deserves to have a special release for it's 30th anniversary. I think this release will spark a lot of new comers to the film. Because of this, I think it is important to view this film completely within the context of when it was made. This hardly seems shocking in 2009 and we also now know much of it was faked. However, the way in which it was faked is pure genious. The way they were able to match film stocks, exposure and shooting style for each individual scene is really quite remarkable. Sure, you can tell now that some of the famous scenes are not real, but it is still hard to tell which shots are original and which are recreated within each individual scene.

The overall transfer is very good looking. It was also released on Blu-Ray but I really can't imagine that it looks so much better than this version. The special features are very nice. Special segments from the FX team and the editor are very interesting to watch. The audio commentary is also very good.

Anyway, nice treatment to such a classic and noteworthy film.

4/5 Not what I was hoping for...
  by Krystle M. Webb (Edmonton, AB, Canada)
Well we had heard about this movie through a friend of ours...He told us that you see people beign murdered, committing suicide, etc etc. We believed it was a true story, and that there was no acting. So we were very disappointed to see the special features, on how they created the scenes!

2/5 Faces of death
  by Knut A. Myrseth
As i knew the UNCUT version of this from my Danish tape i was disusted to see that this "30TH ANNIVERSARY edition" was missing a scene that lasts about 4 minutes !!
Would have thought that they released it uncut when going through the trobles of making a "3oth Anniversay"....


4/5 Faces of Death
  by Steward Willons
If you're like me, you've been hearing about the mysterious Faces of Death - a film supposedly banned in 43 countries, a film so depraved and disgusting that one could barely stand to finish it. The following comments are my reactions to the film as a fan of exploitation cinema, and cultural extremes in general.

Faces of Death has quite a reputation, but it seems that very few people have actually seen it. Needless to say, there's no way the film will live up to its own hype. The narration is predictable, all the scenes involving human death are faked, and the final twenty minutes are basically newsreel footage, which we've all seen elsewhere. The film runs around 105 minutes, which is way too long for something of this nature. If the film was cut to 68-80 minutes, as most exploitation films are, all we would lose is some bland narration and a lot of World War 2 footage.

However, the film is now a cultural artifact and it's most definitely worth seeing, provided you're a fan of horror movies, exploitation films, or bizarre fringe relics. Even though it isn't really a strong film itself, its influence makes it worth viewing. I image that your viewing experience will greatly effect your reaction to the film. If you're in high school and you're sneaking this movie into a slumber party, I'm sure it's amazing. It's not that I expect a film like this to be high quality - that would be silly. I just want to help prospective viewers manage their expectations.

The only real death you see is in the beginning where we see all sorts of animals slaughtered. It's not as bad as it sounds though. The animals weren't killed for the film, but rather as part of the routine slaughtering that happens everyday. I realize that this doesn't make much difference to some people, but at least the killing was nothing out of the ordinary.

On the positive side, I'm sure the film has never looked better. The original footage that makes up the majority of the film is about as clean and clear as one can expect with a cheap film like this. The audio is not great, but I'm sure the original recordings weren't great either. I have to wonder if the video quality colored my experience. I can imagine watching it on a third-generation dubbed VHS tape with severely degraded pictures giving the film a gritty realism - a realism that hides its obviously staged footage.

There are some interesting bonus features, which probably justify purchasing the 30th Anniversary Edition. The commentary track is moderately interesting, as is the featurette with the FX team - the team that managed to fool hundreds of thousands of teens over the last 30 years. There are some outtakes and deleted scenes that are similarly decent. Again though, I have to wonder if all this exposure will ruin the mystique. Once we can go buy the DVD at Best Buy, it's no longer an obscure item of obscene curiosity. Are the horrors less scary with the lights on, so to speak?