Grisly murders have a way of catching the attention of audiences, especially those who can handle gory scenes. Violence sells, but one must take into consideration what appears real and what seems fake. Faces of Death loops in popularity and context which combine in a horrid nightmare. The graphics are mesmerizing, yet the characterizations are somewhat sloppy at times. It is technically a remake of the film Faces of Death from 1978. The twist, however, is the murderer finds inspiration from that 1978 flick. The narration in the film fuels his rage. The aggressiveness in the story is eerie, but the film relies on oozing violence to appear realistic. In the end, I found it more funny than spooky.
The film focuses on a lady named Margot, played by Barbie Ferreira. She has a day job moderating content online. She is also getting over a horrid event involving a train accident. So, disturbing imagery comes to her attention frequently since her brain is wired to notice when something looks wrong. She begins to moderate videos by a man named Arthur, played by Dacre Montgomery. Arthur is a man who has a normal life with a day job, but outside of work, he tracks down victims to broadcast them in his murder videos. His numbers, his fanbase, and the 1978 version of Faces of Death is his inspiration. Margot begins to utilize technology to track him down.
There is a vengeance that is greedy in Faces of Death. The film’s writing provides context that shows how human errors lead to increased determination. This is achieved through the characterizations of both Margot (the hero) and Arthur (the antagonist). When Margot feels no one is helping her, she abuses technology. When Arthur feels his vengeance is not enough, he continues to find more disturbing tactics for demolishment. There is more fuel for danger and treachery than meets the eye in Faces of Death.
Unfortunately, the film is a bit sloppy. Arthur as a murderer does not fit the bill well although Margot fits the hero role very well. I felt more terror from seeing Margot tracking down Arthur, than Arthur in his killing mode. Faces of Death is like a horror of reversed psychology where the writing does not have the characterizations properly in tune. Both characters have egotistical minds that work differently. There is so much running, and so much hurting. The film’s writer didn’t seem to know when to throw in the towel. The oozing graphics grow as do the numbers of Arthur’s crazy social media followers. There is no stopping his trends.
This is a B-/C+ horror remake primarily because the seriousness lacked. The characters were intermittently off key as they came in and out of tune. While the violence was great, the characters did not roll well with it in my opinion. Perhaps audiences will appreciate the context and rank it higher than the disturbing elements. Overall, though, this is a films that I can only give two-and-a-half out of four stars.
Movies with Tarek 