Remaking Faces of Death is a risky proposition. Renting the video was a rite of passage for many people back in the ‘80s. Word of mouth (most of which stemmed from its questionable authenticity), combined with its notoriety, ensured it would have a long shelf life. (One character in this movie refers to it as “the original viral video!”) How can you replicate that kind of success in the age of social media and Tik Tok where you can see all kinds of fucked-up shit on your phone? Well, the filmmakers have come up with a way, and it works… up to a point.
The conceit is that a serial killer is remaking scenes from Faces of Death and posting them on a social media platform called Kino. Barbie Ferreira is a moderator for the site who flags suspicious and/or inappropriate content. When the videos cross her desk, she is fascinated and appalled by them. She does some digging and learns the killer’s location and sets out to save his latest victim. By doing so, she runs the risk of starring in his next recreation.
If you have to remake Faces of Death in this day and age, I guess this is the way to go about it. However, it’s a “damned if you, damned if you don’t” proposal. If you go too hard on the gore, you’ll get called out for taking things too far. If you water it down, you run the risk of alienating fans of the series. By taking the Meta approach, the film is able to let itself off the hook. Since a “bad guy” is committing the crimes, it absolves the viewer from any guilt of watching scenes of death and slaughter. Instead, it flips the guilt to the characters in the film that want to be “internet famous”.
There are some good moments here to be sure. The recreations of the scenes from the original are well done. The biggest kick, however, comes from seeing clips of the original on the big screen, albeit briefly. I also liked the fact that Barbie was a plus-sized Final Girl, which is something you rarely see in horror, if ever.
I just have a feeling that if you took Faces of Death out of the equation, there wouldn’t be much to it. If the killer was making a regular snuff movie, it would’ve been okay, I guess. The Meta approach certainly gives it an interesting wrinkle, but unfortunately the filmmakers kind of sever the connection to the original by the time the third act rolls around, and the killer begins taking “artistic license” with the murders.
Oh, and despite what you may have been led to believe, Charli XCX is barely in the movie. She has two brief scenes as Barbie’s snippy coworker. At least she acts like a total brat.
Overall, Faces of Death isn’t bad. Strictly taken as a slasher film, it gets the job done. I just have a suspicion that no one is going to be sneaking it into slumber parties or renting it as a rite of passage any time soon.
