Back in May, Daniel Goldhaber’s “Faces of Death” reboot was given a hard R rating by the MPA for “strong bloody violence, gore, sexual content, nudity, language, and drug use.”
That rating announcement meant that Goldhaber’s film, shot in April 2023, was officially done post-production. Six months later, the film still has no U.S. distribution. It’s going to be a tough sell, but Goldhaber is coming off the well-reviewed “How to Blow Up A Pipeline,” so hopefully someone bites and picks this one up.
The project, spearheaded by Legendary Entertainment, is said to be a modern take on the premise of the 1978 cult classic. Much like Goldhaber’s last few films, “Faces of Death” is said to have a very measly budget as it was only made for $7.4M.
Released in 1978, “Faces of Death” is widely regarded as one of the more controversial films of the 20th century. Presented in docu-fiction style, the film followed a pathologist examining the various gruesome ways that people around the world have died. The film has been mythologized for allegedly showing footage of real murders — it ended up being banned in numerous countries. One can confidently say that there might not be a “Blair Witch Project,” or the “found footage” genre without this film’s existence.
The remake stars Dacre Montgomery, Barbie Ferreira, Josie Totah and Charlie XCX. It follows a female moderator of a YouTube-like site as she sorts through content unfit for the platform. She comes across a group on the website that appears to be re-enacting the murders from the original film. However, given the digital age of widespread misinformation online, are these murders real or fake?
Back in March, I posted a test screening reaction for “Faces of Death.” It was a very positive take, and read as follows …
A modern take on “Faces of Death,” but done in a very meta way in which a “fan” of the original is recreating the deaths from the original cult movie. An internet moderator comes across his remakes and becomes convinced they’re real despite everyone else disregarding them as really well done fakes. A really intense thriller, that’s very smart and darkly funny, about the way the internet consumes viral content and creates victims/perpetrators of all of us.
Good acting from both of the leads. Barbie Ferreira is a very modern final girl with a tragic past. A Patrick Bateman-esque turn from Dacre Montgomery as an unhinged 21st century internet psychopath. The movie also looks great, it was shot on film and that gives it an extra grimy look. Watch out for a tense single-take chase scene that’s impressively crafted.
Goldhaber turned a lot of heads with 2022’s taut, tense and terrific “How to Blow Up A Pipeline.” I was also a big fan of his 2018 breakout, “Cam” — if you haven’t seen that surreal, almost nightmaresque film, I highly recommend you stream it on Netflix.
I’m seeing plenty of “worst of the year” mentions for “Ice Cream Man,” which doesn’t surprise me one bit. Roth has never been a critical darling and has only been more burdened by that with each passing film.