by A.J.
Night 6: Thriller Night 
Whether you are into horror or not, you have probably heard of the title Faces of Death, a faux documentary that purports to be a study of death showcasing real scenes of brutal, violent, and graphic deaths. The VHS tape was hard to find and was something like the VHS tape from The Ring. It was something certain people gossiped about and you had to get it from someone, not the big chain video stores. I've never seen it and never had any desire to even after I learned that the film was in fact fake. When I heard there was a remake/re-imagining I had little interest, but thanks to a friend I went and saw it in theaters earlier this year and was most pleasantly surprised. I knew little about the remake and had not seen a trailer or reviews, so I was not sure what to expect. I certainly was not expecting to walk out of the theater comparing it to The Silence of the Lambs and Dirty Harry, but that's just what happened.
"looks legit. so awful. nice find."
Barbie Ferreira plays Margot Romero, a content moderator at Kino, a short form video platform. She spends her entire workday looking at outrageous, off-putting, and even violent videos, approving or flagging them for removal. She comes across multiple videos of what seem to be real executions and murders and reports them to her boss, who is indifferent. While investigating on her own she comes across a comment that compares the videos to Faces of Death. Fortunately, Margot's roommate is a horror movie hound and explains to her the legend of Faces of Death.
In a shrewd move by co-screenwriters Isa Mazzel and Daniel Goldhaber, who also directs, there is no mystery about the identity of the killer. We meet Arthur (Dacre Montgomery), an outwardly mild-mannered employee at a cellphone store, relatively early in the movie. Of course, he is actually a violent psychopath with pretensions of being an artist. Montgomery does a great job playing the many different levels of a disturbed, unhinged person. His committed performance of such an unredeemable villain reminded me of Andrew Robinson’s great performance as the Scorpio Killer in Dirty Harry. Yet, Barbie Ferreira does not get overshadowed. Margot is a fully realized character who feels like a relatable person. Her backstory includes trauma she is still dealing with, since dealing with trauma is an unofficial requirement for horror movie protagonists these days, but it is not just a shortcut for character depth. It informs Margot’s relationship and attitude towards online video culture. Watching their storylines gradually come together until the female protagonist ends up in a showdown in the killer’s basement reminded me of The Silence of the Lambs.
Since Arthur is trying to impress Kino users and build a following, his murder tableaus become more elaborate and gruesome and graphic. Despite the gruesome gore, this is not a difficult film to watch, relatively speaking. None of the violent or gory moments feel like they are meant to gross out the audience or put them through an endurance trial. Nothing about this movie feels mean or grim. Its scariest moments are scenes of suspense and tension. Margot and Arthur’s climactic confrontation is thrilling because we know they are smart and capable characters. Faces of Death 2026 is not just an excuse to see graphic violence; it is a well-crafted and engaging thriller, visceral and psychological.
Faces of Death 2026 is available to stream on Shudder and also available on DVD/Blu-ray.
No comments:
Post a Comment