Faces of Death (1978) – WTF Happened to This Horror Movie?

A new episode of the WTF Happened to This Horror Movie? video series has just been released, and in this one the movie we’re looking into is the infamous 1978 box office hit Faces of Death (get it HERE). A movie that mixes footage that was shot by writer/director John Alan Schwartz (credited as Conan Le Cilaire and Alan Black) with actual footage of real human and animal deaths. To hear more about Faces of Death, check out the video embedded above.

In Faces of Death,

a coroner (Dr. Francis B. Gröss) shows scenes of gruesome deaths from around the world both real and re-enacted.

Dr. Francis B. Gröss was played by Michael Carr.

This is what the WTF Happened to This Horror Movie series is all about:

Hollywood has had its fair share of historically troubled productions. Whether it was casting changes, actor deaths, fired directors, in-production rewrites, constant delays, budget cuts or studio edits, these films had every intention to be a blockbuster, but were beset with unforeseen disasters. Sometimes huge hits, sometimes box office bombs. Either way, we have to ask: WTF Happened To This Horror Movie?

The Faces of Death episode of WTF Happened to This Horror Movie? was Written by Matthew Pejkovic, Edited by Brandon Nally, Narrated by Jason Hewlett, Produced by Lance Vlcek and John Fallon, and Executive Produced by Berge Garabedian.

A couple of the previous episodes of the show can be seen below. To see more, head over to our JoBlo Horror Originals YouTube channel – and subscribe while you’re there!

What do you think of Faces of Death? Let us know by leaving a comment! I have actually never seen this one, or any of its sequels. Or any of the Traces of Death movies. I saw them on video store shelves all the time, but never rented them.

Source: Arrow in the Head

About the Author

Cody is a news editor and film critic, focused on the horror arm of JoBlo.com, and writes scripts for videos that are released through the JoBlo Originals and JoBlo Horror Originals YouTube channels. In his spare time, he's a globe-trotting digital nomad, runs a personal blog called Life Between Frames, and writes novels and screenplays.